Trade any defenseman they can. It’s no secret, the Flyers defense has been subpar all season, and quite honestly, there is no oneRob Zepp [photo: Amy Irvin] on the back end who isn’t replaceable. The Flyers have a very promising young defensive core, and some of those guys could very well be NHL ready next season. The Flyers also have a defensive core right now that is highly overpaid and severely under performing (Part of the reason why they’re losing the cap game). Although these guys carry large contracts, there is no doubt that some playoff teams could use a seasoned veteran down the stretch, and possibly in the future. If it will free some cap space, and make room for a young guy, then the Flyers should pull the trigger.
Trade Ray Emery. This is also no longer a secret. Ray Emery has looked very bad in Steve Mason’s absence. A few nights ago against Arizona, Emery let in two very bad goals before being pulled for a cold Steve Mason, who came in a played outstanding. His short side is constantly exposed, his rebound control has not been good, and his lateral movement has looked bad. All of this, combined with the fact that Rob Zepp is starting to prove he can hang with the big boys, and the Flyers certainly wouldn’t miss Ray Emery. He could still be a solid backup for any team looking to go deep into the playoffs.
Trade Vincent Lecavalier, RJ Umberger, or Matt Read. The first two players would be a stretch to try and get rid of. Their cap hits are so large in relation to their production, that virtually no team would take them, unless the Flyers absorbed some of the cap hit. Vinny Lecavalier had a short goal-scoring streak, but once again has gone completely silent. He has been digging his own grave in Philadelphia. RJ Umberger has shown a little more production recently, but still nowhere near where he should be. Matt Read is a different story. Read has a cap hit of $3.6 million, and although his production has drastically declined, he’s a player who’s proven he can score, has speed, and is still not that old. He could be something that a playoff team may need. If the Flyers can find him a new home and get a few picks in return, it’d be a good trade-off.
What They Shouldn’t Do.
Trade for any big name player. Everyone in Philadelphia knows that Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek could be even more lethal if they had a formidable, solid winger to play with, but that doesn’t mean the Flyers should trade for one. Early in the year, there was talk about Taylor Hall being on the trading block, and Flyer fans may have gotten a little excited. There is no doubt, however, that this trade would have probably done more bad than good. The last thing the Flyers need right now is another huge cap hit. Hold off for now, and if and when they get some breathing room under the cap, then maybe try to sign or trade for a top six forward.
Trade Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, or Wayne Simmonds. How many times have you heard this? “They’re underproducing. Where’s Couturier’s offense? Why isn’t Schenn a constant 20 goal scorer yet? They’re definitely a bust!” It’s like a broken record at this point. Now, Wayne Simmonds hasn’t been brought up as much, but his name has still been thrown around. Couturier is is just 22 years old and has proven to be a great defensive forward so far for the Flyers (something that the Flyers expected him to be when they drafted him). He is a career plus-10 on a team that has struggled defensively the past few seasons. Brayden Schenn is just 23 and is already on pace for a career year this year. His point production has increased each season, and it should only get better as he adapts more to the NHL. Point being, these guys are far too young to trade. The Flyers have made that mistake plenty of times in the past, and it can’t happen again. Not this early in their careers.
Trade any prospects or draft picks. They Flyers have accumulated a pretty good pool of prospects over the past few years through the draft. Shayne Gostisbehere, Robert Hagg, Samuel Morin, Taylor Leier, and Oskar Lindbolm, who lit it up at this years World Juniors. Right now, it looks like the Flyers are in sort of a rebuilding phase, and trading any of these guys would be a huge mistake and could end up haunting the Flyers down the line. They also don’t need to trade any of the draft picks they have lined up for the 2015 NHL Draft. They could end up with a top 10 pick with the way this season is going, not to mention a chance at the first overall pick. That’s not something that the Flyers would want to miss out on. They’ve made that mistake in the past as well.
The Flyers need to be sellers at this years trade deadline, meaning they need to get rid of some of the loose ends on this team and prepare themselves for the future. They don’t need to get rid of any of their young guys, instead they need to try their best to get rid of any of the bad contracts they can. It’ll be hard, but if they can do it, they’ll start setting themselves up for a new era of Flyers hockey.
17 thoughts on “3 Things Flyers Should and Should Not Do at the Trade Deadline”
Please for the love of God, trade the Schenn brothers. Brayden was on fire last night, but he’s inconstant. I like Luke, be he can leave with his brother.
