Philadelphia Flyers

This has been sitting as a draft for two weeks+ and new stuff just keeps happening, so this is probably going to be very long, but I'll try to make it tl;dr PRE-DRAFT: I finally have time to write and share with you my experiences from over the past weeks. Leading up to May 3rd, it was just more of the same stuff. Skating, both in a men's league and private training, and working out. No real contact with anyone, just doing my thing and getting ready. I was supposed to be skating in front of the Johnstown GM prior to that, but that fell through. When I got up there though, I got a chance to finally play some real hockey and gain an appreciation for the guys that play at that level already. The week before the showcase, Johnstown's GM was in the Philly area, specifically to see me skate. We thought we had an ice slot all set to go when a former Flyer (who's last name is "small") decided that it would be a good time to get his newest guy a scouting opportunity as well. My former coach and I agreed that we should back out of the ice slot due to our relationship with the rink and the former Flyer. That really sucked and made me a hell of a lot more nervous going up to Boston and skating in front of the GM for the first time in game situations that I had never experienced before. I would have to get over it though, and pretty soon because the showcase was that weekend. The trip wasn't the easiest I've ever experienced. 95 in Connecticut was slowed to a crawl for nearly the entirety of it. I barely made it to the first game. With no time to check in to the hotel, let alone warm up, I headed to the rink. When I got there, half of the team was sitting outside. I was confused to say the least until I looked into the room and it was literally full with no room for even a stick. I got dressed outside and made my way to the ice for my first experience of junior hockey. The first game wasn't bad. Two assists and a good hit were the end result. The teams that my team would play next though weren't going to be nearly as easy to play against. The next two games were against teams that were centered around kids from Canadian junior leagues. The second team we played in the tournament was made of all OJHL kids from the same team. That was the fastest hockey that I've ever played. Everything happened so quickly, and I couldn't keep up. That game didn't go so well. The third game was against a team that featured three guys from the QMJHL. It was really easy to pick out who they were when we started to play. They were faster, stronger, and smarter than anybody on my team. I took a solid hit from one of them in open ice. It didn't feel good. I felt better overall though and ended up almost scoring a goal. I would have if the goalie didn't make a miraculous save, but oh well. No good junior teams approached me after the tournament, but that was expected. I headed home knowing what I needed to work on to get on the level of those kids. POST PRE-DRAFT: I headed right back into the gym when I got back. I had a camp for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in the NAHL two weekends from then. The workouts changed and I've slowly started to see gains in muscle mass and foot speed. The camp started on May 17 and featured a practice and two games. The practice was my first time on the ice since pre-draft, so I was rusty and that certainly didn't help. My feet felt like they were stuck in concrete as I tried to keep up with the speedier guys in the group. The games felt better, and even the coaches said that I had improved significantly throughout the camp. I just tried to keep my game simple. Good stick and bodywork, solid first pass out of the defensive zone, and providing a little bit of offense. I must have blocked a good 15 shots during those two games, and those guys can shoot hard. One shot caught me right above the heart (it hit me so hard, it left a mark under my shoulder pads) and scared the daylights out of me, as I've switched from a cage to a ha

