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I feel bad for Brink after he had a great game but Drysdale with 0 points and 0 SOG. Sanheim played another 30 minutes tonight. Neither keeper had .900 sv% tonight
0 shots so far
Through 2 complete games. Drysdale has 0 SOG, 0 points, -1. I can see the Makar comparison.
Ekblad is a very good all-around defenseman. Bouchard is a very good offensive defenseman. Four Nations was a tournament and the teams were picked by the top hockey guys from the included countries. But I guess they weren’t “good talent evaluators.” You can laugh all you want. All Star game replacement? Now, that’s funny. What does Tony DeAngelo have to do with where the Flyers are at today? He hasn’t played here in three years. Fletcher brought him in. Fletcher, like Torts, is gone.
I never said that they weren’t good talent evaluators. I said their job was to put together what they thought was the best team for the tournament so factors other than just raw talent are in play. There’s only one puck. Maybe they had enough high end offensive defensemen and needed more defensively oriented defensemen. Right shot/Left shot, etc. The same things everyone talks about the Flyers needing up and down the lineup, a good blend that complements each other.
The All-Star Weekend, which took a hiatus in favor of 4 Nations this year, will return at the New York Islanders’ UBS Arena next February. That will serve as a bon voyage event ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, which mark the return of NHL players for the first time since 2014.
It was a one off tournament, which may never happen again, that replaced the all-star game. It was great, exciting and really promoted the game, but ultimately meaningless warmup to the Olympics. In soccer it would be called a “friendly” tournament.
TDA was an example at how poor the Flyers are at evaluating and making decisions regarding players. If you think the current Flyers brass, which included DB, is under appreciated for the moves they make you can certainly attempt to make that case but you’d be wrong. While Fletcher may be gone players such as Drysdale and Risto that he and to a lesser extent DB acquired still remain. Fletch was not a man who went rogue. Players were only acquired if everyone was on board because he was the ultimate collaborator. If you think they have a better process and results now, feel free to make your case but let’s not pretend the Flyers didn’t exist before 10/8/25.
With the Flyers playing against Ghost tonight, is there any question as to him having a better career since he left the Flyers than anyone who played for the Flyers except maybe Sanheim over the last 5 years?
He plays 20 minutes a night dman averaging 29 pts/yr on the PP the last 2 years while making 3.2 mill/yr and cost nothing to acquire. Thankfully the Flyers have no issues on the PP. That’s why Carolina is a well run team and the Flyers keep throwing darts and draft picks at the wrong players. He’s making only slightly more than Nick Seeler, the guy the Flyers can’t live without and who they gave a 4 year contract.
Unfortunately the Flyers have shown no signs of growth on defensive talent evaluation in the last 6 years.
Thanks for the superficial overview. Now look at the rest of the D.
Panthers: Jones-trade, Schmidt-FA, Kulikov-FA, Mikkola-FA, Forsling-waivers!!! WAIVERS!
Oilers: Walman-trade, Ekholm-trade, Klingberg-FA, Kulak-tradeDid Ekblad, Nurse or Bouchard play in 4 Nations? Sanheim did. Thanks for playing.
I literally said that it’s ok to trade or sign the rest of your defense if needed if you have the cornerstones and you went and listed trades and UFAs that were acquired? ummmm .. so thanks for proving my point? The cornerstone dmen that were DRAFTED still count.
Another aspect that we haven’t talked about is you have to be smart on who these waivers and traded players are that you select. You can’t be trading for or signing Risto or TDA players unless their cap hit and performance are right for your team. Like TDA at $1 mill was a good play for the Hurricanes because he was cheap and Slavin covered up his deficiencies. He was a bad fit for the Flyers because they paid him more than his on ice value, plus traded picks, plus not having a Slavin to help him out. So a team has to good talent evaluators to evaluate what they have, what they need, and what they should spend to acquire them. The Flyers absolutely have none of the above.
