Philadelphia Flyers offseason 2024

[mojo1917]

Going to give this Kolosov situation a bump. 

I wonder if he were to get the Michkov treatment how far that would go towards easing his concerns about playing in North America?

 

Could the answer with Alexis be, "look we'll pay for your mom and dad to immigrate" and set them up in Quakertown or Chalfont or some ****.

The Comcast Flyers have all kinds of dough, put a couple of that kid's family members on the payroll too, executive in charge of pierogies, maybe having a little support network for Kolosov is the answer there too.

[GratefulFlyers]

On 7/19/2024 at 11:29 AM, mojo1917 said:

Bobrovksy though...dang. 

Homer screwed that up so badly.

 

the way I remember it Laviolette was the one who screwed up Bobrovsky first overplaying him as a rookie and jerking him around in the POs. Laviolette stabbed Bobrovsky first and it was a deep wound I guess.

 

Holmgren nailed the coffin shut that summer hiring the Cosmonaut space cadet. Terrible management, failing to anticipate how that weirdo would disrupt the team, alienate Bobrovsky even more (remember the famous Bryzgalov YAWN video?).

 

Admittedly I assume a lot saying all that, though the yawn clip supports my point. But hey maybe Holmgren had Bryzgalov's assurances he'd be a team player, a friend to his fellow Russian...who knows. In any case I agree with you, Holmgren deserves a huge chunk of blame for what happened to the goalies those years.

 

To think Bobrovsky left Philly and won the Vezina the very next year...and now he's got his name on the Stanley Cup. I feel great for him... not so much for our Flyers.

 

Edited July 25 by GratefulFlyers

[OccamsRazor]

On 7/25/2024 at 5:27 PM, GratefulFlyers said:

left Philly

 

 

Speaking of Russian goalies....

 

..take it for what it's worth...

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

Speaking of Russian goalies....

 

..take it for what it's worth...

I knew they ****ed it up. I God damn knew it. 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

4 hours ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

I knew they ****ed it up. I God damn knew it. 

Let me rephrase. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but now that the cat is out of the bag (yet another high profile prospect not wanting to be here), I'm not surprised by this. Of course they ****ed it up. And of course, Puckhead down in Lehigh Valley is going to say that he's dumbfounded and never thought there was an issue. FFS, can they get things right FOR ONCE with regards to player development? Contrary to what this franchise thinks, sucking it up and battling through isn't the only way to develop players. Maybe putting them in a position to succeed might be another method to helping develop players. Jesus Christ, they left a guy to stay in a hotel room with nobody to talk to or interact with. Heads have to roll over this one, but we know nothing will happen. Just the continual same old **** from this former-storied-but-now-sorry franchise. House cleaning. That's the only way to fix this. From top to bottom, clean it completely.

Edited July 27 by BobbyClarkeFan16

[OccamsRazor]

15 hours ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

I knew they ****ed it up. I God damn knew it. 

 

So yeah no way Danny doesn't know.

 

 

[flyercanuck]

I'm finally coming around to how the ex-Flyers club builds champions. Maybe one of our surplus of RWers can play goal?

[mojo1917]

Looks like they stepped on their crank with this one.

He's not much older than Michkov. Was 21 when this was happening.

There really isn't a decent excuse for a team with the financial resources the Flyers have to let this happen.

Like I said earlier, hire an uncle to pal around with him until he gets comfortable in North America. 

 

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

What's sad is that not a single beat writer or reporter will question the Flyers about this. And Meltzer is already on Twitter/X defending the Flyers handling of Kolosov. Seriously, can't make this **** up anymore. It's a God damn farce they're running. Everyone should be all over the Flyers for their handling of Kolosov. It's inexcusable.

[flyercanuck]

10 minutes ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

What's sad is that not a single beat writer or reporter will question the Flyers about this. And Meltzer is already on Twitter/X defending the Flyers handling of Kolosov. Seriously, can't make this **** up anymore. It's a God damn farce they're running. Everyone should be all over the Flyers for their handling of Kolosov. It's inexcusable.

 

Not the first time saying this....the Flyers have become Harold Ballards Leafs.

[radoran]

57 minutes ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

And Meltzer is already on Twitter/X defending the Flyers handling of Kolosov.

 

Meltzer is paid by the Flyers.

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

1 hour ago, radoran said:

 

Meltzer is paid by the Flyers.

Oh I know. He's a shill, no doubt. Funny how Myrtetus has stayed quiet too. And I'm willing to bet that Myrtetus is also a paid shill.

