[esuhock22]

Flyers aren't done. Sign Andreas Lilja.

 

[6298]

This is one of the craziest off-seasons in recent history for the Flyers. They're going to be a completely different team this coming year. I haven't been able to read much on this lately as I had PRK surgery on June 23rd and things are still blurry.

I don't like the price on Jagr's contract. Is the plan to let Zherdev and Carcillo walk? What's up with Shelley? I was surprised to see Powe traded.

Boucher is off to Carolina. I heard rumors of Erik Cole coming to Philly.

 

[esuhock22]

Now Versteeg has been traded to Florida and Cole is signed with MTL. I also keep reading the Flyers aren't done.

 

[teylward]

Yeah, Jagr is a bit expensive for how old and the NHL absence.
I think it will be good for all the young players to have Jagrs experience.

Flyers are after Brad Richards.

I would have liked to see Carcillo stay for some reason.

 

[6298]

Well, they better plan on a chemistry camp prior to training camp.

 

[6298]

Wow...big changes this off-season:

Out:
Richards (traded)
Carter (traded)
O'Donnell (FA)
Carcillo (FA)
Leino (FA)
Versteeg (traded)
Powe (traded)
Boucher (FA)

In:
Jagr
Voracek
Talbot
Lilja
Bryzgalov
Braydon Schenn (From LA for Richards)
Wayne Simmonds (From LA for Richards)
Sean Couturier (8th overall pick in 2011, pick came from Columbus for Carter)
Nick Cousins (68th overall, 3rd rounder in 2011, pick came from Columbus for Carter)
2nd Rounder in either 2012 or 2013 (for Versteeg)
3rd Rounder in 2012 (for Versteeg)
3rd Rounder in 2013 (for Powe)
Undisclosed draft pick (from LA for Richards)


Am I missing anything as of 9:00 AM on 2 July?

 

[esuhock22]

Zherdev probably out as well. Might be out of this league from what I've read, which is he isn't getting any offers. I liked him as a player and some may like the Flyers to sign another top 9 player, but he doesn't fit imo.

Just a little rambling going on here, but right now I'm not sure I like this Flyers team heading into the season. It's weird, basically the one question mark I always had heading into the season forever was the goalie. Now I feel pretty good about that, but just about everything else scares me.

Too many question marks on offense. We traded away two players who you had a very good idea of what you were getting out of and that was solid two way play with good numbers. Now we have Jagr who I like and think will be a good replacement for a guy like Leino, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he is a bust.

Also, basically everyone keeps saying this is JVR's break out season and he replaces Carter with the goal scoring. While he did have a nice playoff run, it is still very unknown what the Flyers will get from JVR. I remember last preseason hearing how he lost body fat %, added muscle and that this was his year. 13 games later he is getting scratched after not scoring one goal in the previous games.

With defense, the huge question remains as to if Pronger and Timonen can stay healthy since they seem to be really aging. Having either one of them out would be a huge loss and not that big of a surprise.

I just feel like there are too many question marks heading into the season and while things can end up going well for the Flyers, it's going to take a lot of different things to be clicking. I didn't even get into Schenn or any of the other young guys who have a chance at playing with the Flyers.

 

[6298]

I'm in the same boat. It seems there is potential for things to go hard in either direction - good or bad. I think the Flyers are going to be alright. I wouldn't be surprised to see Giroux hit 80 points this year. Maybe Briere finally gets back to that form he had the last year he was with the Sabres having more talented guys with him than Hartnell and Leino. Maybe not as Hartnell will probably still be on the wing with him.

 

[esuhock22]

Good to have Simmonds signed.

 

[teylward]

Final day of prospect camp tomorrow. Here are the teams.

