FLYERS 2007-08

[Rusty27]

The first post is a welcome to Timonen,Hartnell and a belated welcome to Scottie Upshall who all followed me over here to the start of greatness and culminating with a Stanley Cup in the next few years.
Go Flyers!
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[BtownBeers]

HELLO FLYERS of the future!

Rusty rocks!

[BtownJay]

Current Flyers roster and salaries...

nhlnumbers.com » NHL Team Salaries » Philadelphia Flyers

They are going to have to make cap room to sign a #1 center... so expect Sanderson and Gauthier to be gone for sure. Mike York will not be resigned.

Also, all reports are that Joni is being shopped, and Edmonton is the most interested. Wouldn't be shocked to see him go soon or on draft day.

[BtownBeers]

Sucks, I like Sanderson and Goat a lot but such is needed to make a real team I guess. Didn't goat just get extended or no? Did fridge retire yet or what?

I doubt we'll get much for Joni but I'll take his money. Once he leaves he'll be a top 3 dman I'm sure, lol

[BtownJay]

Good idea of what their current lines are...

Gagne/UFA/Knuble
Hartnell/Carter/Upshall
Kapanen/Richards/Afenasenkov
Eager/Umberger/??? <--could be anyone

Young guys with a shot... Downie, Putolny, Ruzicka

Defense...

Timmonen, Pitkanen, Hatcher, Coburn, Kukkonen, Gauthier, Jones, Parent, Picard

Something will be done about that, who knows what the combos will be.

[BtownJay]

Originally Posted by BtownBeers

Sucks, I like Sanderson and Goat a lot but such is needed to make a real team I guess. Didn't goat just get extended or no? Did fridge retire yet or what?

I doubt we'll get much for Joni but I'll take his money. Once he leaves he'll be a top 3 dman I'm sure, lol

They need Goats money, but i like him as well, and he's the most expendable of the D-men. Sanderson is a decent player, but i just don't see any room for him. Yeah Goats got two years left... so if they trade Joni, they may hold on to Goat. Can't get rid of them both without signing someone else.

You may be suprised what we get for Joni. Rumor is Pitkanen to Edmonton for Jeffry Lupol or Raffy Torres and the #15 pick. Thats not a bad deal for us at all. Joni's potential still has some weight.

[BtownBeers]

I really like those two top lines and or course the 3rd line I heart!

Wouldn't the recently signed Cote be with Eager/Umberger?

[BtownBeers]

At this point I'd rather get what we can for Joni (it sounds like it won't be as bad as I expected) and keep Goat. Sanderson showed his age towards the end of the season last year I think so he is certainly expendable...just liked his attitude, grit, and SPEED!

[BtownJay]

I'm so torn on the whole Joni thing... he's only 23 years old, thats a baby when it comes to NHL d-men. Very few young d-men are very good, it takes them longer to learn. But he was so brutally bad last season, you wonder if it was more hype than actual talent with him. I don't want to be the one who has to make this call thats for sure.

I guess Cote could get a shot on that line, he signed a two-way contract so he will probably spend most of his time on the Phantoms... too many options to even guess. Do they sign a new enforcer to help out Eager? Do they re-sign Fedoruk (who is an UFA)?

[Rusty27]

I believe a lot of it is age,injuries, and the type of seasons the Flyers had.I would not give up on him.It would be a mistake to give up on him for a bad season cause he will be a top D man in time

[BtownBeers]

The joni situation I would not want to deal with personally but I just feel like his confidence is broken or something so he may do well in a new situation but here I worry he is really just not going to peform up to the hype. Would I be upset with him staying and goat going, no but I am not big on Joni right now.

I'd say Cote is the best option on that line...he tried hard to make a name for himself especially at the end of last year which I think is what brought on his extension..so I say put him on that line and go from there. I think Fedoruk is a bad option, not the player he once was and he should prolly consider retiring...when he was put out cold end of last year it did not look pretty...given his head/face issues he won't be the type of player we'd really want him to be I don't think.

[BtownJay]

The best example of Joni's problems i can give is an interview with Homer they had a couple months ago...

Panel: What do you think about Joni?

Homer: Well, Joni isn't really comfortable.....with......................people.

He's a head case, and i think it leads to his problem of being a retard on the ice. He's dumb as a stump and can't seem to remember what to do on the ice. Not sure getting older is going to help that.

And i totally agree on Fedoruk, you could see he was a different player after he knocked the eff out for the 2nd time in the year. If he's going to shy away from fighting, he's useless in the league. And yeah, maybe give Cote a shot until Downie is ready for the NHL. But the two-way contract makes me think the organization is looking in a different direction. He'll probably be a "fill in" guy when people get hurt.

[BtownBeers]

Wow Joni might as well go then, I'll stand by my thoughts up to this point.

I just find it hard to imagine how/who they would replace Cote with, like you said Downie is not ready for the NHL yet and even then I know very little about him other than what I have read and you have said. If goat, fedoruk, and cote are not really in the plans that takes away a LOT of toughness and grit on this team...while I love Eager..he can't be soley relied on to handle that job and the last thing I want to happen is for this to turn into a pussy team (which I know it won't).

[BtownJay]

The problem with Cote is that he's not a very good hockey player. He's been with the Phantoms for a little while now, never really being able to crack the Flyers line-up cuz he's pretty bad. There isn't much he does well other than try very hard and fight. There is talk they will sign a cheaper enforcer during free agency to fill the other 4th line spot.

But why waste the money until you are sure Cote can't do it, ya know?