This is reasonable. Are you sure you’re in the right place?
- Dkos

Rome wasn't built in a day. This regime doesn't deserve its butt kissed, but it doesn't deserve an utter burn down either. Yet. If you're committed to a rebuild you have to be exactly that, committed. You make mistakes, you learn, you move on. Colorado went through essentially 2 rebuilds before they got great, that's with missing the playoffs I think ~ 6 years and top 10 picks in 5 of those 6.

You can't tell me the performance for MOST of this year was much better top to bottom than it has been in years. They outworked, they out shot, they outchanced ALL YEAR.

This boils down to some of the comments you've made over the last month or so concerning players giving maximum effort, literally getting injured blocking shots all season long, scraping wins and OTL's out—keeping them in contention for the majority of the season, only to see it all slip away. It's a collective downer/negative effect to the team that's been snowballing for some time now; unable to score, inept power play, burned out rookie goalie unable to make the same timely saves that kept them in games. All of this coinciding with several of the regular scoring players slumping at the same time.
- Pixote Andolini

I feel that is misleading, not on your part, but the fact they were in contention and it leads to false assumptions.

3rd place in the metro in 2023 was 107 pts, 2022 was 103 pts. This year it most likely will be in the 80s and, again this bears repeating, this is a team that hasn't won a division game in calendar year 2024. In any other year, the Flyers would not have been in contention and, imo, a more accurate view of the state of the team would be more common rather than the romantic one common now.

Could you guys please enlighten me and let me know who is selling the crystal balls that you apparently all have?
- Phillywhiteout

Don't need a crystal ball. Just powers of observation.

Sam Reinhart, Sean Walker, trade for Anthony Stolarz.
- epa80

Reinhart is a good player coming off a career year, and thus will command a 7 year deal for big money. I'm not sure the Flyers are in a position to commit to a contract like that. But I like the sentiment. Who is leaving in your opinion?

Oh, I do agree though...this team is bushed. I don't think they have quit.
- Phillywhiteout

They looked liked they finally mailed in the 2nd and 3rd last night….but a few things.
Again they can’t seem to find the net, I think it’s more frustration than quitting. It’s just snow balling. The goaltending isn’t exactly helping the teams psyche. Ersson again last night 5 goals on 15 shots. At that point the games over.
I know all the Torts haters are saying this team is tired….they are gassed. Torts worked them to hard and made them block shots all year….what a complete load of poop.
Last time I looked every team has played the same amount of games, probably the same amount of practices.
Truth is they are not an overly talented team….and the goaltending has nose dived. They aren’t trying to win games 2 -1 any more because it’s pretty obvious they need to score 5 to compete.
Like every team in the NHL….they are tired. They are banged up. They just are not handling it very well.

The year overall has still I think been a susccess, even with this absolute egg being laid. You can't look at how they outshot/outchanced/outworked teams ALL year and say this year is the same as the previous seasons. That being said, they still have a BUNCH of work to do on this roster.


- epa80

In terms of the year being a success. Have to look at some things in the proper light. Is the system and style of play, something that is going to lead to and start the team on the path to legit contention. Is the improved finish, which is going to put them in the worst position a team can be in. Too good to get a high draft pick and not even close to being able to contend. The middle is death in the NHL. This season was not a success. It's a failure and it's the same path and approach that this Flyers organization has always had which is why they're still going nowhere. Maybe the lottery can save them again.

Rome wasn't built in a day. This regime doesn't deserve its butt kissed, but it doesn't deserve an utter burn down either. Yet. If you're committed to a rebuild you have to be exactly that, committed. You make mistakes, you learn, you move on. Colorado went through essentially 2 rebuilds before they got great, that's with missing the playoffs I think ~ 6 years and top 10 picks in 5 of those 6.

You can't tell me the performance for MOST of this year was much better top to bottom than it has been in years. They outworked, they out shot, they outchanced ALL YEAR.
- epa80

And it's only year 1 of the rebuild. This has been an epic collapse and I'm sure this will play into player evaluations; I mean it has to when you lose 6-2 and 9-3 in back to back games against bottom dwellers. But through this entire year, Briere and Jones have no wavered in their opinion of this team, that they are not close to a contending team. I for one am looking forward to the off-season, because I think many moves will be made.

Reinhart is a good player coming off a career year, and thus will command a 7 year deal for big money. I'm not sure the Flyers are in a position to commit to a contract like that. But I like the sentiment. Who is leaving in your opinion?
- jd250

I'd have to look over who has NMCs and all these days (since it feels like everyone does). I'd do my best to move Atkinson and if I couldn't, I'd send him to the AHL to at least clear his money off the cap.

