The '25-'26 Philadelphia Flyers thread

[phillychuck]

No offer is reasonable unless you have some chance to sign him...no indication of that at this point.

[Austinfan]

The hype on Buium is he's an elite prospect.
:Lane Hutson at 20 was far better, Schaefer at 18 is far better.
I'd package Martone and Michkov for Schaefer, he's truly elite, a real generational talent.

Buium will improve, but his horrid defense after two college seasons should be a red flag, he started the season paired with Spurgeon, can't think of a better mentor. Demoted to 3rd pair and PP2. You expect a young player to struggle, you don't expect one with 2 years of college to be totally clueless. He should end up an offense first top 4 D-man, but has a long way to go to be a 1st pair talent that doesn't have to be sheltered.

Provorov as a 20 year old rookie played the most ES minutes of any D-man, He also played 2:49 on the PK and on PP2.
Did he struggle a bit? Sure. He wasn't ready for that role and matching up against top NHL veterans.
But he held his own.

[Docs]

AF - you said it wasn t a big haul so i asked you who the flyer equivalent would be to make this deal. It’s an honest question, do you have comps that we are familiar with with?

That said, Hughes is an elite defender, along with Maker. I’d agree with PC you would want an extension to secure him unless you’re trading martone and mitchkov because your timeline is gone if you trade them. I can’t imagine Schaeffer being more valuable than Hughes over the next two years.

And given the Flyers timeline I would take my chances on Hughes as a free agent that may never come than trade both martone and mitchkov. Trade for his brothers.

[Austinfan]

Elite and "generational talent" are thrown around indiscriminately (same as say "brilliant lawyer," I meet exactly one in 20 years as a lawyer and consultant).

Schaefer is a generational talent, all the tools and has help make the Isles competitive at 18. Crazy.
Hughes did not make the Canucks a top team, heck, they only made the playoffs once the last five years (and that was when Tocchet took over as HC).

Hughes is an elite offensive D-man, but I think his stats have been inflated due to his role.
He's certainly not a shutdown D-man, and a 5'10 180 has some obvious limitations.

If the Flyers were further along in their rebuild, and could put a package together that didn't cost them one of their top young players, I'd be all for trading for Hughes if you could extend him.

If the Flyers had already made it to the 2nd rd, and the only hole was offense from the D and the PP, and they had sufficient prospect depth, then I'd be willing to do what Minn did, trade for him as a rental, figuring I had two years to find his replacement while I competed for a Cup.

[Austinfan]

Probably Michkov, Cates, Nesbitt and their 1st (likely to be better than Minn).

[Docs]

Hughes is an elite offensive D-man

Agreed, thank you for correcting my poor wording, that is what I was trying to say in my head and with the Maker comp too.

[xogfog]

Well, maybe Briere has some inkling that Hughes won't sign an extension in Minnesota and will sign him next year as a free agent when the cap frees up, this way they keep their players/prospects and just pay. Hughes is an offensive D-man, but you pair him with a RH shot defensive D-Man (Bonk?).

Edit, I see Hughes is not a free agent next year, but in 2027, so disregard previous comment.

[zambonir]

Hughes is with the Wild for two more years. If they can't sign him next summer (when he becomes eligible for a much better contract than any team can give him as a free agent) he'll likely be traded again, though not necessarily until mid-season or the deadline (a la Rantanen).

(Ha, see you caught up to that).

[xogfog]

If the Flyers do still want to deal for a D-man I'd look at Power from the Sabres, might not cost as much as Hughes but would be an upgrade.

[Austinfan]

Briere will continue to frustrate fans, because he's value oriented (thank God).
Fans wanted them to get Zegras a year before, would have cost a 1st plus.
By waiting he got him cheap.

GMs who are desperate to make a move oft get taken to the cleaners.

Meanwhile the Devils, with (2) #1 picks, a #2 and #4 pick, and a number of big money FAs, have a .561 point %, the Flyers in the middle of a rebuild, .613. Flyers also slightly ahead of Anaheim which has been rebuilding for 7 years.

Patience is a virtue in pro sports.
Good things come to those who wait for someone to make a mistake.

[bigegypt0417]

Who in the world is mad that Briere is a fan of "value"?

LOL

[Docs]

I dont know if any fans are frustrated with Briere but Bobby Clarke probably is

[phillychuck]

AF's point is that some fans want Briere to make the big trades where you overpay for a great player, and Briere seems not to see those trades as good value. I think most on the board agree with him and are not frustrated. The value it would have taken to get Hughes was way too much, for example. Gotta hope Martone or another draft pick develops into a star, or that a 1D or a 1C becomes available at a price that’s reasonable.

[Docs]

That and it’s also too early to go get a 1C or 1D in their prime

[phillychuck]

Depending on how long they’re signed, I agree. If a player was reasonable to acquire and signed for 4 years or more I’d consider it now. Our window should open in a year or two if things break right.

[Austinfan]

I think 2027-28 was always Danny's target.
His first season they were PO bound before Hart went MIA, Holmgren/CF might have traded for a veteran goalie, Danny instead stripped the roster - he didn't get fooled by a hot start and blame the collapse on Hart.

2027-28 potential roster:

Michkov - Jett - Martone
Zegras - Dvorak? - Tippett
Foerster - Couts - TK
Bump - Cates - Brink
Barkey, Berglund, Nesbitt, Martagh, Vansaghi, Gard on the bubble or in LHV
Quinn and Westergard black horses.

York - Sanheim
Murchison - Drysdale
Andrae - Bonk
Gill, Amico

Bjarnason - Zavragin

Now I expect some shuffling, Briere has an extra 1st and 3rd before the 2027 draft, so at least one major deal packaging a 1st, one player on the roster, one prospect for a young upgrade.

Note: moving out Risto, Juulsen, Seeler, Hathaway, Abols, Grandstrom makes this team even younger than this season.
Vladar and Dvorak will be the only current starters that might leave in UFA.
Bjarnason is having a nice rookie season in the AHL, Zavragin is a top KHL goalie at 20.
Dvorak will probably be extended b/c of lack of centers, they'll probably draft more, but 3-4 years before 2026 and 2027 drat picks arrive.

[bigegypt0417]

It m8ust be fun to live in a world where you build a roster in a way that has never been successful.

There is no way possible...i mean ZERO chance that that would be a winning line-up in 27/28.

There are zero scenarios where every drafted player becomes an NHL talent.

The Flyers are currently sitting in the 24th draft position and will have th cap space to make moves.

Briere has put them in a position to make moves to get better.

[zambonir]

Your roster projections (in any sport) are always so funny for not including any players who aren't currently in the organization. Your 2026 Phillies roster probably still had Moniak and Jhailyn Ortiz and Abel and McGarry on it. Though I realize there's no way to guess who the free agents or trade-acquired players might be either.

[Docs]

while the roster will be different from what AF posted, I agree with the idea that their strategy should leverage Martone/Michkov/Bjarnason/Zavragin's timeline. Looking at what they currently have, you can easily see why people are looking for an external 1C and 1D.

[bigegypt0417]

Every roster build should have your own set of centerpieces to build around.

AF builds rosters based on where you're drafted with zero consideration for the fact that there is a significant percentage of "misses" when it comes to selecting teenagers.

Briere has not made all the moves he made to sit around hoping his prospects live up to their potential. Briere has done a solid job of accumulating assets...we're still going to have to wait and see how he does with those assets.