[OccamsRazor]

1 hour ago, BobbyClarkeFan16 said:

Oh I know. He's a shill, no doubt. Funny how Myrtetus has stayed quiet too. And I'm willing to bet that Myrtetus is also a paid shill.

 

Briere finally owned it today.

 

Saying they're learning too.

 

Sure but my main concern right now is can they salvage this relationship with the young netminder that is a big deal too seeing how they navigate a disagreement and can they resolve it too.

 

Guess we'll see.

 

 

 

 

[flyercanuck]

4 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

Briere finally owned it today.

 

Saying they're learning too.

 

I'm sorry but this is ridiculous...do they not have any common sense?

 

Gee...How could throwing a guy just over from another country with a different culture who doesn't speak the language into a hotel room by himself possibly make him feel alienated? 

[ruxpin]

8 minutes ago, flyercanuck said:

 

I'm sorry but this is ridiculous...do they not have any common sense?

 

Gee...How could throwing a guy just over from another country with a different culture who doesn't speak the language into a hotel room by himself possibly make him feel alienated? 

 

Old imbeciles, meet the new imbeciles.

[OccamsRazor]

2 hours ago, flyercanuck said:

do they not have any common sense?

 

 

Exactly.

 

All the employees they have and they couldn't have assigned someone to check on these young men?

 

This is an INVESTMENT into hopefully a key assets to maybe hoist a Cup in the future protect and keep up with them all.

 

And the saddest part of all this is these guys all recently played. Goddamn you don't remember what a struggle is was back then this is (to Danny by the way not you)??

 

Fuggin Danny housed Coots to take him under his wing to show him the ropes.

 

 

 

How you gon forget that??????????????????????????????

 

 

Edited July 29 by OccamsRazor

[mojo1917]

For me the Kolosov situation is one where fan anger is completely justified.

Not that I should be the abitur of anger. Hey, that would make a pretty cool metal song title...

Anyway, the way they handled a guy already in the system here was beyond negligent.

For all the talk of culture and the Flyers family, yada- yada- yada they weren't listening to themselves.

 

Mistakes can be made, and maybe this group didn't have the bandwidth to handle it properly,  maybe they didn't even know there was a problem. 

However, for an organization with the amount of money at its disposal from which the Flyers can draw, a situation like this should never happen.

Dumb.

Why folks are so jacked about the Konecny contract and only a few of us are in on this one I'll never know. 

This one really pisses me off. 

 

 

 

Edited July 29 by mojo1917

[radoran]

5 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

For all the talk of culture and the Flyers family, yada- yada- yada they weren't listening to themselves.

 

5 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

Why folks are so jacked about the Konecny contract and only a few of us are in on this one I'll never know. 

This one really pisses me off. 

 

Honestly? For these two reasons. They signed Konecny out of "Flyer culture" and "lifetime Flyer" and it's pretty clear that this only applies when you're part of the "good ol' boy" culture.

 

The Belarussian in Allentown? A third rounder from three years ago? Who?

 

Did they meet him at the airport or just change his itinerary with a connecting flight to Lehigh Valley?

 

It's why the whole focus on "culture" just rings false and smacks as a substitute for actual progress. I'm fine with the Konecny contract as far as it goes - I like the player and it's relative value for him. But (as I noted in the Other Thread) the "culture core" that they've locked up hasn't achieved much of anything of substance as a team in their careers. And we're set on that for the next six seasons.

 

Let's seriously hope that Michkov likes ol' Coots, Laughts, and TK and vice versa.

 

I'm also looking at a situation where the Flyers locked up their goalie position for two years and trying to find where Kolosov ever fit into their plans.

 

Because it's pretty damn obvious that he didn't.

 

"Prove it" is an ongoing part of the Danny Jones Experiment.

[OccamsRazor]

1 hour ago, radoran said:

I'm also looking at a situation where the Flyers locked up their goalie position for two years and trying to find where Kolosov ever fit into their plans.

 

Because it's pretty damn obvious that he didn't.

 

And if Fedotov doesn't hit...this will be an ugly situation...unless their plan was to stink up the joint for a year into the top 3....then they'll be geniuses...but i highly doubt that is their plan, if it were to ever hit.

 

It would be dumb luck.

 

But if all ends in a Cup well it will be all worth it. Till then? Drink.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 29 by OccamsRazor

[flyer4ever]

Arrogant. Ignorant. Stubborn. Dogmatic. Narcissistic. The dysfunction in Flyerland is epic.