TEAM ORANGE

forwards
Zac Rinaldo
Nick Cousins
Kyle Mountain
Tye McGinn
Brayden Schenn
Mike Testwinde
Andrew Rowe
Jason Akeson
Tom Sestito
Luke Pither

defense
Colin Suellentrop
Kevin Marshall
Oliver Lauridsen
Vincent LoVerde
Ricard Blindstrand
Adam Phillips

goaltenders
Brad Phillips
Kris Westblow

TEAM BLACK

forwards
Shane Harper
Matt Read
Marcel Noebels
Eric Wellwood
Sean Couturier
Michael Parks
Tyler Brown
Ben Holmstrom
Petr Placek
Derek Mathers

defense
Nick Luukko
Erik Gustafsson
Tyler Hostetter
Michael Young
Etienne Boutet

goaltenders
Niko Hovinen
Eric Mihalek
Sean Bonar

 

[esuhock22]

Take it with a grain of salt, but good scrimmage for Schenn. 3 goals and 1 assist.

 

[teylward]

http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=569038&navid=DL|PHI|home

There’s no question that all eyes have been on Brayden Schenn since Flyers prospect camp started.

After five days of both on-ice and off-ice training, Schenn sure didn’t disappoint the enormous crowds at the Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone during the final day scrimmage.

Schenn recorded a hat trick in his first game action as a Flyer, while adding an assist for a four-point total to help his team, TEAM WHITE, to a 6-3 victory.

“It was our first game in about two months, so I didn’t know what to expect going into it,” said Schenn. “All I wanted to do is come in and work hard and I got a few breaks out there.”

Schenn even recording one of his goals from a penalty shot, while his lone assist on the day saw him break out of the corner and hit a pinching Vincent LoVerde in from the point.

The game was hardly a walk in the park. It was the only scrimmage of the entire week and marked the first time players would get a chance to show their give and take on the physical aspect of the game.

“He’s just a bull on the puck,” said Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, who with the rest of the Hockey Ops management observed most of the week’s activities from their perch above the rinks. “He’s strong on the puck, he makes good plays and he’s a very competitive kid.”

Schenn along with a majority of the players will now head back to their off-season homes to begin training.

“I learned a lot of new things from Lappy [Ian Laperriere] and the rest of the development team,” added Schenn. “Now I’m going to go home for the summer and work on that and better myself.”

How much each guy learned throughout this camp remains to be seen, but Flyers official Rookie camp leading into the eventual training camp isn’t too far away. If this camp is any indication, the Flyers have over 40 prospects that fit the mold of what it takes to be a Flyer.

“For the week, I couldn’t be more happier on how it went,” said Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren. “I think the coaches did a good job in their preparation and planning. The players did their job too. They all worked hard and did everything that was asked of them.

NOTES: Niko Hovinen shut out TEAM BLACK for the first period he was in net. It was the first action fans got to see of the 6’7’’ Finnish goaltender… Mike Testwuide had two goals in the game. It is his second prospect camp with the Flyers… All three Philadelphia-area prospects, Nick Luukko, Kyle Mountain and Tyler Hostetter all participated in the scrimmage… Flyers fans packed the team’s practice facility each day of the camp culminating in a capacity crowd for the scrimmage.

 

[esuhock22]

Just to stir up some Flyers talk, which new addition other than Bryz do you see making the biggest impact on this team. I guess Jagr would be the obvious pick, I'm just curious to see if anyone else thinks anyone else.

 

[2fast4u]

Schenn will be huge and depending on if and when Couturier makes it up to the Flyers. Those 2 should be playing together. They were simply amazing in the world Jr's.

 

[esuhock22]

Which line will play against top competition?

This is probably my biggest concern heading into the season. With the loss of the Flyers two best 2 way players imo, which line combo will now play against teams top guys? It really looks like the only option is Giroux since Briere is pretty painful to watch in his own end and Schenn is just a rookie. Then the question is which wingers do you pair him with for this role? You still want him to perform well offensively, but it looks like you need him to be able to be a complete player against the other teams top guys.

