SB Nation Philly - Flyers Face Roster Decisions Prior to Wednesday's Deadlinehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48987/philly-fave.png2011-10-02T19:02:44-04:00http://philly.sbnation.com/rss/stream/22093212011-10-02T19:02:44-04:002011-10-02T19:02:44-04:00Michael Leighton Clears Waivers, Assigned to Adirondack
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<p>Michael Leighton has <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/NHLFlyers/status/120574510524145664" target="new">cleared waivers again</a> – his third time in a calendar year – and will report to the Adirondack Phantoms for the start of their season.</p>
<p>Leighton will join an already crowded crease in Glens Falls, as <span class="caps">AHL</span> veterans Jason Bacashihua and Johan Backlund have been in camp for a week already, while former seventh round draft pick Brad Phillips also remains in camp. It is yet to be seen how the Phantoms crease sorts itself out, though a <a href="http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=38330&blogger_id=45" target="new">popular idea</a> has Johan Backlund being loaned to Europe.</p>
<p>In order to return to the Flyers, Leighton would once again have to clear re-entry waivers, where any club can claim him for half of his remaining salary ($1.6 million this season). For that price, Leighton is attractive. For $1.55 million, he’s not.</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/10/2/2464778/michael-leighton-clears-waivers-assigned-to-adirondackGeoffrey Detweiler2011-10-02T17:15:38-04:002011-10-02T17:15:38-04:00Flyers Face Roster Decisions Prior to Wednesday's Deadline
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<p>The Flyers have to cut down to 23 players by Wednesday at 3 p.m., meaning at least five players remain to be cut.</p> <p>After ending their preseason in New Jersey on Saturday night, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Flyers</a> have to decide how to trim their roster down to 23 players by the 3 p.m. Wednesday deadline. Currently, the Flyers have 17 forwards and 9 defensemen, at least five of which need to be sent to Adirondack.</p>
<p>Left to be decided are the final two spots on the Flyers defense, two top-nine forward spots, and the final two forwards on the roster. But with the salary cap, all of the battles are intertwined. Whether or not <span>Brayden Schenn</span> makes the team will go a long way toward deciding the defense battles, as well as settling one of the top-nine spots.</p>
<p>The forwards could look something like this, according to reports:</p>
<p align="center"><span>Scott Hartnell</span> - <span>Danny Briere</span> - <span>Jakub Voracek</span><br><span>James van Riemsdyk</span> - <span>Claude Giroux</span> - <span>Jaromir Jagr</span><br><span>Matt Read</span> - <span>Sean Couturier</span> - <span>Wayne Simmonds</span><br><span>Maxime Talbot</span> - <span>Blair Betts</span> - <span>Andreas Nodl</span><br><br><span>Jody Shelley</span> - <span>Zac Rinaldo</span></p>
<p>Three separate Flyers writers (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.csnphilly.com/hockey-philadelphia-flyers/news/Couturier-likely-locks-spot-in-Flyers-lo?blockID=570810&feedID=695">Tim Panaccio</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inqflyersreport/Schenn-ready-for-opener-Flyers-have-tough-decisions.html">Sam Carchidi</a>, and <a target="_blank" href="http://anthonysintheroom.blogspot.com/2011/10/guess-at-flyers-opening-roster.html">Anthony SanFilippo</a>) are predicting that this year's first round pick, Sean Couturier, will make the team out of camp. While the 18 year old has shown why he was taken eighth overall this year, he simply is not better prepared for a key role over 82 games with a Stanley Cup contender than Brayden Schenn.</p>
<p>But because Couturier cannot be sent to the AHL - while Schenn can - it is likely that the Flyers begin the year with Couturier on the roster. After Couturier plays nine games, he'll likely be sent back to his Juniors club, preventing him from wasting the first year of his entry-level contract. Not to mention that Couturier can't play ten games with the Flyers until the team eliminates a contract from their reserve list, Couturier should simply gets his 9-game tryout.</p>
<p>The other top-9 spot on the team is a battle between Matt Read and Andreas Nodl. I've already explained why <a target="_blank" href="http://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/8/16/2366660/why-andreas-nodl-belongs-with-wayne-simmonds-and-brayden-schenn">Nodl deserves to be the ninth forward</a> on the team, but if Schenn starts the year in the AHL in favor of Couturier, it becomes even more important that Nodl and Simmonds are there to help Couturier. Unfortunately, it's more likely that the Flyers go with two rookies on their third line.</p>
