That it's still a bad contract.
Also, you seem to rely on IFs a lot in your arguments.
- Flyers_01

I'm just asking the question. Its easy to pile on the contract now when the player has had 2 back surgeries and a core surgery. But if he comes back and has a good season, people will be slient. The other thing to consider is by next year the cap is projected to be $93M and that makes Courts' contract about 8% of the cap space. If Couts puts up even 50 points a season with that percentage, the contract is a lot more palitable. Its not about Ifs, its about piling on something when the chips are down. Will the same people praise the contract if things turn aorund? Most likely not.

With this all said, what were the Flyers supposed to do back in Aug 2021? The Flyers were thinking they had something brewing at that time, and a rebuild was the farthest thing from their minds. They really had no choice but to extend Couts.

Cracks me up when folks say that people are whining about the whiners. That makes no sense whatsoever. Hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when it becomes the same ole negative gibberish (complaining) day after day it becomes WHINING! And that's a fact Jack! Thanks! Oh, and for the record I am a realist (logic whatever personality type), so certainly not the eternal optimist. I mean, just look at my comment about Couts a little while ago. That wasn't very optimistic.
- Phillywhiteout

No, that's not what I said. Start with that.

You say something makes no sense at all. You then say everyone is entitled to their opinion then say it's whining. If it is the reality of the situation, which it is, then it's not whining. You just can't grasp that. You also apparently don't know what a fact is.

I'm just asking the question. Its easy to pile on the contract now when the player has had 2 back surgeries and a core surgery. But if he comes back and has a good season, people will be slient. The other thing to consider is by next year the cap is projected to be $93M and that makes Courts' contract about 8% of the cap space. If Couts puts up even 50 points a season with that percentage, the contract is a lot more palitable. Its not about Ifs, its about piling on something when the chips are down. Will the same people praise the contract if things turn aorund? Most likely not.

With this all said, what were the Flyers supposed to do back in Aug 2021? The Flyers were thinking they had something brewing at that time, and a rebuild was the farthest thing from their minds. They really had no choice but to extend Couts.
- jd250

That's not true, they absolutely had a choice. I agreed with their choice at the time but they still had a choice. Trading Couturier for future assets had merit.

I'm just asking the question. Its easy to pile on the contract now when the player has had 2 back surgeries and a core surgery. But if he comes back and has a good season, people will be slient. The other thing to consider is by next year the cap is projected to be $93M and that makes Courts' contract about 8% of the cap space. If Couts puts up even 50 points a season with that percentage, the contract is a lot more palitable. Its not about Ifs, its about piling on something when the chips are down. Will the same people praise the contract if things turn aorund? Most likely not.

With this all said, what were the Flyers supposed to do back in Aug 2021? The Flyers were thinking they had something brewing at that time, and a rebuild was the farthest thing from their minds. They really had no choice but to extend Couts.
- jd250

most knew it was a bad deal from day 1. They did have a choice. they choose the flyers way. could have got a haul back for ex selke. stop with the % of cap crap. this contract will be an anchor until it runs its course.

there will never ever be praise of this contract as praise will never be warranted.

That’s a big “if”. He has to stay healthy. But if he can be that 20G and even 50 pt. , guy then along with his two way game and leadership he will justify, somewhat, that contract.
- landros 2

I agree, and playing with the likes of TK, Foerster, Michkov and Tippet should enable Couts to rack up some assists. Like I said, with the cap going up, the percentage of this contract is alot more manageable than when it was signed. Its a big IF that he stays healthy, but the medical technlogoy today is light years from where it was even 15 years ago. We see what Eichel has been able to do since his ground breaking surgery. Farabee didn't miss a game after that same surgery. At one time, pitchers who needed Tommy John surgury where pretty much toast. Now they come back stronger than before. The core surgery will take some time to come back from, but I think if the Flyers manage Couts correctly in the first part of the season, unlike what they did last season, Couts might get stronger as the season progresses and have a good year. However, I can also see the other side. One more back or core issue, and he might have to hang it up.

