krsmith17

I completely disagree that our goaltending depth is thin. That is by far our most stacked position in my opinion. Larsson and Petruzzelli are very good goaltender prospects, both with the ceiling to become NHL starters. Van Pottelberghe, Machovsky and Fulcher all have potential as well. You need one of these guys to pan out. That's it. We will have two 1st's, two 2nd's, three 3rd's, a 4th, two 6th's, and a 7th, once the Flyers officially make the playoffs. Hopefully we will acquire another pick or two this summer. I personally wouldn't use a 1st, 2nd or 3rd round pick on a goaltender, unless one really drops to us in the 3rd, the way Petruzzelli did last year. If we use one of our 6th's or 7th on a goaltender, that's fine. But it shouldn't be a priority in my opinion. We need to stock up on defensemen and centers mostly, but I'd put priority on wingers (right shooting) over goaltenders as well. Goaltending should be the last of this teams concerns.

I don't care if the player is "defensive" or "offensive" minded. In what world is +/- a more important stat than points? It's not. I'd rather a defenseman that puts up 30-40 points and is a minus player on a bad team, than a defenseman that puts up 10-15 points and is a plus player. Lidstrom was a minus player in 2010-11, when he won his 7th Norris Trophy. It's a meaningless stat.

Good for us. That 4th will now become a 3rd.

I agree that it isn't that much of an overpayment, but it is still an overpayment. If DeKeyser were being paid around $4M instead of $5M, I don't think many people would have much of an issue with him or his contract. He's an average player being paid like a very good player. I agree with you regarding the players on ELC's skewing those number a little. Once they get their first big contract, some of them will likely bump DeKeyser down. However, you would also have to take into account the players that are currently above him that will retire in the next few years as well. No matter how you slice it, DeKeyser is being paid like a number 2, and his current level of play isn't close to that. While he's actually having a better season than last from a production standpoint, I think he has been much worse overall. He just seems completely lost out there most nights. I'd like to see him get back to around 25-30 points, but unfortunately, I don't see that happening...

Yes, the 5 wins have been hit by Petr. Now we just need any combination of 7 points gained by the Flyers in their remaining 4 games, or 7 points lost by the Panthers in their remaining 6 games. It's likely but not guaranteed. The Flyers have a game against the Bruins, Hurricanes, Islanders and Rangers remaining. The Panthers has 3! of their remaining 6 games against the Bruins, 2 of them in Boston, a game against the Preds, Hurricanes and Sabres. Go Bruins!

What do you mean, lost out? Haven't you heard?... Weren't these the two big college free agents every team was after? We got em!

Top pair defensemen generally don't make much more than DeKeyser. It's the elite number one guys that get paid significantly more. DeKeyser is being paid like a top pair guy (43rd highest paid) and shouldn't be close to that. Granted, when he received that contract, most, if not everyone thought he was going to grown into it. He hasn't, he's only regressed since... This is another player I'd be heavily shopping, but like Nielsen, I don't see it happening...

You wouldn't want to trade Nielsen to San Jose? Or you don't think he'd be a good fit? I'm not sure if he'd be a good fit, but I just want to get rid of that contract. He should be heavily shopped this summer. Unfortunately, I doubt he will be though... The Sharks have just under $20M in cap space going into next season, with 20 players under contract. They could sign Tavares and still have enough space to re-sign Kane and Hertl, maybe having to make a minor move to make it work under the cap. It's definitely doable.

I agree, but it's also a very small sample size. Any young player full of piss and vinegar can come in and play one or two really good games. He did look good moving that puck though, especially in the offensive zone. I see him as a bottom pair defenseman, if he can become anything more than that, it's a huge bonus.

No! You know who would be a great fit in San Jose? Frans mother f***ing Nielsen, that's who...

I'm not speaking relative to our team though. I'm talking league wide, I see Hicketts as a bottom pair defenseman. I don't see that as being "seriously doubtful". I'm hoping we'll have 6 defensemen better than him, but that's more so hoping we have a top end D core, than anything to do with Hicketts himself.