What’s the 4 nations have to do with anything? I’m talking Stanley Cup and you are talking about the All-star game replacement? lol. Entertaining hockey and good for Sanheim but it doesn’t go beyond that. Both Bouchard and Ekblad are better than Sanheim but they picked who they thought would make the best team, not necessarily the best talent and their reasons are their own.
So when is it allowed to get more information on what is going on with Oliver Bonk. He seems like a pretty important prospect that needs to pan out. “Just two more weeks” is getting concerning.
The Flyers are their own worst enemy with their medical staff/updates.
It all started with what the Flyers believed was an injury that occurred during one of their pre-season matches. That was unknown to us until the end of October when Ellis surprisingly went from day-to-day to week-to-week. It wasn’t believed to be a serious injury, hence the day-to-day designation. Then all of a sudden, still without an explanation, general manager Chuck Fletcher announced that he was to week-to-week. Week-to-week then turned into 4-6 weeks at the beginning of November but it was speculated that surgery wasn’t required. At that point in time, Ellis had missed 10 of the last 11 games and there was still optimism that he’d be able to return in-and-around that timetable.
If a team cannot draft and develop prospects at a certain position, it does not have to be the end. Look no further then Vegas’s blueline.
Look at any top team’s blue line. Draft for offense, acquire defense.
Panthers – Ekblad – #1 overall
oilers – Bouchard (10th overall), Nurse (7th overall)There’s your Stanley cup finals teams and looking back you will find similar results.
The majority of your blueline can be built through trades and signings but in general you need a cornerstone player that you drafted on defense. You also need players to trade that other teams want, do the Flyers have that? It is possible to get a player like CAR with Slavin in the later rounds but that was the exception, not the rule. He also has yet to make the Stanley Cup finals. Carolina also has an extremely productive analytic department and a good long term plan. It is really the only way to compete consistently if you are unwilling to make sacrifices and the Flyers front office/senior advisors have always put themselves above the team. The Flyers brass would kill to be CAR even if it doesn’t end up in a cup. Constantly a good team who makes the playoffs and they have very few poor contracts. DB could ride that to a successful career. Instead we get media blitzes and panic signings and an in over his head GM trying to justify the Jett reach pick and they call it a long term plan.
But hey, the Flyers are in the playoff mix and they are building brick by brick. I guess nobody is biting on New Era of Orange anymore.
Not sure how it works, but wasn’t he ineligible for college a week after the draft when, in a panic move after the Gauthier fiasco, Briere signed him to his ELC?
Yes, you are correct. I keep getting the reason for his college ineligibility wrong. Good catch. I’m just glad Martone can play in college this year.
The Russian came prepared to camp to win a job, played well earned a spot and you sit him. Great coaching. They rave about the jett and sits in favor of……the Olympian.
You play both young guys and live with the mistakes. at least for now unless both are putrid. There is zero reason not too.
The Jett hype is turning into vaporware. First last year and now this year. Every time he hit the NHL ice in 2024 he made the brain trust look bad but if he doesn’t play all you have is the hype. The main purpose seems to be DB and Jonesy patting themselves on the back. Play the kid or send him back. He can’t go the college route? It’s your own damn fault for trying to force him onto the roster last year.
ND should never play against Greb or Jett if they are available. This old school crap from a franchise that hasn’t been relevant in 15 years and needs to develop these kids is ridiculous.
At least in Tocchet they have a coach that hasn’t quit on his team in the middle of the season or abused his players. Sadly that’s a low bar to clear from DB’s best bud who he still preferred over Tocchet.
Maybe just maybe the Flyers should stop trying to shoehorn a piss poor team into the playoffs and start a rebuild?
Opening Night Wrapup: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Apart from some early turnovers (none costly), Travis Sanheim was a rock of strength. By the end of the first period, he was on a pace to play north of 30 minutes. Ultimately, he skated 27:15. They were hard minutes, too. That’s not sustainable for an entire season.I would also like to add that playing Coots 20+ minutes a night is also not sustainable. He averaged just over 17 minutes a game last year and it felt like he broke down physically.
This is not a team that should be thinking or talking about the playoffs.