<p>Matt Read certainly did enough to make the team out of camp, but his inclusion raises the question of who the Flyers rely on to go up against the opposition's second lines. If Read is playing with Couturier, that job will likely fall to the Talbot - Betts - Nodl line, despite Talbot and Betts <a target="_blank" href="http://www.behindthenet.ca/nhl_statistics.php?c=0+1+3+5+2+4+7+8+13+15+17+18+19+20+23+24+29+63+67&ds=1&f3=MAXIMETALBOT&f1=2010_s+2009_s+2008_s+2007_s">not showing</a> the ability to<a target="_blank" href="http://www.behindthenet.ca/nhl_statistics.php?c=0+1+3+5+2+4+7+8+13+15+17+18+19+20+23+24+29+63+67&ds=1&f3=BLAIRBETTS&f1=2010_s+2009_s+2008_s+2007_s"> beat top-6 </a>competition in any of the last three years.</p>
<p>In addition, if that job does fall to the fourth line, they'll be playing roughly 12 minutes of even-strength time per game, taking ice time away from the rest of the team, including two rookies who need experience. It could certainly be worse - the team could dress Zac Rinaldo or Jody Shelley - but it's still not an optimal situation.</p>
<p>In the first nine games - how long Couturier is expected to be with the club - the Flyers will on on the road and have to find a way to matchup against the second lines of Boston (Seguin, Krejci, Marchand), New Jersey (Elias, Josefson, Parise), and Montreal (Cole, Gomez, Pacioretty). This is after needing to shut down the <span>Ryan Kesler</span> (Vancouver), <span>Mike Richards</span> (Los Angeles), <span>Marcus Johansson</span> (Washington), and <span>Nikolai Kulemin</span> (Toronto) lines at home.</p>
<p>That's a lot of talent that could run over Blair Betts and Max Talbot, let alone Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell. Asking Couturier and Read to do that job instead could produce very poor results. This comes on top of the bet that Jaromir Jagr and James van Riemsdyk are enough to help Claude Giroux shut down those team's best scorers, even before worrying about their second best.</p>
<p>Going with Couturier and Read on the third line is a big risk, even if it's only for nine games. It's an even bigger risk if the team decides not to put Andreas Nodl in the 12th forward slot. But it appears that's what the Flyers are doing. Consider me officially worried.</p>
<p>On defense, the team has to pick two of <span>Andreas Lilja</span>, <span>Oskars Bartulis</span>, <span>Matt Walker</span>, and <span>Erik Gustafsson</span>. Gustafsson likely won't make the team because he is the only player who can be sent down without clearing waivers. Walker will likely make the team only if Bryaden Schenn doesn't, since his $1.7 million cap hit cannot be afforded if Schenn is on the roster.</p>
<p>One of Lilja, Bartulis, and Walker will be waived on Monday, so that they can be off the roster by the 3 p.m. Wednesday deadline. If Couturier makes the team, my bet is that Bartulis who gets waived, even though he has the lowest cap hit of them all. But maybe I'm just a cynic this time of year.</p>
<p>In either event, it will be interesting which players the Flyers offer to the rest of the league on waivers if they decide to keep their waiver exempt players. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.capgeek.com/cap_calculator/roster.php?id=5489">Making the best of a bad situation</a>, the team would waive Jody Shelley and Matt Walker, keeping Sean Couturier with the team temporarily before sending him back to his juniors club and recalling either <span>Ben Holmstrom</span> or Zac Rinaldo. Even then, the club will be using Ian Laperriere's LTIR exemption all year, which is not desirable.</p>
<p>At least this way, the club can use Couturier at home - where they can better control who he faces - and Nodl with Schenn and Simmonds on the road. This would keep Couturier up with the Flyers longer - only dressing him at home - so he gets more experience, while not hurting the team on the ice with his inexperience.</p>
<p>But we'll see what the Flyers are thinking soon enough.</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/10/2/2464323/flyers-face-roster-decisions-prior-to-wednesdays-deadlineGeoffrey Detweiler2011-09-27T13:56:37-04:002011-09-27T13:56:37-04:00Philadelphia Flyers Waive Tom Sestito
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<p>Bob McKenzie is <a href="http://t.co/alroHEnR" target="new">reporting</a> that the Flyers placed forward Tom Sestito on waivers today, after <a href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2011/9/26/2451446/tom-sestito-hit-suspension-zac-rinaldo-jody-shelley" target="new">he laid a suspension-worthy hit</a> on Andre Deveaux last night.</p>
<p>After Jody Shelley was suspended for the first five regular season games, a spot opened up on the Flyers roster for at least those five games. With Sestito making that hit last night, it was clear that he’d either be suspended or sent to Adirondack. He may still be suspended, but it likely won’t matter as he’ll go to Glens Falls.</p>