Hronek could be ready. Assuming he continues producing at a decent clip down in GR, I'd like to see him given a look sooner than later. Unless Cholowski blows everyone away in training camp, I think he should probably play a full season with the Griffins next year. I'm not that high on Sulak, already being 24 years old, but who knows. He'll likely get a look down the stretch for the Griffins, and possibly in the playoffs. What do you mean, you have serious doubts about Hicketts' ceiling? His ceiling isn't that high. Very few might think he's a mid-pair defenseman, but most see him as a bottom pair defenseman. You have serious doubts he can be a bottom pair guy? I don't think there's any question Kronwall should / will retire after next season. I'm hoping Ouellet will be traded / waived this summer. I'd re-sign Jensen though. Anything under around $1.5M for a few years would be good with me. It's also possible that we could move one of Ericsson or Daley at next year's deadline, although that will probably wait until the following season.

Nah, I'm not that high on him. I hope he proves me wrong.

I'd take Weber over any of our defensemen today, but I don't think I'd want that contract on the books for another 8 seasons... Weber isn't exactly fast now, imagine how slow he'll be in 4-5 years. I don't see that contract aging well. I agree. Our defense is an obvious concern. Dahlin would go a long way in helping in that regard. Hronek should (hopefully) be a top 3. Same with Cholowski. Kronwall, Ericsson and Daley will be gone in two years tops. We're getting younger, and with that, we should get faster. I'd be okay with something like this in a couple years... *Dahlin* - Hronek Cholowski - Sambrook DeKeyser - Jensen

Hicketts is definitely smaller than any of those guys, but I wouldn't say he's slower. I never seen him as a noticeably slow defenseman. Granted, I've only seen him play 2, maybe 3 games this year, but I watched him a ton last season. I'd bet on him in a race against Ouellet for sure though. Hicketts also plays a very sound defensive game, hits and blocks shots. I know you don't put a ton of stock into that, and you're all about possession (I am too), but I believe there is still a place for a Hicketts type defenseman on this squad. I was impressed with him in the one game he played with the Wings this season, and I'm okay with him getting another look. But again, it would have been nice to see Hronek get the call. If Hicketts doesn't pan out, I won't be too broke up about it, because like I said, he's a bottom pairing guy at best, and they're a dime a dozen, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't rooting for the guy... Luckily I had the Wings feed, so I didn't have to suffer through the Canadiens bulls***, but I'm not sure they have much room to talk down on our defense... Petry is the only defenseman on that team I'd take over any defenseman on our team...

I think Hicketts will be a decent bottom pairing defenseman. I agree though, Hronek has a much higher ceiling and has been the much better player this year in GR. It would have been fun to see what he could do in a short stint.

I was thinking maybe we could "rest" Zetterberg for a few of the remaining games... But sure, that would probably work too...

Hicketts recalled again. Will likely be up for the rest of the season (hopefully playing over Ouellet)...

After tonight's game vs the Pens, we have a relatively "easy" schedule. No more back-to-backs, 3 out of 5 at home, 4 out of 5 against none playoff teams... Thursday and Sunday games are huge against Buffalo and Ottawa... We could very easily have the 2nd (maybe even 1st) best odds at winning the Dahlin lottery... We should play Coreau 4 of the remaining 6 games to "see what we have in him"...

No idea. I've never seen him play and haven't heard much about him until the past few weeks. I'd expect mid pairing defenseman, but that's just a hunch based on his college numbers over the past few years, and the fact that he'll be 23 years old (this weekend). Keep in mind though, Butcher was the big college free agent last summer and I didn't think he'd be anything more than a bottom pair defenseman (again, just based on numbers), so I was wrong there. I have no idea what Brickley will be at the NHL level. I wouldn't mind signing him, trading / waiving Ouellet, and let Brickley and Hicketts battle for a spot in training camp.

DeKeyser is pretty much what I would expect Brickley to be. Which isn't a bad thing, as long as whoever signs him, doesn't give him a ridiculous 6 year, $30M contract...

I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be with signing Tavares if it's going to cost us $12M in cap space... $17.25M if you think we need to keep our $5.25M 3C to convince him to come here. I'd much rather trade Nielsen and hope Larkin can become a legit 1C (I think he can), at a fraction of the price.

What happened to Athanasiou?