Tippet's cap hit goes up 5 mill next season so you have to account for that, but the cap itself is going up considerably as well. Gurianov, Johnson, Staal all come off the books as UFAs, while Zamula and Brink have to be re-signed. Carter Hart is a RFA and who the hell knows what happens there.

Where there's a will there's a way.

Ok, you are the GM. What do you this off season? What is your plan?
- jd250

I'm not the GM.

Reinhart is a good player coming off a career year, and thus will command a 7 year deal for big money. I'm not sure the Flyers are in a position to commit to a contract like that. But I like the sentiment. Who is leaving in your opinion?
- jd250

There is no reason to sign Reinhart. I’m pretty sure he’ ll stay in south Florida at about 8 mill a year with no state tax.

Sam Reinhart, Sean Walker, trade for Anthony Stolarz.
- epa80

Seriously?

In terms of the year being a success. Have to look at some things in the proper light. Is the system and style of play, something that is going to lead to and start the team on the path to legit contention. Is the improved finish, which is going to put them in the worst position a team can be in. Too good to get a high draft pick and not even close to being able to contend. The middle is death in the NHL. This season was not a success. It's a failure and it's the same path and approach that this Flyers organization has always had which is why they're still going nowhere. Maybe the lottery can save them again.
- MJL

When I read this it's seems pretty obvious that you believe the Flyers should have tanked this year. The Flyers players played their butts off this year, what else could or should they have done? They played to their potential which was exactly that I told you they were, a playoff bubble team. So to get a high draft pick and not be in the dead middle as you term it, the only way that could have happened is to trade everyone, what other option was there?

And it's only year 1 of the rebuild. This has been an epic collapse and I'm sure this will play into player evaluations; I mean it has to when you lose 6-2 and 9-3 in back to back games against bottom dwellers. But through this entire year, Briere and Jones have no wavered in their opinion of this team, that they are not close to a contending team. I for one am looking forward to the off-season, because I think many moves will be made.
- jd250

It's not year 1 of the rebuild. They've been rebuilding for over a decade.

In terms of the year being a success. Have to look at some things in the proper light. Is the system and style of play, something that is going to lead to and start the team on the path to legit contention. Is the improved finish, which is going to put them in the worst position a team can be in. Too good to get a high draft pick and not even close to being able to contend. The middle is death in the NHL. This season was not a success. It's a failure and it's the same path and approach that this Flyers organization has always had which is why they're still going nowhere. Maybe the lottery can save them again.
- MJL

I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying. I just think they took a STEP in the right direction with the style of play this season (not counting you know what). Was the step 10 feet or a mile or something in between?

I can't look at the style of play they had this season, compare it to what we've seen for years now, and say it's a failure and the same path yada yada. Success is perhaps too strong a word I'll maybe give you. I think they took a step in the right direction. It's not enough, not nearly enough, but I think calling it an equal disaster to everything we've been seeing for a decade, and suggesting we just trash it all over again, would be a way bigger mistake. I just can't agree to it.

Rome wasn't built in a day. This regime doesn't deserve its butt kissed, but it doesn't deserve an utter burn down either. Yet. If you're committed to a rebuild you have to be exactly that, committed. You make mistakes, you learn, you move on. Colorado went through essentially 2 rebuilds before they got great, that's with missing the playoffs I think ~ 6 years and top 10 picks in 5 of those 6.

You can't tell me the performance for MOST of this year was much better top to bottom than it has been in years. They outworked, they out shot, they outchanced ALL YEAR.
- epa80

Let me help you out there : 4,4,10,10,1,2,3. Those are the top 10 picks and without those picks, they aren't the team that won the Stanley cup. The Flyers will never commit to that, this season was all about avoiding exactly that, and that is why they are doomed to repeat themselves in mediocrity. A team needs to have those high picks to have the best chance at elite talent and without elite talent you have no chance.

To use the car analogy, that someone posted earlier last week, The Flyers were redlining their engine all year until it finally overheated and broke down. So is the first part of the race where they competed the true state of the team or is the fact the Flyers were committed to an unsustainable strategy that will not/can not work in the long run representative of the denial of the true state of the team?

Seriously?
- MJL

Yes.

It's not year 1 of the rebuild. They've been rebuilding for over a decade.
- MJL

LOL, its year 1 under Briere and Jones. Fletcher was never rebuilding, and before that Hextall was trying to straddle the fence.

And it's only year 1 of the rebuild. This has been an epic collapse and I'm sure this will play into player evaluations; I mean it has to when you lose 6-2 and 9-3 in back to back games against bottom dwellers. But through this entire year, Briere and Jones have no wavered in their opinion of this team, that they are not close to a contending team. I for one am looking forward to the off-season, because I think many moves will be made.
- jd250

It’s fine for Briere and Jones to say publicly that they are not a contending team….I could care less about their comments. It’s their ACTIONS that are going dictate what their true feelings are. I heard them say they needed to keep a guy like Scott Laughton because he’s the pro that shows guys how to play the right way? He’s not exactly making their statements look true.

