2020-21 The Carter Hart Era PT2(The raising of the cup)

[Maverick426h]

Zero goals against were on Hart. He was a stud

Of course. You feel bad for the kid because he single-handedly kept us in the game throughout a very poor 1st period and shut them out in the 2nd period only to face a really hot power play late several times and have their top stars left wide open in front. Our team game sure as hell wasn't a recipe for him to have any success.

 

[awaz]

Definitely some positives to take from the game Wednesday. Like purdue said, the middle 40 minutes or so of the game the Flyers looked better than they have for most of the season. That's a good step in the right direction.

The penalties were bad. Can't take 3 penalties down the stretch against one of the best PP's in the league. That's a recipe for disaster.

And as for the defense in general, you guys have already hit the nail on the head. 1. Couturier in the lineup helps them matchup better with elite lines like the Bergeron line. 2. It's where Niskanen's retirement hurts the most. You want Provorov out there against the elite forwards in the league, but who can you trust to be out there with him in those matchups? Ghost has played pretty well for the most part, but he's not who you want out there against Bergeron's line. That's a total mismatch and it showed on the first goal.

Top 4 two-way dman is an absolute must if they want to make a run at the cup this year. I think the rest of the pieces are there, but that's a hole teams like the Bruins, Avs, and Knights will exploit. He'd also help on the PK which is an abysmal 70% on the year (28th in the league)

 

[lasgop8]

I would just like to point out that those jerseys the other night were fire.

 

[Maverick426h]

Definitely some positives to take from the game Wednesday. Like purdue said, the middle 40 minutes or so of the game the Flyers looked better than they have for most of the season. That's a good step in the right direction.

The penalties were bad. Can't take 3 penalties down the stretch against one of the best PP's in the league. That's a recipe for disaster.

And as for the defense in general, you guys have already hit the nail on the head. 1. Couturier in the lineup helps them matchup better with elite lines like the Bergeron line. 2. It's where Niskanen's retirement hurts the most. You want Provorov out there against the elite forwards in the league, but who can you trust to be out there with him in those matchups? Ghost has played pretty well for the most part, but he's not who you want out there against Bergeron's line. That's a total mismatch and it showed on the first goal.

Top 4 two-way dman is an absolute must if they want to make a run at the cup this year. I think the rest of the pieces are there, but that's a hole teams like the Bruins, Avs, and Knights will exploit. He'd also help on the PK which is an abysmal 70% on the year (28th in the league)

Couturier is obviously our best non-goalie penalty killer at any given moment as well. Guys like Hayes or Raffl can take his place, but nobody replaces him. You can't make up for the loss of a Selke trophy winner and our team definitely suffers during critical moments because of that. That dude does fucking everything for us. He's an absolute stud.

 

[lasgop8]

Congrats to Gee for playing his 900th game as a Flyer.

 

[awaz]

I would just like to point out that those jerseys the other night were fire.

Agreed. I really like those.

 

[Maverick426h]

On paper, for us to be basically 6-2-2 without Couturier against the teams we've been playing is actually pretty spectacular. It's just that our standards are higher now and we expect to soon be Cup contenders. That and blowing two goal leads is quickly becoming a very bad habit of ours. It's so frustrating to watch that movie over and over again.

 

[awaz]

On paper, for us to be basically 6-2-2 without Couturier against the teams we've been playing is actually pretty spectacular. It's just that our standards are higher now and we expect to soon be Cup contenders. That and blowing two goal leads is quickly becoming a very bad habit of ours. It's so frustrating to watch that movie over and over again.

Agreed. Glad they've been banking points. If they can replicate the way they played for long stretches in Boston, then the process would be improved as well. Then Couts comes back and we're rolling.

Just need that d-man at the deadline to really make a run at this.

 

[Maverick426h]

Agreed. Glad they've been banking points. If they can replicate the way they played for long stretches in Boston, then the process would be improved as well. Then Couts comes back and we're rolling.

Just need that d-man at the deadline to really make a run at this.

We don't have a lot of cap space, but it won't matter much in a deadline trade. All of that is do-able if we think we are one puzzle piece short at that time.