I’ll disagree with “trade Simmonds”. How is he under-performing? He comes through when needed. Can he do better? Like everyone else on the team. Yes. But he comes through with the scraps and the game changing or game winning goals.
I’ll piggy-back on a previous comment. I too believe that Emery is playing with an injury. It doesn’t take a medical professional to see he’s in pain. Either he’s lying to the coaches or the coaches are lying to themselves. Emery’s played injured throughout his career(who hasn’t), but this current injury aint going away. At 32(going on 33) with a horrendous hip, he needs to retire NOW, with whatever dignity he has left, and pursue his options OUTSIDE of hockey. Join Biron over at TSN, or where ever he is
Trade Mason, not because he’s bad(because he’s not). Trade because he deserves a better team
Surely your kidding ! Schultz on D is neither overpaid or playing bad ! You really lack hockey sense. You want to trade Emery saying, “He’s looked really bad” but yet he’d still be a solid backup for any team looking to go deep into the playoffs ? HUH?
Who’s going to trade for Umberger and or Vinny? Washed up and overpaid ! Unless you include a young player with them, you’re stuck. As far as Matt Read goes, He’s been playing all year with a high ankle sprain, trading him while his value is low because of that is pure idiocy. He’s a solid 2 way player still when healthy. Brayden Schenn I don’t care if they traded. I believe he is what he’s going to be right now
my apologies for the sticky keys
Do you think that the GM’s around the league also know the quality of the garbage some of these people are proposing to trade away? MDZ a good defenseman? come on. There is a reason he is playing with hi third team in a coupl of years……Umberger, Vinny….who would ant those albatross contracts? If the Flyers learned how to play solid hockey instead of living up to the goonery of the 70’s, they’d be a decent club. Giroux and Vorachek a good players but lets not compare them the Kane and Toews……please.
For starters, you failed to mention that Matt Read has been playing all season with a high ankle sprain that should have kept him out of the line up instead of playing through it. He is just now getting his speed back. I’d give him a mulligan and keep him for next season.
As much as I like him, I’d trade Brandon Manning. He’s blocked right now at the NHL level, and will probably be looked buried further down the depth chart when Hagg, Gostisbehere and the other young defensive corp are ready.
I’d re-sign Nick Schultz.
The Flyers need help, but they are not as bad as they are playing. They need something…or someone….to get the players that we have seen perform back on track.
1. Defense – Assuming that Kimmo retires after this year, let’s look at defense. You need Streit. It took time for him to settle in, but he is our back end. Shultz is playing well and he is fairly cheap. I would try and keep him but if you can get value, go ahead…but you have to replace him with something. Let’s hope that Morin is ready next year. Fantasy thoughts, I would keep Steit, Shultz, Grossman and try and get Yandle. Get something for Luke Schenn. I have always been a Coliacovo fan, but I think he is done. Del Zotto and McDonald have had a good game here and there. Get something for them along wtih Coburn or float them in out of the line up as your 6th guy.
2. There is rumor that Jagr would be interested in returning. If that were true and it was affordable, DO IT! He made Hartnell better…….and by that I mean good……Can you imagine him with Giroux and Jake??
3. Try, Try Try and get Mike Babcock. If he doesn’t resign with the Wings, I’ll be surprised but he is rumored about with the Flyers and Leafs.
4. Mason is our goalie. Emery won’t be here next year. Zepp, Neil Little, a traffic cone. Get a back up goalie. They are a dime a dozen…….unless Mason gets hurt.
5. Under no circumstance do you bring Mike Richards back. I will consider giving up my season tickets if that happens. Bring back Pat Falloon, first.
6. If you can’t get value for Lacavalier, chalk it up that you have an expensive 4th line. He, Vandevelde and Bellamare and playing better than most other lines.
7. Get rid of Schenn…..and Schenn. Nobody will want Umberger, so you have that. Stick him on the third line (Although it pains me to say that he has played good the last few games). See what you can get for Read. If Cotourier can turn it around great. If not, he has a high market value.