That's not true, they absolutely had a choice. I agreed with their choice at the time but they still had a choice. Trading Couturier for future assets had merit.
- MJL

Of course they had a choice, but the overwhelming option for the Flyers at that time was to extend Couts. I was also in favor of the extension at the time.

Oh yeah, I'm certainly not absolving them of blame here. I mean, just the basics of putting a kid in a hotel room for a month that is in a foreign land and doesn't speak the language is a bad look. I'm just saying that this will be another opportunity for those that enjoy such things to lambaste Danny boy again. The kid made a commitment to come over here and it sounds as if the organization treated him as a second class citizen. Not a good look at all. Not to mention Fedotov scares me. His lateral movement looks sloooooooooooowwwww...
- Phillywhiteout

We’ll see how Fedotov looks this year….I remember watching him in international play….might have been olympics, he looked really good. I’m not putting any stock in the situation he was put in last year….I mean the guy didn’t even have his own equipment. That’s bizarre.

They went the extra mile to get Fedotov over to try to save their season during the collapse last year, that's why they hyped him up and he got that contract. Promises were made. Kolo is out of luck for at least this year.
- Flyers_01

And to me…that’s a mistake.

Of course they had a choice, but the overwhelming option for the Flyers at that time was to extend Couts. I was also in favor of the extension at the time.
- jd250

At 9:26AM, literally 8 minutes ago, you posted this. Can't make it up.

"They really had no choice but to extend Couts."

It was not the overwhelming option at all.

When does Mark Recchi get hired in some capacity?
- hello it's me 2050

I sat next to Recchs at dinner outing on Saturday: Short version is that he's not interested in getting back into coaching. May take time away but the Flyers are one of just a couple of orgs he'd have interest in staying in the hockey business to work for. So it's possible. Won't be as PP coach.

I'm just asking the question. Its easy to pile on the contract now when the player has had 2 back surgeries and a core surgery. But if he comes back and has a good season, people will be slient. The other thing to consider is by next year the cap is projected to be $93M and that makes Courts' contract about 8% of the cap space. If Couts puts up even 50 points a season with that percentage, the contract is a lot more palitable. Its not about Ifs, its about piling on something when the chips are down. Will the same people praise the contract if things turn aorund? Most likely not.

With this all said, what were the Flyers supposed to do back in Aug 2021? The Flyers were thinking they had something brewing at that time, and a rebuild was the farthest thing from their minds. They really had no choice but to extend Couts.
- jd250

Just like they had no choice but to resign Konecny. The FO are innocent victims on the road of life while making 6 figures. If you don't want to make the hard choices, don't take the job.

Look, for Coots, the best years of the contract were supposed to be the front end of the contract. That's how these golden parachute contracts work. They overpay for the backend to hopefully get the best years at the front and then send them to ARI in their golden years. The theoretical 2 best years of the contract are now gone. He can make it less of a disaster but short of 2018 Coots reappearing for multiple years it will always be bad and honestly i don't see 2018 Coots ever reappearing.

The thing is this team always prioritizes on keeping the gravy train rolling for the current year. The back end of Coots contract was never going to be Fletcher's problem, it would be the next guy's. You want to keep the Flyers a playoff bubble team in the short term, signing Coots was the right move as he was a very good player in his prime but long term it was always going to burn the Flyers. It just happened sooner than anyone could've expected.

And to me…that’s a mistake.
- landros 2

Agreed and despite Walker being traded, make no mistake, the priority was the playoffs.

https://www.nytimes.com/a...e-flyers-laughton-briere/

So, yeah, that’s one reason the team was perhaps a bit too quiet on NHL trade deadline day for some sections of the fan base, who heard the word “rebuild” uttered by Briere and Keith Jones less than a year ago and are still waiting for the team to be torn down to its bare bones in order to stockpile top five picks for a few years. Instead, now that they’re so close, making the playoffs has become a priority for the Flyers front office.