Hey Y'all! Not an advanced stats guy, so this may be an absurd idea, but I thought I would give it a shot to run the Flyers for this offseason. Would love to hear all your feedback and hopefully we can start some discussions! Thanks, enjoy! FORWARDS Scott Hartnell ($4.750m) / Claude Giroux ($3.750m) / Jakub Voracek ($4.250m) Viktor Stalberg ($1.750m) / Brayden Schenn ($3.110m) / Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m) Simon Gagne ($2.250m) / Sean Couturier ($1.375m) / Tyler Bozak ($2.500m) Zac Rinaldo ($0.750m) / Maxime Talbot ($1.750m) / Adam Hall ($0.750m) Tye McGinn ($0.775m) / Jay Rosehill ($0.675m) / DEFENSEMEN Oliver E.-Larsson ($5.500m) / Luke Schenn ($3.600m) Kimmo Timonen ($6.000m) / Erik Gustafsson ($1.000m) Grant Clitsome ($1.750m) / Nicklas Grossmann ($3.500m) Bruno Gervais ($0.825m) / Kent Huskins ($0.750m) GOALTENDERS Jonathan Bernier ($3.200m) Steve Mason ($1.500m) CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter) (these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,726,429; BONUSES: $2,800,000CAP SPACE (24-man roster): $3,373,571 Trades: Coburn and Petr Straka for rights to Jonathan Bernier Matt Read, Scott Laughton, Mez for OEL or Yandle Happy Trails: Bryz, we don’t pay you all that money to DUCK from the puck. While you played well this season we can not build a team with your awful contract Briere your cap hit is awful considering your production of late, we need the money to build a team. Rusty you wanted too much playing time and you are not that good Mike Knuble....do I really need to say anything Jody Shelly, Matt Walker thank god you two are off the books! Welcome back: Gags says he wants to stay in Philly and will take a hometown discount Gus time to start on the big club the Big O stashed in the minors for the time being Kent Huskins, a calming influence on the blue line since becoming a Flyer Adam Hall fantastic PK guy will give G and Coots some rest on the PK Welcome in: UFA Viktor Stalberg has had a respectable career with the Hawks so far will add some depth up front for us after trading away some pieces UFA Tyler Bozak very durable player, pretty decent production with the leafs, perhaps a change of scenery will turn his production up, again gives us some depth Trade OEL!!!! Yeah we gave a TON away for this guy but he is worth it, young guy already up in the elite category of defensemen Trade Jonathan Bernier, I believe he is living in the shadow of Quick, not elite yet but better than bryz and still early in his career, could become an elite guy, also provides healthy competition for Mason at a cap friendly price! Down on the Farm: Nick Cousins could see some time with the big club to see what he can do Whoever we take with 11th overall (a Forward preferably thats why i traded Laughton) The Big O, looked good in the last segment of last season, would like to see him put on some weight and work on his speed and fundamentals, but I feel very good about him as an option for us at D for the future. Cap Space, what is that? Yeah we have about 3 mil in cap space, gives us room to make a move at the deadline if need be (looking at you kimmo) if not when Kimmo comes off the books plus whoever else comes off the books after next season to sign G Coots and Schenner Hey Y'all! Not an advanced stats guy, so this may be an absurd idea, but I thought I would give it a shot to run the Flyers for this offseason. Would love to hear all your feedback and hopefully we can start some discussions! Thanks, enjoy! FORWARDS Scott Hartnell ($4.750m) / Claude Giroux ($3.750m) / Jakub Voracek ($4.250m) Viktor Stalberg ($1.750m) / Brayden Schenn ($3.110m) / Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m) Simon Gagne ($2.250m) / Sean Couturier ($1.375m) / Tyler Bozak ($2.500m) Zac Rinaldo ($0.750m) / Maxime Talbot ($1.750m) / Adam Hall ($0.750m) Tye McGinn ($0.775m) / Jay Rosehill ($0.675m) / DEFENSEMEN Oliver E.-Larsson ($5.500m) / Luke Sch

Here's Exhibit #8734652349 in the file of "why you don't react too much to one year's worth of surprising results." At this time last year, the question about Scott Hartnell was whether or not his career year in the 2011-12 season was worthy of a contract extension. As you probably heard, he got said contract extension. Now, after a 2013 season featuring significantly worse results and injury troubles, the question among a lot of fans seems to be how long until his new contract runs out -- or, for some, whether he's a candidate for a compliance buyout. So how are things looking for Hartnell as he heads into the first year of his new deal? Let's break this into three questions and find out. 1. What worked last year for Hartnell that didn't this year? Before Hartnell signed his extension, Eric wrote the piece linked above that talked about how Hartnell had improved last season. In essence, it came down to a drastically improved shot rate on the power play. That jump, coupled with a slight increase in Hartnell's already-high power play shooting percentage, helped him along to his career year, while his even-strength numbers had actually remained fairly constant to years past. This year? Let's start on the power play. If we add another row (and column) to that table from last year... Year 5v4 TOI/G 5v4 goals 5v4 shots on goal 5v4 shooting percentage 5v4 shots per game 2008-09 2.32 6 21 28.6% 0.26 2009-10 2.67 8 32 25.0% 0.40 2010-11 2.75 4 19 21.1% 0.23 2011-12 3.06 15 57 26.3% 0.70 2013 2.89 4 19 21.1% 0.59 His shot rates with the man advantage weren't quite where they were last season, but they were close, and well above the mark set in any season prior to last season. His shooting percentage was down a bit, but over the span of 19 shots that'd only cost him a single goal over the span of 32 games. So the high shot rate is still fairly encouraging. The even-strength numbers, though, are a bit less optimistic. Year Goals/60 Primary assists/60 Points/60 2008-09 1.26 0.66 2.47 2009-10 0.36 0.89 1.79 2010-11 1.13 0.54 2.16 2011-12 1.04 0.52 2.13 2013 0.60 0.30 0.90 Hartnell's rate production at even strength was by far the lowest it's been in a while, and given that even strength is, y'know, the state at which hockey games are mostly played, that's the biggest explanation as for why his numbers fell off. We all saw Laviolette shifting him around lines a lot this year -- from the top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek to the second line with Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds, with a few trips to the third and even the fourth line here and there -- but no matter who it was, none of his five most frequent linemates (sorted below by 5v5 ice time with Hartnell) really got him going on the ice this year the way Giroux and Jaromir Jagr did last year: Linemate Hartnell's P/60 with linemate Claude Giroux 1.22 Jakub Voracek 1.37 Brayden Schenn 0.81 Wayne Simmonds 0.00 Danny Briere 1.45 He also lost 16 games to injury thanks to a broken foot, which isn't something that typically happens to him given that he'd missed all of three games in his five-year Flyers career heading into 2013. Not to mention, he came back from that injury a bit quicker than I think most of us anticipated, and it looked like it may have slowed him down some on the ice. 2. Can we expect him to bounce back? We sure can. We've already discussed how individual and on-ice shooting percentages affect scoring rates, and how that affected one Flyers forward already this season. Turns out Sean Couturier wasn't the only one bit by the shooting percentage bug this year: Year 5v5 Shooting % Points/60 2008-09 10.47 2.47 2009-10 7.39 1.79 2010-11 10.69 2.16 2011-12 9.76 2.13 2013 6.03 0.90 You can see

