Bill Meltzer: Quick Hits: NHL All-Star Game Night, Konecny, Phantoms Update

Big second half for this group. They have fought through some adversity, but have really played some good hockey. Tuesday’s win against a very, very sound Pittsburgh team was really great to see. They really raised their play against some of the best teams in the league the last two weeks...one bad game against the Habs can be looked over in my view as I truly believe if the can get and stay healthy this is a legit playoff team. It’s exciting to see the youth really starting to make major contributions.

The schedule really is brutal...another back-to-back with travel after the break. Pittsburgh then hosting Colorado. I don’t want them to rush Hart back, but hopefully he will be ready by the Devils game on that next Thursday. Maybe risk Elliott on the back-to-backs this once and have Lyon face Detroit.

According to SportsClubStats Flyers have a 42% chance of making the playoffs. So while the team feels good about the past winning run against the best teams they still need many 2 point games, regardless of competition level.
It is up to the veteran leadership to hit the ground running post layoff. Each and every skater needs to bust butt the first set of games in order to establish a confidence level only winning bestows. I mean you G, Jake, JVR, Coots, Hayes and TK. No sluggish starts, no 10 game goalless streaks out of the break. When all you guys play well together the team is formidable, even with just decent production from the bottom 6. Maybe AV should create some additional artificial incentives for the next 10 games? How about 15 points in the next 10 games as a stretch goal for a run?
We cant afford to forgo points by playing down to our competition.
The team entered the break on a high note. Lets start strong to get those playoff odds back up and quickly. Then the entire season wont ride on winning out the last 10-15 games which has been our playbook the past few years.
This team has shown the ability to compete and win against the best. That shouldnt result in playoff odds at 42% at this point in the season.
Looking forward to the Flyers playoff charge starting Friday. Treat this next 5 games as playoff ones at start strong. The schedule is a challenging one. Lets rise to meet that challenge and establish this team as a bona fide playoff one!
p.s. any very current word on NoPa?

The schedule really is brutal...another back-to-back with travel after the break. Pittsburgh then hosting Colorado. I don’t want them to rush Hart back, but hopefully he will be ready by the Devils game on that next Thursday. Maybe risk Elliott on the back-to-backs this once and have Lyon face Detroit.
- NC Flyers Fan

I would use Elliott conservatively. Last thing you want is running him down with no Hart available. Gonna have to use Lyon a bit and hope the team steps up for him.

Hey Ek - Here's a new rumor for you to run with:

Ghost for Sissons + Santini

@BigBear77 Flyers remaining games are mostly in the Eastern conference. Going to be playing a lot of teams they are battling with. Flyers IMO have a better shot that 42% to make the playoffs.

Flyers have 11 games VS non playoff teams such as Rangers, Red Wings, Buffalo, Minnesota, San Jose and New Jersey.

They also have another game vs CAR, 2 Games VS NYI and 2 games VS CBJ

They control their own destiny.

If we could make the cap hit would people be interested in a Ristolainen\Ghost Swap?

If we could make the cap hit would people be interested in a Ristolainen\Ghost Swap?
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Yes

@BigBear77 Flyers remaining games are mostly in the Eastern conference. Going to be playing a lot of teams they are battling with. Flyers IMO have a better shot that 42% to make the playoffs.

Flyers have 11 games VS non playoff teams such as Rangers, Red Wings, Buffalo, Minnesota, San Jose and New Jersey.

They also have another game vs CAR, 2 Games VS NYI and 2 games VS CBJ

They control their own destiny.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

control their own destiny is correct and I hate the stupid % sites. They win two games and all of a sudden they have a 55% chance. The eastern conference play really picks up in the second half and that will determine everything. Don’t we have a great record verse the metro at the moment too?

If we could make the cap hit would people be interested in a Ristolainen\Ghost Swap?
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

I honestly haven't seen much of Buffalo this season. What would be the reason Buffalo would want to do a one for one swap if Ristolainen isnt struggling just as much as Ghost?

I honestly haven't seen much of Buffalo this season. What would be the reason Buffalo would want to do a one for one swap if Ristolainen isnt struggling just as much as Ghost?
- hereticpride

Change of scenery for them both. Both players are pretty similar in terms of situation. Both are struggling for both clubs after having pretty successful prior years. I would say Ghost has more offensive upside however Risto has a better defensive upside.

