The '25-'26 Philadelphia Flyers thread

[Austinfan]

Some of it is probably coachable, a lot of young centers struggle with FOs initially and improve.
And he can improve defensively to some extent.

There's also line chemistry, one thought I had would be to put Couts at LW (to take FOs if needed) b/c he's defensively responsible, and wouldn't have to skate as far which would help him as he ages.

Not sure Zegras/Michkov are a good combo, there's only one puck and neither is good defensively.

But part of every season involves "auditioning" players until you have lines that click.
One reason I'd be reluctant to move Foerster off Cates line - but if he's out initially, you can audition Bump/Grebenkin as replacements, and if they work out, you'd be more comfortable moving Foerster on a line with say Zegras.

[LegoDoom]

LD, are Zegras’s flaws coachable? Can he change his face-off success and positioning?

Without knowing him, this is really tough to answer. Centers can play low, but have to cycle out high. He really drifts to nowhere after passes and shots. Those habits can be tough to break. Him saying he's working on faceoffs at 24 could be a red flag. Yes, it's nice to improve your game, but if you are adamant about staying at center for a while, then it could be construed as lazy.

You can argue the system he came from, but I'm not sure I'd consider the Flyers above average.

Still, I currently see a wing and maybe even a top line one. As a fan I really hope he improves.

[Austinfan]

Anaheim was really bad according to metrics, despite having a lot of close to elite young talent.
30th in xGF% at 45.11, 31st in HDCF at 44.14%
Top forwards by ES TOI:
Terry, Zegras, McTavish, Vatrano, Fabbri, Strome, Killorn, Carlsson, Gauthier,

They were basically carried by Dostal in goal.

Compare to Flyers at 9th in xGF%, 51.79%, 8th in HDCF, 52.52%

All you have to do is look at the progress Drysdale has made in little more than a season with the Flyers to see how badly Anaheim players have been coached.

[LegoDoom]

Not sure Zegras/Michkov are a good combo, there's only one puck and neither is good defensively.

Not sure if this was directed at one of my comments, but I wasn't saying who should play on the top line or commenting on line pairings, but Michkov, TK, and likely Martone and Zegras all have top line wing talent.

Which means post draft left the team with Couts, Jett, and Nesbitt in the middle. Judging by the comments on this forum... They still don't have a current 1C or one in the pipeline.

[LegoDoom]

All you have to do is look at the progress Drysdale has made in little more than a season with the Flyers to see how badly Anaheim players have been coached.

I'm not going to support Anaheim's system, but Drysdale's problem was injuries. Did he even have 150 games with them. This is also misinformation.

[Austinfan]

He was bad when he did play, like Risto, Shaw had to rework his fundamentals.
There's a reason some teams remain bad even after drafting high year after year.
Which is why Anaheim hired the Pederasty Enabler.

[zambonir]

What's ironic is Gauthier's not a center for Anaheim either right?

I saw a story where Brad Treliving said there are 25 teams that need a 2C. It is certainly worth finding out if Zegras can be one even if the Flyers technically don't have a 1C either way yet).

[LegoDoom]

What's ironic is Gauthier's not a center for Anaheim either right?

I saw a story where Brad Treliving said there are 25 teams that need a 2C. It is certainly worth finding out if Zegras can be one even if the Flyers technically don't have a 1C either way yet).

And a little to my point of why C in the draft is a bit overrated when many won't stay at that position.

[Austinfan]

Players who are projected as true centers have more value b/c they're so scarce.
Smaller centers who are question marks as to whether they can stay there drop in the draft.

[Squire]

Cam York signed a 5 year extension with the Flyers at $5.15M AAV

[zambonir]

I'd say they were ready to match an offer sheet.

[VoteForKalas]

Cam York signed a 5 year extension with the Flyers at $5.15M AAV

Good, a little high AAV, but he is a young, talented top 4 D we needed to keep.

[Docs]

Do you all think this was a situation where they asked him to go check the market to establish his value? With both sides agreeing that once the market established the value that they would come back and agree on a fair deal to keep him and Philadelphia?

[bigegypt0417]

Maybe a little of that but probably they framework has been there for a while and they were just working out the details.

It seems like Briere knew they were signing him for a few weeks now.

[zambonir]

Yeah I think Briere and the agent were already close. They might have also had a shorter-term option. The other contracts since July 1, both to a few RFAs and the UFAs, probably pushed the number up.

[LegoDoom]

I'm a little surprised that he re-signed and a little surprised at the number.

[flyers19rw]

Good to see this extension. I was concerned that the issues with Tortorella were enough for York that he might want to get out of town. Briere must have gone out of his way to resolve these problems.
It makes me wonder how many other Flyers had problems with Tortorella in the past and might have better futures with the organization now that he's gone. I suspect that Couturier is one. Could say Farabee and Frost but they're water over the dam. Tortorella was a poison for the club that was not worth the trouble. I'd bet that Gauthier would be a Flyer if he hadn't been here.

[LegoDoom]

I suspect that Couturier is one.

I don't want to speak for others, but I would bet good money that Couts hated him.

And I probably would have fired Torts the minute he had issues with Michkov.

[zambonir]

I don't think there's any doubt Couts is one of the people happy about Torts being gone, he has said as much.

We'll never know what really happened with Gauthier. Honestly if that was really the issue they probably should have fired Torts then. Or never drafted Gauthier. I think Michkov was handled fine though.

[Docs]

This is a criticism of Cutter, if Cutter had an issue with Torts, he should have known that it wouldn't be a career long issue. I also thought his issue was he wanted to play in the NHL and the Flyers wouldn't offer him an ELC yet - who was in charge at that time? Briere? Fletcher? Torts? I recall Cutter refusing to meet with Briere at an international tournament so at that point the bridges were burned. Maybe he'll come back in a few years lol.