*The Rangers hold off the sweep, and Bruins fans everywhere get a little nervous about 3-0 series leads. A glorious amount of hockey last night! *So we really are saying goodbye to little Danny Briere. I, for one, will miss his fist pump. (BSH) *Eric Wellwood is starting his long road back after his horrifying injury. (Philly.com) *There are few things better in this world than a big, fluffy, ginger hockey beard. (Puck Daddy) *It's official: Patrick Roy is the new head coach of the Avalanche. (SB Nation) *Meltzer takes a look at the Flyers' history of second round draft picks. (Hockeybuzz) *The Avs fans study NHL defensemen drafted in the top ten in the last decade. (Mile High Hockey) *The Blue Jackets have yet to make any progress in contract talks with Bob. (Dispatch) *Daniel Alfredsson dropped some hard reality on his team via the media. (Puck Daddy) *Both the Dallas Stars and the Carolina Hurricanes will unveil new jerseys June 4. (Icethetics) *DGB with the ten greatest moments from this, the least-loved round of the NHL playoffs. (Grantland)

Photo: With a very disappointing season behind them, the Flyers front office can look forward to the upcoming draft, which takes place June 30th at the Prudential Center in Newark New Jersey. Many fans hope the Flyers take a defenseman with their first pick at number 11. While I agree they need to address their glaring Who Will The Flyers Select With The 11th Pick Continue reading here: Broad Street Buzz

Voracek's Close Call Flyers right winger Jakub Voracek is a lucky man. He walked away from a potentially serious car wreck in the Czech Republic yesterday with nary a scratch on his body nor did he cause injury to anyone in the other vehicle that he was unable to brake in time to avoid. The accident came about because Voracek was driving too fast in his Ferrari. The player admitted fault in Originally posted here: Bill Meltzer

The buyout of Danny Briere makes a ton of sense for a ton of reasons, namely: * He's not very good anymore. We already know he's a weak defensive player, and the last two seasons have been by far his least productive offensively since he came to Philadelphia in 2007. He can score in the playoffs, but you need to get to the playoffs for that to work. * He's expensive, not in real dollars but in a $6.5 million cap hit over the next two seasons. * The Flyers could use the savings. The salary cap is dropping to $64.3 million next year and they already have $70.3 million committed to the roster. Gotta cut down somewhere. But just because it makes sense doesn't mean the Flyers will do it, and Briere's buyout remains perhaps the biggest question facing the team this offseason. Will they buy him out? Well, he thinks they will. Ran into Daniel Briere last night. He's pretty sure the Flyers are going to buy him out. He wants to stay. — steve simmons (@simmonssteve) May 23, 2013 It's a bit complicated for Briere. When he signed here in 2007, it was no doubt with the intention of finishing his career in Philadelphia, and a buyout would change all of that. He has two young sons and has roots down in the Delaware Valley. Picking up and moving to a new city at this stage in his life is not something that he wants to do for reasons we can all understand. But hockey doesn't care about the lives of its players, nor does the business of hockey, and Briere seems to be coming to terms with the fact that he could have to make that move. The Flyers would probably prefer to trade him instead of buying him out, considering that even with a buyout, they will still owe him a bit of money until his current contract expires. There are probably a few teams that would be interested in acquiring him via trade even despite his cap hit, but there was a reason Briere didn't waive his no-trade clause back at the trade deadline, and he's not likely to do so now. For starters, if he's bought out he'll become a free agent and will have the choice to pick from any team in the league that's interested. He'll get a new contract as well, obviously, and he'll still be making money from the Flyers. He has more control over the situation AND more money. Hard to imagine him putting that control in Paul Holmgren's hands.