<p>That leaves Zac Rinaldo – crazy, right? – as the only fighter to avoid suspension during the preseason. It looks like the job is his, as both of his competitors have taken themselves out of the dicussion.</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/9/27/2453065/philadelphia-flyers-waive-tom-sestitoGeoffrey Detweiler2011-09-25T12:42:19-04:002011-09-25T12:42:19-04:00Michael Nylander and Adam Mair Relased From Pro Tryouts
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<p>In a move that doesn’t surprise many, the Flyers have released veterans Michael Nylander and Adam Mair from their tryout contracts.</p>
<p>Despite Nylander receiving <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2011-09-19/sports/30176020_1_rangers-and-washington-brayden-schenn-max-talbot" target="new">lots</a> of <a href="http://phillysportsdaily.com/flyers/2011/08/18/bright-nylander-can-only-help-flyers-at-camp/" target="new">attention</a> from Philadelphia writers, it was never clear how he would fit in on a team that was set in the top-6 and had Brayden Schenn as the clear favorite to win the third line center position.</p>
<p>Adam Mair is a guy who received a lot less attention, mostly because it was much more obvious he would not make the team. He is a fourth line player who would have had to pass Blair Betts and Ben Holmstrom to earn a spot on the roster, let alone beating out Tom Sestito, Jody Shelley, and Zac Rinaldo. Since he was never a threat to Blair Betts – despite <a href="http://phillysportsdaily.com/flyers/2011/09/24/matt-read-proving-success-of-flyers-camp-philosophy/" target="new">one thinking he was</a> – and since he was coming off a miserable year in New Jersey, his cut is not surprising.</p>
<p>The Flyers training camp roster is now down to 36 as they await word on the five players they waived yesterday.</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/9/25/2448322/michael-nylander-and-adam-mair-relased-from-pro-tryoutsGeoffrey Detweiler2011-09-24T15:22:35-04:002011-09-24T15:22:35-04:00Flyers Announce Seventeen Roster Cuts
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Flyers</a> <a href="http://flyers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=589692" target="new">officially released</a> the list of players cut from their <span class="caps">NHL</span> training camp today. All seventeen of these players are headed to the Phantoms training camp, which begins Monday.</p>
<p><b>Forwards</b></p>
<ul>
<li><span>Jason Akeson</span></li>
<li><span>Tyler Brown</span></li>
<li><span>Shane Harper</span></li>
<li><span>Ben Holmstrom</span></li>
<li><span>Tye McGinn</span></li>
<li><span>Luke Pither</span></li>
<li><span>Mike Testwuide</span></li>
<li><span>Eric Wellwood</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Defensemen</b></p>
<ul>
<li><span>Marc-Andre Bourdon</span></li>
<li><span>Tyler Hostetter</span></li>
<li><span>Blake Kessel</span></li>
<li><span>Oliver Lauridsen</span></li>
<li><span>Kevin Marshall</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Goalie</b></p>
<ul>
<li><span>Brad Phillips</span></li>
</ul>
<p>Dustin Leed’s <a href="http://twitter.com/D_LEED/status/117660092677107712" target="new">report from earlier</a> is confirmed, and he got the biggest news of the day. Wellwood and Holmstrom were the two closest to winning a job in this group, and they are going to the <span class="caps">AHL</span>.</p>
<p>These cuts leave <span>Sean Couturier</span>, <span>Michael Nylander</span>, <span>Adam Mair</span>, <span>Matt Read</span>, <span>Zac Rinaldo</span>, <span>Andrew Rowe</span>, <span>Tom Sestito</span>, and <span>Harry Zolnierczyk</span> still battling for a couple of spots up front. <span>Erik Gustafsson</span>, <span>Brandon Manning</span>, and <span>Matt Walker</span> remain on defense, while <span>Michael Leighton</span> remains in goal.</p>
<p>The team still has 38 players in camp, but five have already been placed on waivers, presumably on their way to the Phantoms. That leaves at least ten more cuts before opening day.</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/9/24/2446793/flyers-announce-seventeen-roster-cutsGeoffrey Detweiler2011-09-24T14:26:13-04:002011-09-24T14:26:13-04:00Flyers Make More Roster Cuts, Place Five on Waivers
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<p>On Saturday, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Flyers</a> announced another wave of roster cuts, including the placing of a few <span class="caps">AHL</span> veterans on waivers.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=376604" target="new">According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie</a>, the Flyers placed forwards <span>Stefan Legein</span> and <span>Jon Kalinski</span>, defenseman <span>Dan Jancevski</span>, and goaltenders <span>Johan Backlund</span> and <span>Jason Bacashihua</span> on waivers. Most, if not all, should clear waivers and report to Adirondack. Backlund, however, may be loaned to Europe in order to prevent the Phantoms from having three goaltenders. That is pure speculation, but with the logjam of netminders in Glens Falls, someone is likely to go.</p>