Perhaps Kolosov and Gauthier are correct in wanting out. It is surprising that there haven't been more of these young men not wanting to wear the O&B with todays spoiled, entitled younguns. 

Perhaps this is a window into why there is next to zero development in the Flyer minor league system in the past 2 decades.

I'm just more than happy I don't live in STH commute of the WFC. I would be seriously pissed if I was actually invested in this dogs breakfast of a franchise.

[flyercanuck]

I think I may have heard this tune before somewhere...I just can't my finger on where...

 

https://thehockeywriters.com/danny-briere-actions-dont-prove-flyers-rebuilding/

 

GM Danny Briere’s Actions Don’t Prove Flyers Are Rebuilding

June 17, 2024 by Justin Giampietro

General manager (GM) Danny Briere has seen himself emerge as a fan-favorite for the Philadelphia Flyers, being the first GM in decades to openly use the word “rebuild,” referring to his team-building process. Since being named the full-time GM on May 11, 2023, has he actually lived up to that? If you really look into it, not really.

Grading Senators' GM Steve Staios' Signings - Michael Amadio

When looking at Briere’s moves and the lack thereof, it is arguable that he and the Flyers have not done enough. In reality, they haven’t done much of anything to indicate that they are truly in a rebuild—will that change?

Briere’s 2023 Offseason Wasn’t a Rebuild

After finishing 29th (2021-22) and 26th (2022-23) in the NHL standings with former GM Chuck Fletcher, who never stated he was rebuilding and didn’t make the big changes to start that kind of process, Briere took over and made just three trades in the 2023 offseason despite having countless veterans with trade value. If that wasn’t enough, all three of those trades were sort of designed to make the Flyers better, not worse—his addition-by-subtraction method worked like a charm.

 

The big move was when Briere sent Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a huge return including Sean Walker, Cal Petersen, Helge Grans, a 2023 first-round pick, and two 2024 second-round picks. This was an excellent deal, don’t get it twisted. But it was also made to make the Flyers better—the Blue Jackets simply had no idea of what they were working with.

At that point, Provorov was damaged goods. From 2020-21 through his final season in 2022-23, the Flyers were better without him on the ice than with him actually out there. In that time, he had an expected goals percentage (xGF%) of 46.1 and an expected goals against per 60 (xGA/60) of 2.82 at even strength. When he wasn’t out there, the Flyers held a 47.8 xGF% and 2.76 xGA/60 at even strength. It’s marginally better, sure, but they were nonetheless a better hockey team without him.

As a significantly below-average first-pairing defenseman, Briere didn’t really have a choice in trading Provorov. Again, he did an excellent job, but trading a liability off of your roster does not prove that you are in a rebuild. If anything, it does the opposite.

In some lower-end moves, the Flyers traded Kevin Hayes for a sixth-round pick and bought out Tony DeAngelo, which triggered a compensatory trade of sorts between Philadelphia and the Carolina Hurricanes—Briere traded away David Kase for prospect Massimo Rizzo and a fifth-round pick.

In total, Briere traded two legitimate roster players from his 2022-23 team and bought one out. Considering all three of those players were defensive liabilities on a team that was actually pretty good defensively, the Flyers arguably got better in theory—they did so in practice, too. With the Flyers adding veterans Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Ryan Poehling, Garnet Hathaway, Marc Staal, and Walker to their roster the following season versus the previous one, it’s really not all that shocking that their record improved in 2023-24.

Related: Flyers Offseason Roster Management Driving Their Success

In the 2023 offseason, there were a bunch of names thrown around. Players like Travis Konecny, Scott Laughton, and Travis Sanheim were all names that arose as trade bait, yet none of them left. Had they done so, it might have actually proven that Briere was rebuilding, and would have also served to maximize those players’ trade value. Now, Konecny only has one season left on his contract, Laughton struggled immensely in 2023-24, and Sanheim now has a no-trade clause (NTC)—the ship has all but sailed.

Alas, Briere kept those players and the team finished 21st in the standings, not good or bad—they were mediocre, which is what plagued them in the 2010s. Seemingly, this was done by design.

Are the Flyers Losing Sight of Their “Rebuild”?

Since that offseason, things have not gotten more clear on the rebuilding front. While it’s true that they were sellers at the trade deadline and gave away a big piece like Walker, so did the Pittsburgh Penguins—they have never once indicated that they are in a rebuild, yet traded an even better player, Jake Guentzel.

What the Flyers did do were a few things. It’s not all that notable, but they traded a fourth-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for 36-year-old defenseman Erik Johnson, who Briere might actually extend. Around the same time, they gave a four-year extension to 31-year-old defenseman Nick Seeler—do these sound like rebuilding moves?