 

[2fast4u]

jvr - giroux - jagr
hartnell - briere - voracek
talbot - schenn - simmonds
nodl - betts/couturier - sestito

pronger - carle
timonen - coburn
meszaros/Guvstofsson - lilja

I think that should do the trick, then you still have players like Wellwood and Couturier to fill in where ever. I really want Couturier to crack this line up.

 

[esuhock22]

jvr - giroux - jagr
hartnell - briere - voracek
talbot - schenn - simmonds
nodl - betts/couturier - sestito

pronger - carle
timonen - coburn
meszaros/Guvstofsson - lilja

I think that should do the trick, then you still have players like Wellwood and Couturier to fill in where ever. I really want Couturier to crack this line up.

Couturier should go back to juniors. And JVR and Jagr aren't really known for their defense, which is why I think the Flyers will struggle shutting down other teams top lines.

 

[2fast4u]

The only way you send him back down to Jr's is if there is no chance for him to play on at least the 3rd line or better which don't look good right now. He doesn't have anything left to prove down there, he has torn it up and is now NHL ready and if i remember correctly they can't put him in the AHL either.

 

[teylward]

I think a lot of players need to step it up in production this season. Also, our new young guys need to really push it. A lot about this team looks uncertain right now, but i can't wait to see how pre season comp goes.

 

[2fast4u]

When training camp rolls around in September, one of the more interesting roster battles to track will be the competition for the enforcer/12th forward spot. While it is possible that the Flyers could carry both Jody Shelley and Tom Sestito on the roster this season, it does not seem to be a smart use of salary cap space.

The Flyers cannot send the 23-year-old Sestito to the Phantoms without putting him on waivers. The former 3rd round draft pick is not as accomplished a fighter as a Shelley but he is potentially a better and more versatile hockey player. He is also 11 years younger and $600,000 cheaper on the salary cap.

Like many veteran enforcers, Shelley increases his worth to the team by being a positive locker room presence and one of the team's hardest workers. He knows his role, executes it the best of his ability and works hard not to be a liability. But is that enough to hold off younger and cheaper players?

If the Flyers were to carry both Shelley and Sestito among 13 forwards and 7 defensemen on the opening night roster, they would currently have $1,027,738 in cap space available (which includes Ian Laperriere's cap hit without an LTIR allowance). With the LTIR allowance for Laperriere, the practical cap space is $2.194 million.

If the team waived Shelley and carried Sestito and another young player (let's say Ben Holmstrom) as their 12th and 13th forwards, they would have about $1.37 million in cap space without worrying about LTIR overage. With Laperriere on LTIR for the full season, it's $2.54 million.

If the Flyers waived Sestito for AHL demotion and carried Shelley alone among 12 forwards and 7 defensemen, they would have $1.55 million in cap space ($2.74 million with LTIR for Laperriere).

That may not seem like a big difference between carrying Shelley or not. However, keep in mind that the salary cap is calculated daily during the season and the cap hit for in-season trade acquisitions is prorated over the rest of the season.

The $370,000 opening cap difference between carrying Shelley/Sestito and Holmstrom/Sestito makes little difference right now. However, preserving even modest additional cap space could ultimately be the difference in acquiring a top 9 forward or top 6 defenseman as a rental player come trade deadline time.

If Sergei Bobrovsky ($1.75 million) is dealt and replaced more inexpensive backup goaltender -- the Flyers now have three internal options, all carrying varying degrees of lower cap hits -- the team would also free up additional cap space. The other internal options, of course, are Michael Leighton ($1.55 million), Johan Backlund ($800,000) and the recently signed Jason Bacashihua ($525,000 on the NHL part of his two-way contract).


****

Howard Eskin of 610WIP is reporting that the Flyers have some interest in signing Chris Drury at the right price. Given Drury's past accomplishments, his ties to Danny Briere and his reputation for leadership, it might make some sense. That's especially true in light of the fact that there's currently one third-line spot up for grabs on the Flyers.

However, given the fact that Drury was just bought out by the Rangers and the health of his knee is a major question mark, I would hope that the Flyers proceed with extreme caution with the 34-year-old.