<p>Also, <a href="http://twitter.com/D_LEED/status/117660092677107712" target="new">Dustin Leed of The Hockey Guys</a> is also reporting that the Flyers have sent forwards <span>Eric Wellwood</span> and <span>Ben Holmstrom</span> down to the Phantoms. Both Holmstrom and Wellwood are the first players cut that had a legitimate chance of making the team this year, even if both were long shots.</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/9/24/2446708/flyers-make-more-roster-cuts-place-players-on-waiversGeoffrey Detweiler2011-09-22T21:54:00-04:002011-09-22T21:54:00-04:00On Tomas Hyka, Organizational Mistakes, and Media Reaction
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<p>It has been an interesting week. Undrafted camp invite Tomas Hyka went from unknown, to cut, to in the roster, to almost getting a contract, to being unable to get one.</p> <p>Thursday morning, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/flyers-talk/post/Hyka-returning-to-juniors-will-enter-12-?blockID=565820&feedID=6572">the Flyers admitted</a> that they are not permitted to sign camp invitee <span>Tomas Hyka</span> and had sent him back to his Juniors club. A training camp invite being cut is usually not news, but Hyka is not the typical training camp invite.</p>
<p>On Monday, <a target="_blank" href="http://flyers.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=64095">he was cut</a> by the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.broadstreethockey.com/">Flyers</a> before being listed on the next night's roster in Toronto. He <a target="_blank" href="http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/flyers-talk/post/Almost-cut-Hyka-provides-spark-for-Flyer?blockID=565720&feedID=6572">then impressed</a> in his first preseason game, <a target="_blank" href="http://articles.philly.com/2011-09-21/news/30184953_1_brayden-schenn-andreas-nodl-claude-giroux">getting attention</a> due to making it all the way to the airport before being told he wasn't cut. The Flyers chalked the cut up to a clerical error, but it was already apparent that Hyka was a media and fan favorite in a matter of days.</p>
<p>He had multiple beat writers <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/#!/BroadStBull/status/116679294729728000">speculating</a> that he <a target="_blank" href="http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/flyers-talk/post/Almost-cut-Hyka-provides-spark-for-Flyer?blockID=565720&feedID=6572">could be</a> signed <a target="_blank" href="http://phillysportsdaily.com/flyers/2011/09/21/the-good-and-bad-from-flyers-preseason-loss/">before the end</a> of the week. But on Wednesday night, the Hyka story got even more interesting.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://anthonysintheroom.blogspot.com/2011/09/strange-trip-for-hyka-could-lead-to.html">Anthony SanFilippo of the DelcoTimes</a> spoke with a member of the Flyers organization, on the condition on anonymity, about Hyka.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Flyers wanted to give him a look in a game situation before deciding if they want to offer him an entry level contract, which, according to a team source, is something the Flyers <b>are seriously considering</b>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The problem, of course, is that Broad Street Hockey <a target="_blank" href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2011/9/21/2440724/preseason-game-2-discussion-thread-toronto-maple-leafs-at#78030036">was already questioning</a> whether the Flyers were allowed to sign Hyka, even in the middle of the game. By the end of the night, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2011/9/21/2441390/tomas-hyka-philadelphia-flyers-contract">it became clear</a> that the Flyers would need to find a loophole to sign Hyka, since he was not a free agent according to the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Something neither the Flyers nor the beat writers were aware of.</p>
<p>While the CBA is a difficult and confusing document, this particular scenario is fairly simple. In short, since Hyka played in Europe last year and he's under the age of 22, he is still draft eligible and cannot be signed to an NHL contract before re-entering the draft.</p>
<p>The reaction to this has been interesting, with two distinct groups. In one corner, those who were talking about how the Flyers could sign Hyka soon have ignored the fact that the team could not. The story has simply gone away, treated as any other camp invite being cut. <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/#!/davegisaac/status/116888319136247808">One such reporter even responded</a> by telling Flyers fans to "chill" since "it's not like they missed the boat on Wayne Gretzky here."</p>
