“The morning after” is a review of the previous night’s Flyers’ game which, in theory, provides a more objective perspective on the game. Michael Leighton played an average game in net last night and suffered a back injury during the game. It’s hard to say exactly how this affected his play but it was far from the first time that Leighton was unable to steal a game when the team in front of him was playing poorly. Fortunately, Nikolai Zherdev and Claude Giroux had instant chemistry last night and helped the team rally back. Zherdev scored two goals and Danny …
The morning after: Devils vs. Flyers 9.21.10
I’m thinking of implementing a new regular feature on this site where I recap my thoughts on a game from the previous day with a new perspective. For now, I’ll call it “The morning after,” until I think of something better. Here are some more thoughts on last night’s game: The Flyers have the potential to be an offensive juggernaut: James van Riemsdyk looked like a number two overall pick, Daniel Briere’s shot is lethal, Nikolai Zherdev and Jeff Carter could put up big numbers, and that doesn’t even account for Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, et al. This …
First period thoughts
Zherdev is fun to watch. If he forms good chemistry with Carter, they will be dangerous. He’s fast and has good vision. Biggest standouts were the fringe guys: Nodl, Powe, Bartulis. Giroux and JvR looked good too. Well, Bartulis wasn’t great but he had his moments. I like Sean OD. Meh-zaros looked terrible to me. Not impressed. Leighton wasn’t tested much. He made one good save, or so it appeared from my angle. Didn’t notice Guerin or Richards much, outside of the penalty Richards took.
Evaluating Flyers prospects
I want to introduce another way of evaluating prospects using a NHL Equivalency or NHLE for short. Gabriel Desjardins, a prominent blogger in the hockey analysis world developed NHLE. He has figured out the production equivalency for lower leagues and how they translate into the NHL. Meaning we can take a player’s stat line from a lesser league like the Canadian junior hockey league and figure out what the NHL equivalent for the player’s performance would be. This gives us an idea of how a prospect would perform offensively at the NHL level. It’s not a perfect method for evaluating …
Are the Flyers a better team?
This question was recently asked on the Flyers Forum and, admittedly, it caught me off guard. For all of the knee-jerk reactions we are accustomed to giving as fans of Philadelphia sports teams, I had a hard time saying no to this question. I wanted to lash out about how management backed themselves into a corner with the cap and it forced them to trade the beloved Simon Gagne for garbage, or about the illogical acquisition of overpaid defender, Andrej Meszaros, while plenty of good free agent defenders were available. I had a million reasons to complain about how I …
Hamhuis is in. So, who’s out?
The Flyers traded defenseman RFA Ryan Parent to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Dan Hamhuis, who is set to become a free agent on July 1. Parent, a former first round pick of the Predators, suffered a rash of injuries and never lived up to his potential in Philadelphia. Though the Flyers have not signed — or, at least, announced — a new contract with the physical defender, it’s reasonable to assume they will do so. As pointed out on Twitter by Greg Wyshynski, of Puck Daddy fame, it was 3 years and 1 day ago that the Flyers …
Upgrading via free agency
Given the Flyers’ current cap situation, they are unlikely to make a splash in free agency unless they manage to shed a really big contract or two without taking back salary. This shouldn’t be an issue, though, as they don’t need to target the Ilya Kovalchuk’s of this UFA class. They need to add affordable depth. The first thing the Flyers should do is to add some additional scoring punch to the third line and finally give Claude Giroux a viable, consistent threat on the wing. Vinnie Prospal is a reliable scorer that would have instant chemistry with Giroux. Prospal …
Offseason analysis: Offense
Contracts of note: Carcillo (RFA), Powe (RFA), Asham (UFA) Top prospects: Maroon, Legein Needs: 1st line RW, possible 3rd line RW According to Sam Carchidi, GM Paul Holmgren stated the other day that it is “highly unlikely” the current roster will remain unchanged in the offseason. At this point, the Flyers have two options up front: Do they sell high on superb postseason performers with high salaries (Gagne, Brière, Hartnell) or do they move Jeff Carter, who struggled throughout parts of the regular season as well as the playoffs and had two fractured feet? Daniel Brière Brière is a proven …