8. we don’t want Phaneuf. we don’t want Kessel. We don’t want Voynov, we don’t want anyone that is a washout…….(see Alexander Daigle, Chris Gratton) or on their last leg ( Paul Coffey, Mike Rathje, Adam Oates). Take the players we have. Add a few pieces, change the coach and fast track the young prospects.
they can make whatever deals they want or think would make them better but as long as they continue to give a jerkoff like rinaldo a 2 year deal they aren’t going anywhere. the heart of their problem is having people like hextall, holmgren, clark and berube in management positions. these guys are neanderthals who continue to think that building a team in the 1975 model is the way to go. they need a wake up call fast. the game has changed since their g(l)ory days. throwing rinaldo out there and wasting even 1 minute of ice time on him can do nothing but hurt their team. the flyers are in trouble no matter how you look at it. they need an overhaul of their philosophy as much, if not more, than getting rid of players that,no doubt, could prosper under modern management. i, for one, have no interest in how they run their business. as long as they keep losing to divisional rivals i’m happy. but there is something really wrong when the topic of conversation at dinner is how they’re gonna fuck up the penguins and the captain drinks so much beer he grabs guys’ asses.
I’m sorry, I don’t agree with some of the comments above. I don’t agree that trading players such as Lacavalier or Umberger is the answer. I agree that they haven’t had the best of seasons this year production wise, but every player has down years at some point. I believe that the Flyers just haven’t found the right “chemistry” with the lines these players play on. I think that if the Lacavalier is on a line with a player(s) such as a Martin St. Louis, who is a prolific playmaker, like he was back in his days with Tampa Bay, his scoring will pick up significantly again. I believe the same can be said of Umberger. Too many “critics” put players “out to pasture” after the age of 30 when it’s been proven that a veteran presence/leadership is needed in the locker room and on the ice if a team is expected to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The only way to get rid of any one of those players mentioned with a bad contact, without eating huge cap space $, (Vinny, AMac, Umberger) is to package them with a decent player. What Philly would get in return doesn’t matter as long as they don’t take on another bad contract (like they did with RJ). Package Read with AMac and ask for a prospect in return. Maybe Vinny with Coburn for a roll of tape. The Schenn bothers (one good, one not so good) for a draft pick. Freeing up cap space is the important thing. While I wouldn’t turn down a good offer for Schultz, I would try to re-sign him for 1 or 2 years to help out with the kids coming up the next season or two if nothing gets done by the trade deadline.
if u can get yandle, wouldn’t you trade a schenn or 2 and/or another young player, plus a pick? Umberger was picked up cuz of less years than hartnall, just to free up cap space sooner, not for his(lack of) talent.
any team that lets and absolutely worthless, talentless plug like Zac Rinaldo plod around on the ice wasting 5 minutes of ice time a game is an absolute non-factor when discussing contenders
I have heard all this before, problem is no one wants bad players. McDonald, Vinny and Umberger are not good players especially relative to the cap hit they present, thus they have zero trade value. Phlly’s problem isn’t complicated. Too many offensive players and not NEARLY enough solid defensive players. In order to remedy that they MUST trade a very good offensive piece to get very good defensive pieces in return. Value for value. Phlly’s core is Giroux, Voracek, Courtrier, Simmonds, and Mason. Consider trading Read or Brayden Schenn for a good defensman and a good 2 way forward. get rid of Vinny (who doesnt want to be here anyway), Umberger (who is just vastly overpaid for his limited production), McDonald (soft as well as over paid) and possibly Coburn (old and slow). Let Emery walk and let Zepp take his place. And fire Berube and hire a coach who can make the players buy into a more defense oriented game. Between Voracek, Giroux, and Simmonds alone they have more offense than most other teams in the league. What they don’t have is a firm commitment to and understanding of team defense. Until they get a couple more players at both ends that can help courterier provide that they wont win consistently and especially in the post season
who would want this stuff???
I feel like they would be selling low on Matt Read if they dealt him this year.
MDZ and Schultz have been impressive. Schultz is UFA at the end of the year, so he’d be wise to trade. MDZ is RFA at the end of the year, so we can still hang onto him (but he’s looked good so I’d sell him as well). Sell Grossman and for the love of God sell MacDonald if you can find any sucker GM to take his contract.
Umberger and Vinny would require more inebriated GM’s in order to trade them.
That’s a fantasy scenario, but it sure would provide a good haul in return (draft picks) and would give the Flyers plenty of space going forward.
Unless they can find a team trying to get to the cap floor, no team is taking any of those bad contracts, unless the Flyers throw something in or take a bad contract back – or a combination of the two. What team is sitting around thinking “RJ Umberger (Vinny or Emery) is a steal at that salary. I’ll give you a pick for him!”? No one is, that’s who. When a team has an overpaid “star” everyone knows it. It’s like trying to sell a broken item at the same price that you can buy a new one at the store. Sure there might be a fool on eBay who will do it, but the other 29 GMs ain’t fools…. or at least not THAT foolish.