<p>The other group is largely irate and furious at the Flyers - <a target="_blank" href="http://www.broadstreethockey.com/2011/9/22/2442198/tomas-hyka-contract-juniors-philadelphia-flyers#78071756">specifically</a> Assistant General Manager Barry Hanrahan - for making <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/#!/BroadStHockey/status/116851120504184832">another</a> CBA gaffe, including the <a target="_blank" href="http://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/7/3/2257702/report-flyers-violate-cba-with-max-talbot-contract">second one</a> this summer. The Flyers let an impressive prospect leave based on an inability to understand something that a blogger can figure out in their spare time.</p>
<p>Neither side is wrong in their opinions, but the operations of the front office and the way those actions are perceived in the media is fascinating to me. I <a target="_blank" href="http://philly.sbnation.com/2010/9/15/1690182/flyers-training-camp-a-study-in">looked at it last year</a> regarding free agents and roster battles, and it's still interesting. Hyka goes from complete unknown to "will likely sign an entry-level contract" shortly, but after it comes out that the Flyers didn't understand the NHL rules, he disappears from the news.</p>
<p>Beyond that, SanFilippo's article revealed another <a target="_blank" href="http://philly.sbnation.com/2010/8/9/1610408/the-downside-of-the-bullies">aspect of the Flyers organization</a> that infuriates me.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"<b>We thought about drafting Hyka in the third or fourth round</b>," one Flyers executive told me prior to the game. "But the draft goes in a lot of different directions all the time, and sometimes you forget about guys - and that's what happened with Hyka.<br><br>"By the time we realized he was still on the board it was the seventh round and we were debating between him and a big and tough kid (<span>Derek Mathers</span>) and <b>we decided to draft the tough kid</b> hoping we could get Hyka into camp as an undrafted kid. It worked out for us."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Flyers were looking to draft Hyka in the third or fourth round, but forgot about him. That's fine, that happens. And since no team drafted him, the fact that the Flyers didn't use a high pick on him has shown to be a good decision, or at least one that didn't cost them.</p>
<p>But by the seventh round, the Flyers were looking at their draft board and remembered Hyka. There was a guy they thought could be a third round pick and "a big and tough kid". Not only did they have to think about this decision, they once again opted for the goon.</p>
<p>The Flyers now have Derek Mathers, a guy with 171 penalty minutes and one goal in 55 games last year, under team control for two years. They opted to ensure they had Mathers, rather than the skill player they fell in love with this past week.</p>
<p>As the beat writer above said, Hyka isn't Gretzky. But the Flyers got <span>Brendan Ranford</span> in the 7th round in 2010, and he has two-straight 29 goal seasons in the WHL. The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.wingingitinmotown.com/">Red Wings</a> drafted <span>Henrik Zetterberg</span> in the 7th round in 1999, and he's a four-time 30-goal scorer. Both <span>Antero Niittymaki</span> and <span>Eric Wellwood</span> were 6th round picks as well. Not to mention <span>Sergei Kostitsyn</span> and <span>Patric Hornqvist</span> as 7th round picks in 2005. It is rare, but late round draft picks are valuable and can be top-6 players in the NHL.</p>
<p>So while Hyka isn't a big loss, this past week showed that many members of the media are happy to speculate without questioning the organization, then quickly drop the story after being wrong. Rather than discuss the team's mistakes or their own off-the-cuff predictions, the story has been dropped, as if it never happened.</p>
<p>The organization may have made yet another gaffe, on yet another misinterpretation of the CBA, but it was on the eligibility of an 18 year old player with only 13 games in the Czech Extraliga, and none in North America. The mistake may have been small, but rather than admit their error, the team blamed a miscommunication with the NHL head office.</p>
<p>While neither the organization and their apologists, nor the fans and their haters, are handling this story as best they could, the way they are handling it is at least fascinating to watch.</p>
https://philly.sbnation.com/philadelphia-flyers/2011/9/22/2442930/on-tomas-hyka-organizational-mistakes-and-media-reactionGeoffrey Detweiler