When I read this it's seems pretty obvious that you believe the Flyers should have tanked this year. The Flyers players played their butts off this year, what else could or should they have done? They played to their potential which was exactly that I told you they were, a playoff bubble team. So to get a high draft pick and not be in the dead middle as you term it, the only way that could have happened is to trade everyone, what other option was there?
- jd250

I have never supported tanking. I tend to have a different opinion of what tanking is though.

This team is not what you think it is. This coach is not who you think he is.

Let me help you out there : 4,4,10,10,1,2,3. Those are the top 10 picks and without those picks, they aren't the team that won the Stanley cup. The Flyers will never commit to that, this season was all about avoiding exactly that, and that is why they are doomed to repeat themselves in mediocrity. A team needs to have those high picks to have the best chance at elite talent and without elite talent you have no chance.

To use the car analogy, that someone posted earlier last week, The Flyers were redlining their engine all year until it finally overheated and broke down. So is the first part of the race where they competed the true state of the team or is the fact the Flyers were committed to an unsustainable strategy that will not/can not work in the long run representative of the denial of the true state of the team?
- Flyers_01

True you need to have those types of picks. You can’t afford to miss when you get the chance. The Flyers have done just that that.

Critical juncture of losing 3 starting d to injury, trading Walker for what will likely be a low first round pick down the road and not going for Jake Allen after losing Hart, when they were starting to wear down.

Briere could have done a few small things to help the team without sacrificing the future/rebuild/retool. Maybe he should have given in to Gauthier.

Briere and Torts remind of Stalin and Kruschev at Stalingrad, just throwing bodies into the meatgrinder except without fresh bodies coming in. They also shot their own soldiers if they tried to retreat. Watch the movie "Enemy at the Gates", that is the parallel I draw. Demanding total sacrifice and poor leadership in the field and at commanding level, without any hope of help.


At this point I wish an alien spaceship would swallow the front office up and maybe the Comcast folks too.

I don't disagree with a lot of what you're saying. I just think they took a STEP in the right direction with the style of play this season (not counting you know what). Was the step 10 feet or a mile or something in betwee



I can't look at the style of play they had this season, compare it to what we've seen for years now, and say it's a failure and the same path yada yada. Success is perhaps too strong a word I'll maybe give you. I think they took a step in the right direction. It's not enough, not nearly enough, but I think calling it an equal disaster to everything we've been seeing for a decade, and suggesting we just trash it all over again, would be a way bigger mistake. I just can't agree to it.
- epa80

The style of play under Tortorella is not a style of play that wins in today's NHL. It can make a team more competitive. Tortorella needs to be removed. They aren't moving forward. It's a mirage. What they're doing is blocking moving forward.

Let me help you out there : 4,4,10,10,1,2,3. Those are the top 10 picks and without those picks, they aren't the team that won the Stanley cup. The Flyers will never commit to that, this season was all about avoiding exactly that, and that is why they are doomed to repeat themselves in mediocrity. A team needs to have those high picks to have the best chance at elite talent and without elite talent you have no chance.

To use the car analogy, that someone posted earlier last week, The Flyers were redlining their engine all year until it finally overheated and broke down. So is the first part of the race where they competed the true state of the team or is the fact the Flyers were committed to an unsustainable strategy that will not/can not work in the long run representative of the denial of the true state of the team?
- Flyers_01

Good point out on the Avs pick options. I was too lazy to do the actual break down. I do forget if all of them were their picks (Makar might have been Ottawa's?), but the point is the same: they stockpiled picks, and got lucky with the players available at some of those picks.

So I guess the main question is: to commit to a tear down/rebuild of the same model, who do you move on from wth the Flyers? I mean the negative tone around most of these parts insinuates they suck pretty hard as is, so how do you suck harder to commit to that strategy of a long rebuild?

Or is it more you cross your fingers and hope to get lucky with high picks not named JVR and Nolan Patrick?

I have never supported tanking. I tend to have a different opinion of what tanking is though.

This team is not what you think it is. This coach is not who you think he is.
- MJL

That is why I need to see what happens this offseason. Either Briere has real power and a plan. Can look a few steps ahead and plan for this rebuild or we just sit in this place of purgatory.

Last night further cemented to me I want no part of a Konecny long term deal at big money. In a way, Suzuki shows how you acquire talent. MTL moved Pacioretty to bring in Suzuki. The Flyers need to make those hard moves to bring in more talent. They don't need role players. They need talent.

Yes.
- epa80

Sign a player to a huge deal that had an outlier season. What could go wrong? Go back to trying to trade and sign your way there again. It's always worked so well. What could go wrong?