Man, as a Buffalo fan I would have really liked to have notched Gauthier. But, since hes yours now, I have to tell you, your D is very good. Pitkanen, Desjardins (who is battling injury...uh not sure don't follow Philly too much), Gauthier...and Niko Dimitrakos to help you on offense and to forecheck a little. I think the Flyers and the Devils were the two best deadline teams this year. Real nice job, and good luck in the pl*yoffs
Wow, I'm not sure we deserve such accolades, but thank you . I think Ottawa and Edmonton picked up some of the nicer talent, and Vancouver did the most in addressing a need.
Along with many others I think Edmonton made out the best. Buf is one of the hottest teams in the league this year. They didnt do much other than trade away noranen today. I dont think Philly really did that great but u never know, Dimitrikos could be on a sofomore slump this year??maybe? and if all goes well i hope both players can stay for next year too...that said, anyone know what Dimitrikos is UFA/RFA and how long is his contract for??
Dimitrakos is going to do well for us. Just watch. He just needed a change of scenery. Dunno much about gauthier, but from whats being said by the "experts" he's a head hunter and should do well for us.
If you count all the trades we made (and I include Nedved in this) I think we did good before the deadline.
A lot of folks have been naysaying how good we are since we've been in a slump for a while, but how much of that slump have we had both Gagne and Forsberg on the ice at the same time?
We started slumping when they started alternating stints on the IR, and now they're back. We're very close to being back to where we were in December, I think, health-wise, and that can only bring with it the level of play we had in December. Add in the fact we helped the D a bit and added some depth today, and I think we did very good. We have some very good rooks who are better now than they were in December.
I really like the Dennis Gauthier deal. We needed a good top 4 defenseman in the backend and we got one. We don't need offensie from Gauthier. We have Meyer, Pitkanen and Desjardins who can all man the points. Even Hatcher can do that. What we need from Dennis is to be a real physical presence back there, kind of like Danny Markov was when he was here. If Dennis has that kind of impact, we're going to be great come playoff time.
As for Niko, I think it was a move that was just done to keep up with the Joneses. I know people talk about Samsonov and Recchi and Arnason and stuff, but where would they play? The thing that I like with Niko is that he's fast and he can be used on our attrocious penalty kill. If we do that and he responds, we make out alright then.
I think what this year showed is that we aren't as deep in terms of prospects as we thought we were. I really hope the Flyers start looking at rebuilding the prospect pool with some defensemen and wingers. I also hope that Potulny turns pro this year and we see what he can do in the AHL. We have a not bad looking core of young players. We just need to land one prospect that has superstar written all over him and we're good to go. However, I guess you could say that Pitkanen has superstar written all over him though..........
The Flyers acquired two NHL players and traded away none.
By definition, they're better.
So did just about everyone else.
In the grand scheme of things, the Flyers did nothing but piss away draft picks. This is a team that also needed a jolt in offense by means of getting another goal scorer. They got someone who has 4 goals.
I wonder if a guy like Gauthier has teams playing back a little because he's a known dirty hitter and his instigating instead of reacting changes the way the Flyers play enough to pick up scoring beyond the first line.
I know it's not as simple as 2+2=goals, but Nedved can score, Carter, Richards, Umberger can score, Kapanen can score, Savage used to be able to score. There's no guarantees in bringing someone else in, so if these guys don't do it one more "can score" guy probably wouldn't make it happen.
I was actually hoping for JR (although I don't know if he falls into the can't reacquire him this year catagory). He could certainly spark a locker room and loosen them up with "DISCO NIGHT". Might have been what they needed with all the drama of Primeau and co. constantly getting injured. All those negative events are probably taking their toll.
I wonder if a guy like Gauthier has teams playing back a little because he's a known dirty hitter and his instigating instead of reacting changes the way the Flyers play enough to pick up scoring beyond the first line.
I know it's not as simple as 2+2=goals, but Nedved can score, Carter, Richards, Umberger can score, Kapanen can score, Savage used to be able to score. There's no guarantees in bringing someone else in, so if these guys don't do it one more "can score" guy probably wouldn't make it happen.
I was actually hoping for JR (although I don't know if he falls into the can't reacquire him this year catagory). He could certainly spark a locker room and loosen them up with "DISCO NIGHT". Might have been what they needed with all the drama of Primeau and co. constantly getting injured. All those negative events are probably taking their toll.
Apparently JR wanted some finicial incentives to come back to the Flyers. About the "if he falls into the can't reacquire him this year catagory", he doesnt, he was traded away not bought out.
In the grand scheme of things, the Flyers did nothing but piss away draft picks. This is a team that also needed a jolt in offense by means of getting another goal scorer. They got someone who has 4 goals.
You obviously haven't stayed up late to watch the Phoenix games. Gauthier will be more than very valuable to this team. Ignorance is bliss. Before the injuries we were second in goals for behind Ottawa. We needed a tough defencemen as well as a solid second line right wing. We did a good job considering the players available. We also traded nobody off our roster. Quit whinning.
You obviously haven't stayed up late to watch the Phoenix games. Gauthier will be more than very valuable to this team. Ignorance is bliss. Before the injuries we were second in goals for behind Ottawa. We needed a tough defencemen as well as a solid second line right wing. We did a good job considering the players available. We also traded nobody off our roster. Quit whinning.
I agree, the only thing Im concerned about is that Nedved pays Gauthier not to hit anyone too hard.
Apparently JR wanted some finicial incentives to come back to the Flyers. About the "if he falls into the can't reacquire him this year catagory", he doesnt, he was traded away not bought out.
Right, right! That's right. I forgot it was different between trades and buy outs.
Financial incentives?!?! Maybe he didn't want to play for Hitch again
Wow, I'm not sure we deserve such accolades, but thank you . I think Ottawa and Edmonton picked up some of the nicer talent, and Vancouver did the most in addressing a need.
i dunno about VAN. they kind of remind me of what TO did last year. picking up all those older D-men, which pretty much cost them in the playoffs. the only difference is that VAN didnt give up as much as TO did
I honestly think Meyer could be top 4 now. In a full season, he's on pace for nearly 40 points and about a +15 rating. He's good with the puck in his own end and has some offensive flair. I think he's been the brightest surprise on this team this year. I'd actually like to see a pairing of him and Gauthier. Gauthier provides some nastiness and solid defensive physical play and Meyer provides good puckmoving and offense.
Just an outsider perspective: In my opinion, Gauthier is more of an illusion of good defensive play. He's easily one of the best hitters in the league, and worth having on a team. But he's just not that good defensively. I did stay up late and watch the Coyotes a good amount this year (in between turning over their entire roster, Barnett had assembled a very fun team to watch); I want Gauthier to be good, but he just makes some terrible plays when pressured in his own end.
Anyway, at the very least, you got one hell of an exciting, adventurous player on your hands. As a Sabres fan, I just hope he doesnt kill anyone this afternoon (damnit Connolly, you just got back...keep your head up!). Anyway, as much as I think everyone overpaid at the deadline, Im quite interested to see how he plays for you guys. Good luck!
. I think Ottawa and Edmonton picked up some of the nicer talent, and Vancouver did the most in addressing a need.
