2023-24 Roster Thread #5: Where the boos aren't limited to Halloween

[deadhead]

Maybe I just can't see the post, but to me, the really interesting roster decision here hasn't been mentioned. It's Brink.

How does a player go from the bubble to playing on the top line on opening night? What does that process look like? I don't mean SEE TORTS LIKE KIDS. The nuts and bolts of how that was decided are the places you learn about their process.

I think it's upside all the way.

Brink is just an outlier, too small, too slow, but that was also the knock on Point and Robertson.

Some players just have "it," I think they want to give him a shot to show them he's one of those exceptions. He dominated college at 20, a higher level than an overage CHL player. But then was injured last year, so they couldn't get a good read in the AHL. Targeted for a return to the AHL, before he started flashing his exceptional vision, agility and passing in TC.

Was it a mirage? Stay tuned.

I think the difference with Foerster, is Foerster is easier to project, right now a middle six PF, more talented than Allison but still very inexperienced.

 

[Curufinwe]

NAK has been waived twice since he left Philly.

So what? Since he was left Philly NAK has objectively outperformed a dozen other 4th liners the Flyers tried while being the league's 5th worst team.

 

[FlyerNutter]

The old pigs running this team are absolute scum.

Entitled, and arrogant fools. The alumni have run this thing like a country club, and whatever valid faults he did have - Hextall’s biggest positive was trying to dismantle their influence.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

I think it's upside all the way.

Brink is just an outlier, too small, too slow, but that was also the knock on Point and Robertson.

Some players just have "it," I think they want to give him a shot to show them he's one of those exceptions. He dominated college at 20, a higher level than an overage CHL player. But then was injured last year, so they couldn't get a good read in the AHL. Targeted for a return to the AHL, before he started flashing his exceptional vision, agility and passing in TC.

Was it a mirage? Stay tuned.

I think the difference with Foerster, is Foerster is easier to project, right now a middle six PF, more talented than Allison but still very inexperienced.

He couldn't make it out of the AHL last year. Why?

I'll just assume we can agree that players don't go from solid but unspectacular AHLers who don't get called up after the deadline on a rebuilding team don't turn into top line NHLers in one summer.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I think Charlie has a reasonable point in there somewhere that is as usual lost to tone. I struggled with this a lot, so it's not meant to be a scathing criticism. It's just something we all need to work on as people.

If it's a 1 game thing to not embarrass the vets, I'm completely fine with it. They're still people. But that is not the M.O. here. It's sitting players when they have dozens of friends and family coming to the hometown game. That makes it ring hollow and cliched.

The issue is tomorrow it will be something else for why they have to play. We all know it. They created a situation where there isn’t much viable pathway for these guys to play & play enough. It’s more of the same old, same old with this organization.

 

[kudymen]

They couldn't even move Seeler with a year left

They couldn't even move JvR when they literally had a deal

 

[deadhead]

He couldn't make it out of the AHL last year. Why?

I'll just assume we can agree that players don't go from solid but unspectacular AHLers who don't get called up after the deadline on a rebuilding team don't turn into top line NHLers in one summer.

Brink had a hip injury, came back in the spring but was out of game shape. Skated much better in camp this fall (no surprise!).

Flyers’ Bobby Brink to miss 5 months after undergoing surgery for torn labrum in hip

The bad news just keeps coming for the Philadelphia Flyers. Forward Joel Farabee is likely to miss the start of the season after undergoing disc replacement surgery in June. Defenseman Ryan Ellis…

www.broadstreethockey.com

Flyers activate forward Bobby Brink (hip surgery), assign him to Lehigh Valley

Brink, one of the team's top prospects, had missed the last five months after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip.

www.inquirer.com

 

[JojoTheWhale]

Brink had a hip injury, came back in the spring but was out of game shape. Skated much better in camp this fall (no surprise!).