Most notably, the Flyers traded one of the NHL’s best prospects, Cutter Gauthier, to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick. Even five months later, we don’t know everything about the story, but the consensus is that the 20-year-old forward didn’t want to play for the Orange and Black and forced his way out—Briere’s hands were somewhat tied in this situation.

However, “somewhat tied,” does not mean that Briere didn’t have some wiggle room. At the time of the trade, the Flyers had a 20-13-6 record, sitting in a playoff spot but needing some offensive creativity—that’s exactly what Drysdale provided, but he was unusable defensively. Instead of going for a legitimate prospect or some draft picks, Philadelphia went out and got a young roster player.

Now, Briere’s trade for Drysdale seems to mostly be in good faith. He has a superstar ceiling, plays a position (right-handed defense) where the Flyers are weak prospect-wise, and is still just 22 years old. At the same time, it is also true that this move likely served as one to make Philadelphia better in the short term. It definitely wasn’t the main reason, but the motivation for doing so seems clear. Wondering why the Flyers didn’t go for a high-end draft pick or a younger prospect, assuming that was in the cards, is very reasonable.

 

Today, the Flyers have yet to indicate that they want to trade any roster players and still have not made any moves. They’re likely taking it slow for now, but they also made their first splash on June 6 in Briere’s first season—that date passed a while ago.

Instead, the speculation is that the Flyers could extend Konecny, who becomes a free agent in 2025, to what is likely to be a long-term contract that will kick in when he is 28. Giving a non-superstar player that kind of deal goes against everything that a rebuilder stands for. Seeing as there is a legitimate concern that he could be a shell of himself once he nears his mid-30s, this would be a historically unprecedented move—you’d be hard-pressed to find an openly rebuilding team that would even toy with this sort of idea. Just maybe, that’s because the Flyers were never rebuilding in the first place.

How Briere Can Turn Things Around

Things really don’t have to be this doom and gloom, though. Briere can turn things around very quickly if he chooses to part ways with players like Konecny and Laughton, explores the market on younger forwards like Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, etc. In a flash, he can both improve the roster in the long term by acquiring another early first-round pick in a stacked 2024 class and simultaneously show that he is serious about rebuilding.

 

Until that happens, though, there isn’t conclusive evidence that the Flyers are rebuilding other than the fact that they have said it explicitly. At the end of the day, actions speak louder than words—the Orange and Black have done a lot of talking, yet not a lot of acting. They have “rebuilt,” the only way they know how to this point: taking shortcuts that ultimately limit their upside—they’ve been doing this for decades.

Briere is a legend in Flyers lore, so it would be a shame if he repeated the sins that even his GM committed when he was with the Orange and Black. If he is serious about a rebuild, he needs to start acting like it. Otherwise, their 49-year Stanley Cup drought might continue to grow to unfathomable heights.

Edited July 29 by flyercanuck

[JR Ewing]

Rookie GM, rookie mistake. A waste. Rebuilds should be steered by an experienced hand, as I've repeatedly said, or you end up like the Sabres and Oilers, bleeding talent needlessly.

 

[flyercanuck]

3 minutes ago, JR Ewing said:

Rookie GM, rookie mistake. A waste. Rebuilds should be steered by an experienced hand, as I've repeatedly said, or you end up like the Sabres and Oilers, bleeding talent needlessly.

 

 

So which guy (currently playing for the Flyers...cause that's our entire pool) do you think is an experienced GM? 

Edited July 29 by flyercanuck

[ctid]

5 minutes ago, flyercanuck said:

 

So which guy (currently playing for the Flyers...cause that's our entire pool) do you think is an experienced GM? 

If we are going to suck, then let's at least be best at it and make Lappy the GM 

[JR Ewing]

Just now, flyercanuck said:

 

So which guy (currently playing for the Flyers) do you think is an experienced GM? 

 

lol

 

----

 

So, this is the exact mistake that Peter Chiarelli made with Jesse Puljujarvi. Poo stepped off the airplane in Edmonton, just turned 18 and not knowing a lick of English, and there wasn't anybody around he could even speak to, because he was the only Finnish player. It took them a few months to hire a tutor who spoke Finnish to begin teaching him English, but by that time, the kid was miserable. Todd McLellan was quickly frustrated by the inability to communicate, so he was mostly watching games from the press box, sitting around hotels by himself, in a foreign land with a foreign culture, and was lonely.