^^^ trade Mason but keep Emery? I’m sure the majority of Flyers fans are glad youre not calling the shots
Vorachek & Giroux is what Toews & Kane are to Chicago. Just minus the entire team being stellar.
Trade Vincent Lecavalier. If you can’t force him to retire. We were able to get rid of Hartnell with 1 call from Hextall, do the same thing to Vincent.
Trade Andrew MacDonald. He is a soft player. He rarely hits. He is extremely overpaid.
Trade Steve Mason. He is still an average goalie. He has barely any playoff experience. The team has no fight playing in front of him. Yes, he has been working hard but he is not in the TOP 30 goalies. We need a #1 guy & Mason is not it.
Couturier, Read, B Schenn, keep. Allow them to develop. They are not at their peak yet.
Keep Wayne Simmonds, that goes without say.
Trade RJ Umberger.
Trade Luke Schenn, he is not a good defensemen. He looks slow on the ice & almost dumb. He allows some of the worst goals. Luke has never been in the playoffs. 6+ seasons. Telling.
Trade Coburn. Old. Slow. Injury prone. He has made huge mistakes this season, knocking Mason twice, almost injuring him. He’s clearly not a smart player.
Get rid of Zac Rinaldo. He is useless.
Ray Emery has had extremely great games followed by terrible games. Which makes me think he is covering up an injury & trying to play through it. Too many players are getting injured & I am sure Emery doesn’t want to be on the injured list. Emery may have had an inconsistent year but he gets the team fired up. He intimidates guys on the ice & has a great competitive fighting spirit. Keep him for now. What we wouldn’t want is him going back to Chicago & having another career high.
Raffl is still developing. I like him & Simmonds on the same line.
Overall, Coach Berube sucks. He switches up the lines so much players can’t even get into consistent plays with one another. He’s made plenty of play mistakes this season & the team already sucks. Fire majority of the team, bring up our young stars & start over.
![Rob Zepp [photo: Amy Irvin]](https://s3951.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Rob-Zepp1-300x240.jpg)
![Rob Zepp [photo: Amy Irvin]](https://s3951.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Rob-Zepp1.jpg)
Please for the love of God, trade the Schenn brothers. Brayden was on fire last night, but he’s inconstant. I like Luke, be he can leave with his brother.
I’ll disagree with “trade Simmonds”. How is he under-performing? He comes through when needed. Can he do better? Like everyone else on the team. Yes. But he comes through with the scraps and the game changing or game winning goals.
I’ll piggy-back on a previous comment. I too believe that Emery is playing with an injury. It doesn’t take a medical professional to see he’s in pain. Either he’s lying to the coaches or the coaches are lying to themselves. Emery’s played injured throughout his career(who hasn’t), but this current injury aint going away. At 32(going on 33) with a horrendous hip, he needs to retire NOW, with whatever dignity he has left, and pursue his options OUTSIDE of hockey. Join Biron over at TSN, or where ever he is
Trade Mason, not because he’s bad(because he’s not). Trade because he deserves a better team
Surely your kidding ! Schultz on D is neither overpaid or playing bad ! You really lack hockey sense. You want to trade Emery saying, “He’s looked really bad” but yet he’d still be a solid backup for any team looking to go deep into the playoffs ? HUH?
Who’s going to trade for Umberger and or Vinny? Washed up and overpaid ! Unless you include a young player with them, you’re stuck. As far as Matt Read goes, He’s been playing all year with a high ankle sprain, trading him while his value is low because of that is pure idiocy. He’s a solid 2 way player still when healthy. Brayden Schenn I don’t care if they traded. I believe he is what he’s going to be right now
my apologies for the sticky keys
Do you think that the GM’s around the league also know the quality of the garbage some of these people are proposing to trade away? MDZ a good defenseman? come on. There is a reason he is playing with hi third team in a coupl of years……Umberger, Vinny….who would ant those albatross contracts? If the Flyers learned how to play solid hockey instead of living up to the goonery of the 70’s, they’d be a decent club. Giroux and Vorachek a good players but lets not compare them the Kane and Toews……please.
For starters, you failed to mention that Matt Read has been playing all season with a high ankle sprain that should have kept him out of the line up instead of playing through it. He is just now getting his speed back. I’d give him a mulligan and keep him for next season.