MacDonald and Schlemko are still on the books for $2.5M this season. That goes away next season, but we'll have to sign Hart, Sanheim and Patrick. I don't think any of them will break the bank however. It's partly the beauty of homegrown talent.

 

[awaz]

We don't have a lot of cap space, but it won't matter much in a deadline trade. All of that is do-able if we think we are one puzzle piece short at that time.

MacDonald and Schlemko are still on the books for $2.5M this season. That goes away next season, but we'll have to sign Hart, Sanheim and Patrick. I don't think any of them will break the bank however. It's partly the beauty of homegrown talent.

I think I read at the begining of the season that the Flyers are projected to have enough cap space to add 6-7M worth of cap hit at the deadline. And they're definitely trying to maximize it, shuffling Morin/Bunnaman to the taxi squad on a daily basis. At least until they assigned Morin to the Phantoms earlier this week.

 

[awaz]

I think I read at the begining of the season that the Flyers are projected to have enough cap space to add 6-7M worth of cap hit at the deadline. And they're definitely trying to maximize it, shuffling Morin/Bunnaman to the taxi squad on a daily basis. At least until they assigned Morin to the Phantoms earlier this week.

Actually Cap Friendly has their projection at 5.7M right now.

 

[awaz]

Looking at the standings today, potential sellers would be..

Blackhawks (Keith, 5.5M through 22-23)
Predators (Borowiecki 2M through 21-22)
Rangers (Smith 4.35M, UFA)
Sabres (Ristolainen 5.4M through 21-22, Miller 3.875M through 21-22)
Coyotes (Hjalmarsson 5M, UFA, Demers 3.94M, UFA, Ekman-Larsson 8.25M 7 more years)

Islanders (expecting them to rebound and not sell)
Blue Jackets (expecting them to rebound and not sell)
Devils (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Flames (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Senators (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Ducks (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Sharks (Karlsson, Burns, and Vlasic are signed for eternity, pass)
Kings (Doughty 11M for 7 more years, no)

 

[awaz]

Looking at the standings today, potential sellers would be..

Blackhawks (Keith, 5.5M through 22-23)
Predators (Borowiecki 2M through 21-22)
Rangers (Smith 4.35M, UFA)
Sabres (Ristolainen 5.4M through 21-22, Miller 3.875M through 21-22)
Coyotes (Hjalmarsson 5M, UFA, Demers 3.94M, UFA, Ekman-Larsson 8.25M 7 more years)

Islanders (expecting them to rebound and not sell)
Blue Jackets (expecting them to rebound and not sell)
Devils (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Flames (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Senators (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Ducks (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Sharks (Karlsson, Burns, and Vlasic are signed for eternity, pass)
Kings (Doughty 11M for 7 more years, no)

Couple of options for rentals would be Hjalmarsson, Demers, and Brendan Smith. Not really the top-pair type guys, but would improve the defense.

Ristolainen and Miller are somewhat interesting names that would be a little bigger. Signed for this year and next. I know Ristolainen has some detractors in the Sabres fan base. Miller has some good experience, went deep with Vegas a couple years ago. They both shoot R as well. Could be interesting. Borowiecki is a similar this year + next option. Brings a physical presence.

Major deals, no doubt top 4 guys would be Keith or Ekman-Larsson. Both have big deals, OEL in particular. But there have been rumors the Coyotes might look to move OEL. That'd have to be a monster trade.

The problem with any guys signed beyond this season is the expansion draft. Most likely the Flyers will only protect 3 dmen and you'd assume Provorov, Myers, and Sanheim would be the 3. If they trade for someone, then what?

Other option would be a pure hockey trade. Offense for defense with a playoff team.

 

[lasgop8]

Looking at the standings today, potential sellers would be..

Blackhawks (Keith, 5.5M through 22-23)
Predators (Borowiecki 2M through 21-22)
Rangers (Smith 4.35M, UFA)
Sabres (Ristolainen 5.4M through 21-22, Miller 3.875M through 21-22)
Coyotes (Hjalmarsson 5M, UFA, Demers 3.94M, UFA, Ekman-Larsson 8.25M 7 more years)

Islanders (expecting them to rebound and not sell)
Blue Jackets (expecting them to rebound and not sell)
Devils (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Flames (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Senators (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Ducks (Doesn't seem like a fit)
Sharks (Karlsson, Burns, and Vlasic are signed for eternity, pass)
Kings (Doughty 11M for 7 more years, no)

Man i would love to get Borowiecki. That would add some toughness that we sorely need.

