2023-24 Roster Thread 1: Entering the Starting Gate

[Beef Invictus]

I wonder if its due to the Ullmark playing injured rumors? Thats an egregious mistake by Monty if so.

It sounds like Ullmark was quite injured, and it happened with plenty of time to figure out that he's very injured. I'm sure Ullmark wanted to play. That's how athletes are. Too many hockey guys fetishize playing through an injury and haul wrecked players out there when they suck. It's up to Montgomery to be the adult in the room and decide the injured player needs to heal instead of try to fight through it.

 

[Rebels57]

It sounds like Ullmark was quite injured, and it happened with plenty of time to figure out that he's very injured. I'm sure Ullmark wanted to play. That's how athletes are. Too many hockey guys fetishize playing through an injury and haul wrecked players out there when they suck. It's up to Montgomery to be the adult in the room and decide the injured player needs to heal instead of try to fight through it.

I could see if they had an unplayable back-up, but Swayman had an excellent season. Pretty crazy.

 

[renberg]

Also Bergeron has a herniated disc which he was trying to overcome. Obviously from his play, he is damaged. Again when he wants to play, how does a coach tell him no. The thing is does a wounded great help or hurt his team’s play?

 

[FLYguy3911]

People wanted Cooper fired after they got swept by Torts. How'd that work out?

 

[deadhead]

He’s been perpetually labeled as being too slight of frame.

He’s not going to get a real shot here, that’s clear as can be. They have dicked around with him after nearly every rough outing in favour of the usual pets.

Once this org prematurely paints a picture of your worth in their heads, it’s a huge mountain to climb for a young player.

On the contrary, Torts likes him, they just wanted him to get more seasoning and get stronger.
He's not going to be a physical force, but a D-man can't be rag dolled by power forwards either.
He just needs to be strong enough to anchor with his high center of gravity.

 

[deadhead]

But Tortorella rode into town selling snake oil and has now positioned himself, in an organization with dangerously low standards, as a culture savior. The Flyers don't have any long-term players that can assert control. Tortorella knows time is on his side. The new GM and President hires even need his stamp of approval.

Good. Because Torts has been committed to a long-term rebuild since last fall, and has carried the FO with him, kicking and screaming (until they were fired).

Whether he succeeds, he'll leave behind him a much younger team with up and coming players who've been taught to play with discipline and proper fundamentals. That's not the worst thing for the next GM to inherit, and I suspect a much better situation than Hextall and Fletcher walked into.

 

[Starat327]

Tortorella lives in a virtual strip joint here with all the dick riding he gets.

 

[Curufinwe]

Oh, so Torts is going to push for Atkinson to be traded?

Btw, this was the situation Fletcher walked into.

Flyers name ex-Wild exec Fletcher as new GM

Chuck Fletcher was hired as executive vice president and general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, one week after Ron Hextall was fired.

www.espn.com

"It is an honor to join the Flyers, an iconic NHL franchise, and I would like to thank Dave Scott and Paul Holmgren for entrusting me to guide the team forward," Fletcher said. "Adding to my excitement is the high level of talent that is in place, which sets this opportunity apart and will pay dividends as we move the organization ahead and ultimately compete for a championship."

5 takeaways from Flyers management's press conference after Ron Hextall firing

Flyers president Paul Holmgren and Comcast Spectator Chairman and CEO Dave Scott addressed the media for 20 minutes Tuesday in response to the firing of general manager Ron Hextall, and Holmgren spoke for another 15 minutes afterward. Here are the top five takeaways from Tuesday’s press...

www.nbcsports.com

“Hexy in his time as general manager has put this organization in a good spot with the young players that are in place right now, our farm system, our prospect cupboard is full. There’s cap space, which is a good thing,” Holmgren said

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Oh, so Torts is going to push for Atkinson to be traded?

Btw, this was the situation Fletcher walked into.

Flyers name ex-Wild exec Fletcher as new GM

Chuck Fletcher was hired as executive vice president and general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, one week after Ron Hextall was fired.

www.espn.com

"It is an honor to join the Flyers, an iconic NHL franchise, and I would like to thank Dave Scott and Paul Holmgren for entrusting me to guide the team forward," Fletcher said. "Adding to my excitement is the high level of talent that is in place, which sets this opportunity apart and will pay dividends as we move the organization ahead and ultimately compete for a championship."

5 takeaways from Flyers management's press conference after Ron Hextall firing

Flyers president Paul Holmgren and Comcast Spectator Chairman and CEO Dave Scott addressed the media for 20 minutes Tuesday in response to the firing of general manager Ron Hextall, and Holmgren spoke for another 15 minutes afterward. Here are the top five takeaways from Tuesday’s press...

www.nbcsports.com

“Hexy in his time as general manager has put this organization in a good spot with the young players that are in place right now, our farm system, our prospect cupboard is full. There’s cap space, which is a good thing,” Holmgren said

Fletcher walked into an amazing situation and made it total crap. Will never understand how that can be defend by someone.

 

[Columbus Hockey Dad]

Fletcher walked into an amazing situation and made it total crap. Will never understand how that can be defend by someone.