As much as I like him, I’d trade Brandon Manning. He’s blocked right now at the NHL level, and will probably be looked buried further down the depth chart when Hagg, Gostisbehere and the other young defensive corp are ready.
I’d re-sign Nick Schultz.
The Flyers need help, but they are not as bad as they are playing. They need something…or someone….to get the players that we have seen perform back on track.
1. Defense – Assuming that Kimmo retires after this year, let’s look at defense. You need Streit. It took time for him to settle in, but he is our back end. Shultz is playing well and he is fairly cheap. I would try and keep him but if you can get value, go ahead…but you have to replace him with something. Let’s hope that Morin is ready next year. Fantasy thoughts, I would keep Steit, Shultz, Grossman and try and get Yandle. Get something for Luke Schenn. I have always been a Coliacovo fan, but I think he is done. Del Zotto and McDonald have had a good game here and there. Get something for them along wtih Coburn or float them in out of the line up as your 6th guy.
2. There is rumor that Jagr would be interested in returning. If that were true and it was affordable, DO IT! He made Hartnell better…….and by that I mean good……Can you imagine him with Giroux and Jake??
3. Try, Try Try and get Mike Babcock. If he doesn’t resign with the Wings, I’ll be surprised but he is rumored about with the Flyers and Leafs.
4. Mason is our goalie. Emery won’t be here next year. Zepp, Neil Little, a traffic cone. Get a back up goalie. They are a dime a dozen…….unless Mason gets hurt.
5. Under no circumstance do you bring Mike Richards back. I will consider giving up my season tickets if that happens. Bring back Pat Falloon, first.
6. If you can’t get value for Lacavalier, chalk it up that you have an expensive 4th line. He, Vandevelde and Bellamare and playing better than most other lines.
7. Get rid of Schenn…..and Schenn. Nobody will want Umberger, so you have that. Stick him on the third line (Although it pains me to say that he has played good the last few games). See what you can get for Read. If Cotourier can turn it around great. If not, he has a high market value.
8. we don’t want Phaneuf. we don’t want Kessel. We don’t want Voynov, we don’t want anyone that is a washout…….(see Alexander Daigle, Chris Gratton) or on their last leg ( Paul Coffey, Mike Rathje, Adam Oates). Take the players we have. Add a few pieces, change the coach and fast track the young prospects.
they can make whatever deals they want or think would make them better but as long as they continue to give a jerkoff like rinaldo a 2 year deal they aren’t going anywhere. the heart of their problem is having people like hextall, holmgren, clark and berube in management positions. these guys are neanderthals who continue to think that building a team in the 1975 model is the way to go. they need a wake up call fast. the game has changed since their g(l)ory days. throwing rinaldo out there and wasting even 1 minute of ice time on him can do nothing but hurt their team. the flyers are in trouble no matter how you look at it. they need an overhaul of their philosophy as much, if not more, than getting rid of players that,no doubt, could prosper under modern management. i, for one, have no interest in how they run their business. as long as they keep losing to divisional rivals i’m happy. but there is something really wrong when the topic of conversation at dinner is how they’re gonna fuck up the penguins and the captain drinks so much beer he grabs guys’ asses.
I’m sorry, I don’t agree with some of the comments above. I don’t agree that trading players such as Lacavalier or Umberger is the answer. I agree that they haven’t had the best of seasons this year production wise, but every player has down years at some point. I believe that the Flyers just haven’t found the right “chemistry” with the lines these players play on. I think that if the Lacavalier is on a line with a player(s) such as a Martin St. Louis, who is a prolific playmaker, like he was back in his days with Tampa Bay, his scoring will pick up significantly again. I believe the same can be said of Umberger. Too many “critics” put players “out to pasture” after the age of 30 when it’s been proven that a veteran presence/leadership is needed in the locker room and on the ice if a team is expected to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The only way to get rid of any one of those players mentioned with a bad contact, without eating huge cap space $, (Vinny, AMac, Umberger) is to package them with a decent player. What Philly would get in return doesn’t matter as long as they don’t take on another bad contract (like they did with RJ). Package Read with AMac and ask for a prospect in return. Maybe Vinny with Coburn for a roll of tape. The Schenn bothers (one good, one not so good) for a draft pick. Freeing up cap space is the important thing. While I wouldn’t turn down a good offer for Schultz, I would try to re-sign him for 1 or 2 years to help out with the kids coming up the next season or two if nothing gets done by the trade deadline.