 

[lasgop8]

Couple of options for rentals would be Hjalmarsson, Demers, and Brendan Smith. Not really the top-pair type guys, but would improve the defense.

Ristolainen and Miller are somewhat interesting names that would be a little bigger. Signed for this year and next. I know Ristolainen has some detractors in the Sabres fan base. Miller has some good experience, went deep with Vegas a couple years ago. They both shoot R as well. Could be interesting. Borowiecki is a similar this year + next option. Brings a physical presence.

Major deals, no doubt top 4 guys would be Keith or Ekman-Larsson. Both have big deals, OEL in particular. But there have been rumors the Coyotes might look to move OEL. That'd have to be a monster trade.

The problem with any guys signed beyond this season is the expansion draft. Most likely the Flyers will only protect 3 dmen and you'd assume Provorov, Myers, and Sanheim would be the 3. If they trade for someone, then what?

Other option would be a pure hockey trade. Offense for defense with a playoff team.

Smith is terrible. Every Ranger fan i know complains about him as often as they can

 

[FlyerFinFan]

Couple of options for rentals would be Hjalmarsson, Demers, and Brendan Smith. Not really the top-pair type guys, but would improve the defense.

Ristolainen and Miller are somewhat interesting names that would be a little bigger. Signed for this year and next. I know Ristolainen has some detractors in the Sabres fan base. Miller has some good experience, went deep with Vegas a couple years ago. They both shoot R as well. Could be interesting. Borowiecki is a similar this year + next option. Brings a physical presence.

Major deals, no doubt top 4 guys would be Keith or Ekman-Larsson. Both have big deals, OEL in particular. But there have been rumors the Coyotes might look to move OEL. That'd have to be a monster trade.

The problem with any guys signed beyond this season is the expansion draft. Most likely the Flyers will only protect 3 dmen and you'd assume Provorov, Myers, and Sanheim would be the 3. If they trade for someone, then what?

Other option would be a pure hockey trade. Offense for defense with a playoff team.

Good analysis as usual Awaz thanks for that. Obviously no to daughty but Keith may be an option who has won cups. Hjalmarsson as well. They need someone who has been there and won't choke or be caught up in the moment. I like Risto but he's been playing with losers...

 

[chy1127]

Moose is in net tonight.

 

[awaz]

Man i would love to get Borowiecki. That would add some toughness that we sorely need.

Agreed. I think he could be a good fit. Not the perfect Provorov partner, but he could help the PK and add that physical presence for sure. I don't know what Nashville's plan is, but maybe they're willing to part with him since their season is kind of coming off the rails here? I also don't think he would change your expansion draft plans. I don't think he'd command a return that you'd really lament losing for a pure rental if he were to get claimed in the expansion draft.

 

[awaz]

Good analysis as usual Awaz thanks for that. Obviously no to daughty but Keith may be an option who has won cups. Hjalmarsson as well. They need someone who has been there and won't choke or be caught up in the moment. I like Risto but he's been playing with losers...

Keith is an interesting one to me for sure. His best years are obviously behind him. But he's got the experience. Can play a lot of minutes even as an old guy. For this year I think he'd be a good add. But he causes expansion draft problems most likely and potentially cap issues in the future. He's got a NMC, so there's a chance he doesn't want to come to Philly anyway, but if he does, there's a chance he forces them to protect him. So then you're looking at exposing one of Provorov/Sanheim/Myers. I don't see the Flyers going the 8 skater route and only protect 4 fwds. Hayes and Giroux have NMC. Couturier is a no brainer. Farabee is exempt. So you get to pick 1 of Lindblom, Patrick, and TK. Not an attractive choice. I can't see them putting themselves in that situation.

 

[Chris p Bacon]

I think Hjalmarsson would be at my top of that list just because I think he would have the most sound overall game. After that Ristolainen is interesting just for a little toughness and defensive mindedness. Hopefully there will be someone else to choose from at the deadline.