Flyers’ Bobby Brink to miss 5 months after undergoing surgery for torn labrum in hip

The bad news just keeps coming for the Philadelphia Flyers. Forward Joel Farabee is likely to miss the start of the season after undergoing disc replacement surgery in June. Defenseman Ryan Ellis…

www.broadstreethockey.com

Flyers activate forward Bobby Brink (hip surgery), assign him to Lehigh Valley

Brink, one of the team's top prospects, had missed the last five months after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip.

www.inquirer.com

He played 41 AHL games last year. It's not like he came back for the last month.

This isn't going from stuck in the AHL to barely making the roster. He's on Couturier's wing on opening night. On the wrong side.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

Yeah, if that really is the reason then it's "the team doesn't want to embarrass the veterans, but has no problem embarassing the young players". Which, I mean, I guess makes them consistent.

that was my exact take..

oh but its ok to sit the youth, the supposed future. to cater to a bunch of old dogs at careers end.

this Org. legit never changes

 

[Chicken N Raffls]

Yeah, if that really is the reason then it's "the team doesn't want to embarrass the veterans, but has no problem embarassing the young players". Which, I mean, I guess makes them consistent.

Yea I thought half the reason these vets are here is for leadership, mentoring, how to "be a pro", etc. But we're worried about their fragile egos?

Meanwhile we get benchings in front of family, "needs to play better", toilet seats, etc. At the end of the day it's just more "Earn it" BS

 

[Beef Invictus]

all ruined.

NAK caught fire at the right time. Nah can't be it. flyers ruined him. So funny NAK is the only one who always is mentioned. If that's the best the flyers "ruined" then you take that all day.

Vorobyev shocked he hasnt found his way back to the nhl....

"Caught fire" for most of a season and whole playoff run, before continuing to play at a functional bottom six level (above most of what the Flyers had), after going to a team that specified they knew he was being used wrong?

Yes. Correct. That's a development error right there. You know, one of those things you can't ever give specific examples of for some reason.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Crap.

NAK has been waived twice since he left Philly.

Allison had 60 games on the third line last year, he wasn't being used as a "mucker." Fail.

Vorobyev is a 2nd line KHL center at best, he's not a NHL player. After 3 years in the KHL, finally had a decent season 59g 13-26 39, Lehtera at 34, 45g 10-29 39 in the KHL.

And I didn't mention Laberge, Dove-McFalls, etc.

Do you even watch the games? Or are you watching through a lens so desperately biased in favor of coaching and management that you can't actually see what's going on?

You defend everything they've done for years.on end. If it's all correct, why are they so bad?

 

[Beef Invictus]

The issue is tomorrow it will be something else for why they have to play. We all know it. They created a situation where there isn’t much viable pathway for these guys to play & play enough. It’s more of the same old, same old with this organization.

They know exactly what fans want to hear. So they'll say it. But what fans want isn't compatible with how they want to do things. So they'll do their thing while lying.

 

[deadhead]

He played 41 AHL games last year. It's not like he came back for the last month.

This isn't going from stuck in the AHL to barely making the roster. He's on Couturier's wing on opening night. On the wrong side.

Players struggle after hip surgery.

Players who have come back from hip labrum surgery warn it’ll test one’s patience. There are guys like Ryan Callahan or Tampa Bay prospect Ben Thomas who say they didn’t feel the same until a year or more after surgery. Physical and mental hurdles need to be cleared, from the first big hit in a game to finding one’s timing. Even Point, who underwent surgery on both hips before the 2019-20 season, didn’t really take off until after the four-month.

NHLers explain what Nikita Kucherov may expect in hip surgery return: 'I felt like I got hit by a train'

NHL players who have come back from hip labrum surgery warn it'll test one's patience.

theathletic.com

Compare his skating last spring in the AHL to his lateral agility in camp this fall.

 

[FlyerNutter]

They know exactly what fans want to hear. So they'll say it. But what fans want isn't compatible with how they want to do things. So they'll do their thing while lying.

I don’t buy that they aren’t doing what fans want.

I see a lot of morons enjoying themselves in the stands, and getting right in line with the direction of things.

It’s largely a trailer park fanbase as far as I am concerned. If people didn’t so strongly support the alumni they wouldn’t have such a chokehold on the organization.

 

[Chicken N Raffls]

He couldn't make it out of the AHL last year. Why?