Change of scenery for them both. Both players are pretty similar in terms of situation. Both are struggling for both clubs after having pretty successful prior years. I would say Ghost has more offensive upside however Risto has a better defensive upside.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Sounds reasonable enough. 👍

I still want Kapanen for Ghost straight up

If we could make the cap hit would people be interested in a Ristolainen\Ghost Swap?
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

dear god please no

I would use Elliott conservatively. Last thing you want is running him down with no Hart available. Gonna have to use Lyon a bit and hope the team steps up for him.
- hereticpride

I disagree. I would use Lyon as sparingly as possible. Lyon to me is not an NHL goaltender.

The schedule really is brutal...another back-to-back with travel after the break. Pittsburgh then hosting Colorado. I don’t want them to rush Hart back, but hopefully he will be ready by the Devils game on that next Thursday. Maybe risk Elliott on the back-to-backs this once and have Lyon face Detroit.
- NC Flyers Fan

Red Wings would be a nice return game for Hart.

I disagree. I would use Lyon as sparingly as possible. Lyon to me is not an NHL goaltender.
- MJL

Depends on the matchup. Lyon wasnt horrible against MTL. Didnt like the Tatar goal, didnt have much of a chance on the next 2 goals and the 4th one was one you want you goalie to bail you out on but it is still a difficult one. Depending on the matchup I might be inclined to use him. I wouldnt mind him VS DET or NJ

Depends on the matchup. Lyon wasnt horrible against MTL. Didnt like the Tatar goal, didnt have much of a chance on the next 2 goals and the 4th one was one you want you goalie to bail you out on but it is still a difficult one. Depending on the matchup I might be inclined to use him. I wouldnt mind him VS DET or NJ
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Subpar non NHL goaltending can cause you to lose a game against any opponent in the NHL. If he has to play to give Elliott a break, then it makes sense against one of the weaker teams in the league. I would only use him if neccessary.

Subpar non NHL goaltending can cause you to lose a game against any opponent in the NHL. If he has to play to give Elliott a break, then it makes sense against one of the weaker teams in the league. I would only use him if neccessary.
- MJL

I would definitely not play Elliott in 3 games in 4 days.

I disagree. I would use Lyon as sparingly as possible. Lyon to me is not an NHL goaltender.
- MJL

I'm not saying he is but a hurt Elliot in addition to an injured Hart is likely going to sink the team. I'd rather play it safe with Elliott now to benefit in the long run. We've seen what happens when they lean on Elliot too much.

Depends on the matchup. Lyon wasnt horrible against MTL. Didnt like the Tatar goal, didnt have much of a chance on the next 2 goals and the 4th one was one you want you goalie to bail you out on but it is still a difficult one. Depending on the matchup I might be inclined to use him. I wouldnt mind him VS DET or NJ
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

"Not horrible" isn't exactly a glowing endorsement.

"Not horrible" isn't exactly a glowing endorsement.
- jmatchett383

He was simply okay. Fair or not (based on the team play in front of him), okay just isn’t going to cut it for a guy who needs to show something now and prove his extremely large group of doubters wrong. If Lyon gets another chance, he needs at bare minimum to be very good.

Change of scenery for them both. Both players are pretty similar in terms of situation. Both are struggling for both clubs after having pretty successful prior years. I would say Ghost has more offensive upside however Risto has a better defensive upside.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Ristolainen is well on his way to a fifth consecutive 40+ point season. He continues to lead the team with over 22 TOI. He was always a minus player but is actually a
plus player this year. Ghost isn’t going to get you anywhere near Ristolainen. It’s a moot point anyway because Buffalo needs a forward, not a bottom pairing “offensive” Dman who has 7 EV points this year.

I'm not saying he is but a hurt Elliot in addition to an injured Hart is likely going to sink the team. I'd rather play it safe with Elliott now to benefit in the long run. We've seen what happens when they lean on Elliot too much.
- hereticpride

Losing a game or two due to poor goaltending could also very well sink the team this season.