if u can get yandle, wouldn’t you trade a schenn or 2 and/or another young player, plus a pick? Umberger was picked up cuz of less years than hartnall, just to free up cap space sooner, not for his(lack of) talent.
any team that lets and absolutely worthless, talentless plug like Zac Rinaldo plod around on the ice wasting 5 minutes of ice time a game is an absolute non-factor when discussing contenders
I have heard all this before, problem is no one wants bad players. McDonald, Vinny and Umberger are not good players especially relative to the cap hit they present, thus they have zero trade value. Phlly’s problem isn’t complicated. Too many offensive players and not NEARLY enough solid defensive players. In order to remedy that they MUST trade a very good offensive piece to get very good defensive pieces in return. Value for value. Phlly’s core is Giroux, Voracek, Courtrier, Simmonds, and Mason. Consider trading Read or Brayden Schenn for a good defensman and a good 2 way forward. get rid of Vinny (who doesnt want to be here anyway), Umberger (who is just vastly overpaid for his limited production), McDonald (soft as well as over paid) and possibly Coburn (old and slow). Let Emery walk and let Zepp take his place. And fire Berube and hire a coach who can make the players buy into a more defense oriented game. Between Voracek, Giroux, and Simmonds alone they have more offense than most other teams in the league. What they don’t have is a firm commitment to and understanding of team defense. Until they get a couple more players at both ends that can help courterier provide that they wont win consistently and especially in the post season
who would want this stuff???
I feel like they would be selling low on Matt Read if they dealt him this year.
MDZ and Schultz have been impressive. Schultz is UFA at the end of the year, so he’d be wise to trade. MDZ is RFA at the end of the year, so we can still hang onto him (but he’s looked good so I’d sell him as well). Sell Grossman and for the love of God sell MacDonald if you can find any sucker GM to take his contract.
Umberger and Vinny would require more inebriated GM’s in order to trade them.
That’s a fantasy scenario, but it sure would provide a good haul in return (draft picks) and would give the Flyers plenty of space going forward.
Unless they can find a team trying to get to the cap floor, no team is taking any of those bad contracts, unless the Flyers throw something in or take a bad contract back – or a combination of the two. What team is sitting around thinking “RJ Umberger (Vinny or Emery) is a steal at that salary. I’ll give you a pick for him!”? No one is, that’s who. When a team has an overpaid “star” everyone knows it. It’s like trying to sell a broken item at the same price that you can buy a new one at the store. Sure there might be a fool on eBay who will do it, but the other 29 GMs ain’t fools…. or at least not THAT foolish.
^^^ trade Mason but keep Emery? I’m sure the majority of Flyers fans are glad youre not calling the shots
Vorachek & Giroux is what Toews & Kane are to Chicago. Just minus the entire team being stellar.
Trade Vincent Lecavalier. If you can’t force him to retire. We were able to get rid of Hartnell with 1 call from Hextall, do the same thing to Vincent.
Trade Andrew MacDonald. He is a soft player. He rarely hits. He is extremely overpaid.
Trade Steve Mason. He is still an average goalie. He has barely any playoff experience. The team has no fight playing in front of him. Yes, he has been working hard but he is not in the TOP 30 goalies. We need a #1 guy & Mason is not it.
Couturier, Read, B Schenn, keep. Allow them to develop. They are not at their peak yet.
Keep Wayne Simmonds, that goes without say.
Trade RJ Umberger.
Trade Luke Schenn, he is not a good defensemen. He looks slow on the ice & almost dumb. He allows some of the worst goals. Luke has never been in the playoffs. 6+ seasons. Telling.
Trade Coburn. Old. Slow. Injury prone. He has made huge mistakes this season, knocking Mason twice, almost injuring him. He’s clearly not a smart player.
Get rid of Zac Rinaldo. He is useless.
Ray Emery has had extremely great games followed by terrible games. Which makes me think he is covering up an injury & trying to play through it. Too many players are getting injured & I am sure Emery doesn’t want to be on the injured list. Emery may have had an inconsistent year but he gets the team fired up. He intimidates guys on the ice & has a great competitive fighting spirit. Keep him for now. What we wouldn’t want is him going back to Chicago & having another career high.
Raffl is still developing. I like him & Simmonds on the same line.
Overall, Coach Berube sucks. He switches up the lines so much players can’t even get into consistent plays with one another. He’s made plenty of play mistakes this season & the team already sucks. Fire majority of the team, bring up our young stars & start over.