I wouldn't go that far. Hextall had some enormous drafting errors. But Fletcher certainly left the Flyers way worse than what he inherited.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

I wouldn't go that far. Hextall had some enormous drafting errors. But Fletcher certainly left the Flyers way worse than what he inherited.

They weren't apparent at the time. His drafts had plenty of value. Hell, the prospects likely weren't nearly as bad as they turned out to be, our development system is just really not good.

It's very much on Fletch to not evaluate them and trade them while value is high, regardless.

 

[Columbus Hockey Dad]

They weren't apparent at the time. His drafts had plenty of value. Hell, the prospects likely weren't nearly as bad as they turned out to be, our development system is just really not good.

It's very much on Fletch to not evaluate them and trade them while value is high, regardless.

I'm not even remotely defending Fletcher...he was an abomination. I'm just saying that it wasn't like he was handed the keys to a Ferrari. Hextall was a very mediocre GM.

 

[deadhead]

They weren't apparent at the time. His drafts had plenty of value. Hell, the prospects likely weren't nearly as bad as they turned out to be, our development system is just really not good.

It's very much on Fletch to not evaluate them and trade them while value is high, regardless.

For the most part, those highly touted prospects flopped in D+1 and D+2, other than Patrick, who broke down. It isn't like NAK, Rubtov, JOB, Ratcliffe, Ginning, Laberge, etc. were stars before the Flyers got their hands on them, or could have been traded for more than a bag of used pucks. The ones that shone before the Flyers were fine after they became Flyers (TK, Farabee, Provorov, Sanheim, Hart). Provorov simply was a finished product at 19, he may do better with a better partner, but the fact he needs a partner to play his best simply means he's not a #1.

The 2017-18 team played over its head (should have been a 90-92 point team (GA/GA 249/236), while the 2018-19 team was buried by bad goaltending (normalize goaltending to league average, GF/GA 241/253). AV got a dead cat bounce (aided by Niskanen, Braun and Hayes) then the team fell back to earth.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

I'm not even remotely defending Fletcher...he was an abomination. I'm just saying that it wasn't like he was handed the keys to a Ferrari. Hextall was a very mediocre GM.

He was handed a lot of prospects, picks, cap space, and veterans in their prime he could do whatever with. I just can't hear any arguments about how much Fletch had to play with. He had a ton.

 

[deadhead]

He was handed a lot of prospects, picks, cap space, and veterans in their prime he could do whatever with. I just can't hear any arguments about how much Fletch had to play with. He had a ton.

He was handed a lot of mediocre prospects, most of whom didn't pan out, and a couple key ones got injured (Lindblom, Patrick, Allison). He had a handful of quality veterans, most at their peak (G, Voracek, Raffl, Gudas), a few solid young starters in Couts, Ghost and Laughton, and a bunch of scrubs. It was an 85-90 point team that had an up season in 2017-18 and a down season in 2018-19.

The only young players on that team to pan out were TK, Farabee, Provorov, and Sanheim.
And the pipeline was bare until this year when Frost, Cates and York arrived.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

The year is 2023 and we are still absolving Chuck Fletcher.

 

[FLYguy3911]

The year is 2023 and we are still absolving Chuck Fletcher.

And blaming Ron Hextall who had another job in between.

 

[kudymen]

I wonder why the cap space part of the quote is never addressed. He inherited a team with cap space, used it for inferior assets, bottomed out the whole damn league several years in a row and even there the team has no cap space AND will be hit by cap penalties to boot
10/10 would let manage my assets again

 

[FlyerNutter]

Curious after doing such a solid job, Fletcher’s next gig will be. Teams are lined up.

 

[Beef Invictus]

s.

On the contrary, Torts likes him, they just wanted him to get more seasoning and get stronger.
He's not going to be a physical force, but a D-man can't be rag dolled by power forwards either.
He just needs to be strong enough to anchor with his high center of gravity.

I thought their obsession with size and strength to the point that they refuse to use a player over it didn't exist?

 

[Ghosts Beer]

He was handed a lot of prospects, picks, cap space, and veterans in their prime he could do whatever with. I just can't hear any arguments about how much Fletch had to play with. He had a ton.

Whom are you including as “a ton”? Nolan Patrick?

 

[Beef Invictus]

Good. Because Torts has been committed to a long-term rebuild since last fall, and has carried the FO with him, kicking and screaming (until they were fired).

Whether he succeeds, he'll leave behind him a much younger team with up and coming players who've been taught to play with discipline and proper fundamentals. That's not the worst thing for the next GM to inherit, and I suspect a much better situation than Hextall and Fletcher walked into.

No he hasn't.

And no it isn't good to empower someone as out of touch and terrible as Tortorella.

He isn't who you think he is. He doesn't want what you think he wants. The fantasy you've concocted isn't real

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

Once again, absolving Chuck Fletcher of blame in the year 2023.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Whom are you including as “a ton”? Nolan Patrick?

When he took over Patrick was still a highly regarded and valuable prospect. Since you think his failure was so obviously inevitable, your boy really blew it by not trading him when he had value

 

[kudymen]

5th most improved team