“Hopefully we can keep it rolling in getting to the playoffs,” Briere said on Thursday. “Now that’s the goal from now on, for me personally. … In a sense, that’s exceeded what we were hoping for at the beginning of the season.”

That was Briere's mindset when Fedotov became an option, not what's best long term.

Agreed and despite Walker being traded, make no mistake, the priority was the playoffs.

https://www.nytimes.com/a...e-flyers-laughton-briere/

So, yeah, that’s one reason the team was perhaps a bit too quiet on NHL trade deadline day for some sections of the fan base, who heard the word “rebuild” uttered by Briere and Keith Jones less than a year ago and are still waiting for the team to be torn down to its bare bones in order to stockpile top five picks for a few years. Instead, now that they’re so close, making the playoffs has become a priority for the Flyers front office.

“Hopefully we can keep it rolling in getting to the playoffs,” Briere said on Thursday. “Now that’s the goal from now on, for me personally. … In a sense, that’s exceeded what we were hoping for at the beginning of the season.”

That was Briere's mindset when Fedotov became an option, not what's best long term.
- Flyers_01

Its comments like this from Briere, and the "rebuild is BS" comment from Jones that invite criticism from the fans. And rightfully so. IMO they have no leeway because they are new. The comments imply that what we are in store for is more of the same.

Its comments like this from Briere, and the "rebuild is BS" comment from Jones that invite criticism from the fans. And rightfully so. IMO they have no leeway because they are new, because the comments imply that what we are in store for is more of the same.
- MBFlyerfan

Exactly right. Doesn't matter if the people running the show are new if there isn't wholesale change in the way the team operates. If they keep doing the same thing. We'd have to believe that the current front office are hockey hierarchy that can do what pretty much nobody else can do.

Oh yeah, I'm certainly not absolving them of blame here. I mean, just the basics of putting a kid in a hotel room for a month that is in a foreign land and doesn't speak the language is a bad look. I'm just saying that this will be another opportunity for those that enjoy such things to lambaste Danny boy again. The kid made a commitment to come over here and it sounds as if the organization treated him as a second class citizen. Not a good look at all. Not to mention Fedotov scares me. His lateral movement looks sloooooooooooowwwww...
- Phillywhiteout

I heard they offered to put him in an apartment complex that all the other players lived in and he refused. Didn’t want roommates - so the whole hotel angle is his fault. He wanted to be there.

The kid will not get on a plane to come here. Good riddance.

Edmonton making moves to make cap space. Wonder who they want to sign, Holloway or Broberg. Doubt they can get both.

I didn't realize they were still paying James Neal

I heard they offered to put him in an apartment complex that all the other players lived in and he refused. Didn’t want roommates - so the whole hotel angle is his fault. He wanted to be there.

The kid will not get on a plane to come here. Good riddance.
- anti-lame

We will see if he gets on a plane but whether or not he was in the complex doesn't really go to the core issue. He was unable to verbally communicate with a single player and other than playing hockey had nothing in common. Some people handle being alone in a crowd of strangers better than others but he is not one of them.

This was a preventable issue, even DB admits that they are "learning" on the job.

We will see if he gets on a plane but whether or not he was in the complex doesn't really go to the core issue. He was unable to verbally communicate with a single player and other than playing hockey had nothing in common. Some people handle being alone in a crowd of strangers better than others but he is not one of them.

This was a preventable issue, even DB admits that they are "learning" on the job.
- Flyers_01

Russian players for the most part don’t grow up dreaming of playing in the NHL and lifting the Cup. So while I personally think you need to make sacrifices and do whatever it takes to play in the best league in the world, the team needs to be cognizant that this isn’t going to apply to every player out there. The whole “I’m alone in a hotel room” thing is where he decided we would be most comfortable.

But if he doesn’t want to compete and earn a spot then good luck to him.

What bothers me is the sob story of being so alone, left to rot in a hotel by himself. Woe is me blah blah blah. That was his choice. It’s a cop out for the real reason he doesn’t want to be here is he doesn’t want to earn his roster spot. He’s spinning it to put the blame on the team in this instance. Have some confidence in yourself and go play your ass off.