I'll just assume we can agree that players don't go from solid but unspectacular AHLers who don't get called up after the deadline on a rebuilding team don't turn into top line NHLers in one summer.

That's quite the assumption when we know how magical the effects of a month or two on the Phantoms can be.

Remember how Ghost wasn't ready, then injuries happened, and he almost won ROTY? Development did that.

 

[flyersnorth]

Wouldn't Game 1 be the priority? What is going to change in 2 weeks that isn't evident now?

I think what I find strange about the tweet is the implied mental fragility of veteran players who may have been outplayed by a younger player.

What is that about playing for the crest on the front and not the name on the back? Kinda rings hollow if being a 'veteran' is the trump card that prevents apparent humiliation over what's best for the crest.

 

[bennysflyers16]

Sadly it appears this new regime may be even worse than the previous.

 

[Redpath]

I think what I find strange about the tweet is the implied mental fragility of veteran players who may have been outplayed by a younger player.

What is that about playing for the crest on the front and not the name on the back? Kinda rings hollow if being a 'veteran' is the trump card that prevents apparent humiliation over what's best for the crest.

Correct. How many times have we heard of a veteran QB or goalie getting beaten out by a younger kid and humbly accepting their reduced role as a form of mentorship?

If Marc Staal wants to be a friendly veteran father figure for Cam York and Emil Andrae, great. Just let him do it in practice, not by stealing their ice time.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

Players struggle after hip surgery.

Players who have come back from hip labrum surgery warn it’ll test one’s patience. There are guys like Ryan Callahan or Tampa Bay prospect Ben Thomas who say they didn’t feel the same until a year or more after surgery. Physical and mental hurdles need to be cleared, from the first big hit in a game to finding one’s timing. Even Point, who underwent surgery on both hips before the 2019-20 season, didn’t really take off until after the four-month.

NHLers explain what Nikita Kucherov may expect in hip surgery return: 'I felt like I got hit by a train'

NHL players who have come back from hip labrum surgery warn it'll test one's patience.

theathletic.com

Compare his skating last spring in the AHL to his lateral agility in camp this fall.

Again, I'm not talking about whether or not Brink was totally and completely healthy or all the way back.

How do you go from a good but not great prospect who sometimes plays on the 3rd line of an AHL team one season and not receiving a callup post-deadline on a zombie team to starting the next year on an NHL top line?

That is a WILD swing. What does that internal movement of thinking look like? Who drove it? How did they make that decision? That's what's important here.

 

[BringBackHakstol]

it's almost like they shouldn't have signed Staal and Hathaway. Oops.

 

[deadhead]

Again, I'm not talking about whether or not Brink was totally and completely healthy or all the way back.

How do you go from sometimes playing on the 3rd line of an AHL team one season and not receiving a callup post-deadline on a zombie team to starting the next year on an NHL top line? What does that internal movement of thinking look like? Who drove it? How did they make that decision? That's what's important here.

We'll find out at some point, but watching the exhibition games, you could see Brink improve by leaps and bounds to the point where he was the best forward on the ice for the Flyers. His timing was a little off, but he was constantly making things happen in the O-zone. Now whether that will translate to real games is the $64K question.

 

[deadhead]

We'll find out at some point, but watching the exhibition games, you could see Brink improve by leaps and bounds to the point where he was the best forward on the ice for the Flyers. His timing was a little off, but he was constantly making things happen in the O-zone. Now whether that will translate to real games is the $64K question.

And right on cue:

Briere on Brink: "Bobby, we didn’t expect him to be as good as he was. I think he’s been probably our best forward in training camp. So he totally earned that."

 

[freakydallas13]

And right on cue:

Briere on Brink: "Bobby, we didn’t expect him to be as good as he was. I think he’s been probably our best forward in training camp. So he totally earned that."

Do you think the reason the team is surprised with his play is because he went from an AHL third liner to NHL opening day first liner in one offseason, or do you think it's because maybe they evaluated and deployed him poorly last season?

 

[kudymen]

I like how basically the only thing getting you to make it over a Deslauriers or a Stewart is "being probably the best in camp"
Lol talk about "just earn it"