Shane Doan, we hardly knew ye. Hunter of Taylor Hall, broken by Flames, fire hath destroyed your stoic career too early. Yannik the Great, destroyer of dreams. Erie, PA will forever hold your spirit. Thus the world turns and the tides change. Soon a new Villain shall emerge from the ashes. The Minnesota HoneyBadgers mourn your passing. Never again will they not give a fuck. For they give a fuck for you... BSH Xbox league part 9. Shane Doan, we hardly knew ye. Hunter of Taylor Hall, broken by Flames, fire hath destroyed your stoic career too early. Yannik the Great, destroyer of dreams. Erie, PA will forever hold your spirit. Thus the world turns and the tides change. Soon a new Villain shall emerge from the ashes. The Minnesota HoneyBadgers mourn your passing. Never again will they not give a fuck. For they give a fuck for you... BSH Xbox league part 9.

Shane Doan, we hardly knew ye. Hunter of Taylor Hall, broken by Flames, fire hath destroyed your stoic career too early. Yannick the Great, killer of dreams. Erie, PA will forever hold your spirit. Thus the world turns and the tides change. Soon a new Villain shall appear from the ashes. The Minnesota HoneyBadgers mourn your passing. Never again will they not give a fuck. For they give a fuck for you... BSH Xbox league part 9. Shane Doan, we hardly knew ye. Hunter of Taylor Hall, broken by Flames, fire hath destroyed your stoic career too early. Yannick the Great, killer of dreams. Erie, PA will forever hold your spirit. Thus the world turns and the tides change. Soon a new Villain shall appear from the ashes. The Minnesota HoneyBadgers mourn your passing. Never again will they not give a fuck. For they give a fuck for you... BSH Xbox league part 9.

Photo credit: Terry Wilson/OHL Images By Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) The 2013 NHL Entry Draft in New Jersey is just over a month away. As we inch closer to this year’s draft, I’ll continue to plug away and post as many scouting reports on the top draft eligible players from the Ontario Hockey League as I can. Here is my scouting report on 2013 draft eligible Nikita Zadorov of the London Knights. Nikita Zadorov Age – 18 Position – Defenseman Height – 6? 5? Weight – 228 Draft Projection: 8-14th overall OHL Team: London Knights 2013 Regular Season Stats: 6 goals, 19 assists, 25 points, +33, 54PIM, 63 games played 2013 Playoff Stats: 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points, 36PIM, 21 games played NHL Comparable(s) – Fedor Tyutin Upside – 8/10 Strengths – Nikita Zadorov is one of, if not my favorite draft eligible defenseman in this year’s draft class. He has big, powerful strides and is an above average skater, which is impressive given his size. He has a huge frame and when he uses it to his advantage and plays with an edge, he’s a dominant player. The good thing about Zadorov is that he often does just that. At just 18 years of age, he has man strength and isn’t afraid to use it. Zadorov makes a good first pass and can move the puck quite effectively. He’s a confident player and will have no problems carrying the puck up the ice, either. His puck skills aren’t anything to get excited about but he does have above average skills and is a good puck possession player. He is very hard to get around and is strong in his own zone. He doesn’t lose many puck battles and for the most part is positionally sound. Zadorov doesn’t get rattled easy and can consistently eat up big minutes. He plays in all situations and, while he’s not a power play dynamo, he’s not out of place on the power play and can play on the penalty kill as well. Weaknesses – Zadorov’s a talented player but sometimes he tries to force a play when it’s best to keep it simple and make the high percentage play. Zadorov’s raw but is very talented and as he gains more experience, the amount of mistakes he makes will continually grow smaller. Right now he has the tools to play the game at a high level but is still learning exactly how to utilize them. His offensive game is continually getting better but I’m not sure it’s good enough for him to translate into a defenseman capable of running a top power play unit and producing offense at the NHL level Career Projection – Zadorov doesn’t have many flaws in his game and is pretty well rounded, but I think a realistic projection for Zadorov is a #3 defenseman who can play 2nd unit power play and play on the top penalty killing unit. Should Zadorov continue to improve offensively, he could be capable of becoming a top pairing defenseman. 2013 Draft Eligible Prospect Profiles: Sean Monahan – Ottawa 67?s Darnell Nurse – Soo Greyhounds Max Domi – London Knights Bo Horvat – London Knights Ryan Hartman – Plymouth Whalers – Follow Todd on twitter @ToddCordell NHLToddCordell@Gmail.com The post Nikita Zadorov Scouting Report: 2013 NHL Draft Prospect Profile – London Knights appeared first on The Hockey Guys.