I will say though i sort of agree that it doesn’t matter if he’s in that complex or has roommates if they can’t talk to him. But his complaint paints a picture that we stashed him in a room against his will, not that he couldn’t communicate with anyone. I’m just not ready to blame the flyers for this

I still don’t know what went down with cutter and won’t pretend to know the details

Edmonton making moves to make cap space. Wonder who they want to sign, Holloway or Broberg. Doubt they can get both.

I didn't realize they were still paying James Neal
- WhiskeyMan

I assume they will sign Broberg. They traded for a forward and moved out a D. Maybe it's neither and they have another d-man in there sites.

Ya gotta admit it’s not a good look….they basically signed the other 27 year old Russian in Fedotov….whom Kosolov played just as well in the KHL as, and anointed him the backup in Philly and Kosolov, a guy with two solid seasons under his belt in the KHL as a Phantom?
Why not tell the kid it’s a competition? That is on the organization. 100%
- landros2

I agree its a bad look, especially after the Guathier situation. But how do we know the Flyers didn't make it a competition? Its quite possible that the Flyers extended Fedotov to what many believed was too much AAV because of they knew Kolosov wanted out. I just think we need more facts.

What bothers me is the sob story of being so alone, left to rot in a hotel by himself. Woe is me blah blah blah. That was his choice. It’s a cop out for the real reason he doesn’t want to be here is he doesn’t want to earn his roster spot. He’s spinning it to put the blame on the team in this instance. Have some confidence in yourself and go play your ass off.

I will say though i sort of agree that it doesn’t matter if he’s in that complex or has roommates if they can’t talk to him. But his complaint paints a picture that we stashed him in a room against his will, not that he couldn’t communicate with anyone. I’m just not ready to blame the flyers for this

I still don’t know what went down with cutter and won’t pretend to know the details
- anti-lame

Especially since Cutter is too chicken-bleep to say anything.

I agree its a bad look, especially after the Guathier situation. But how do we know the Flyers didn't make it a competition? Its quite possible that the Flyers extended Fedotov to what many believed was too much AAV because of they knew Kolosov wanted out. I just think we need more facts.
- jd250

do you believe the ivan is being paid too much?

Especially since Cutter is too chicken-bleep to say anything.
- jd250

maybe is just a mature person who is taking the high road.

what does he have to gain by saying anything?

Just like they had no choice but to resign Konecny. The FO are innocent victims on the road of life while making 6 figures. If you don't want to make the hard choices, don't take the job.

Look, for Coots, the best years of the contract were supposed to be the front end of the contract. That's how these golden parachute contracts work. They overpay for the backend to hopefully get the best years at the front and then send them to ARI in their golden years. The theoretical 2 best years of the contract are now gone. He can make it less of a disaster but short of 2018 Coots reappearing for multiple years it will always be bad and honestly i don't see 2018 Coots ever reappearing.

The thing is this team always prioritizes on keeping the gravy train rolling for the current year. The back end of Coots contract was never going to be Fletcher's problem, it would be the next guy's. You want to keep the Flyers a playoff bubble team in the short term, signing Coots was the right move as he was a very good player in his prime but long term it was always going to burn the Flyers. It just happened sooner than anyone could've expected.
- Flyers_01

Good points. I think with TK the Flyers did have more of an option to move him, especially if his contract demands were $10M AAV, which apparently they were not. There would have been a ton of interest in TK, but given his contract status, any team trading for him would have had to commit to a max term contract. That had to play a factor in what teams were willing to give up for TK. So then the Flyers had to weigh what they would get back if they traded TK and how they would fill the void he would leave on the roster. In the end they decided to extend him. Its a really tough call. I am less upset about extending TK, and more upset that players like Laughton and Risto are still here, though with Risto and his injury I can understand why. Clearly moving forward, the plan is to sign and trade their way to cup contention. I am skeptical this will be successful, since so many times in the past it has failed.