mochoson

"i wouldn't give carter 5.2 mil ever... i would give him 4 mil which is what jordan staal makes... and even then, i would still rather have staal. - SuperHenderson13"

Josi is the most overrated player in the nhl. He isnt even close to a top ten. - James_Tanner, NJ • 2015 Years Old • Male

A Stab At the Flyers Off-Season Moves w/hypothetical roster

As a long time Flyers fan, I like where the team is headed. Solid core group of players, a new GM who wants to add speed, sounder defensive play, and maybe most importantly, cohesiveness. I liked the Hartnell for Umberger trade. I still think the roster needs more speed up-front and more mobility in general on the blue-line. If were adding to the blue-line at all, size couldn't hurt. While not in the most ideal situation cap wise, I think the Flyers are in pretty good shape heading into the draft.

A back-up goalie is a must sign. The team could probably stand to add a forward and another defensemen either via trade or FA, especially if one or both of Vincent Lecavalier or Nicklas Grossman are on the opening day roster. Chris Pronger is also on the cap until the first day of the season. As of this writing, the Flyers have a little more than 1.8 million in cap space.

If I was Ron Hextall, I'm moving Vincent Lecavalier and Nicklass Grossman for cap space. Whatever additional value can be had will help, and I actually think there is value to be had. There are all sorts of whacky deals and players in need of scenery changes around the league. There are also many teams that either want to spend money to compete or need to reach the cap floor.

If it were up to me, Scott Laughton starts the season in the AHL. Vinny and Grossman would be dumped for draft picks. Jay Rosehill is waived. We would sign a speedy winger like Mason Raymond or maybe a cheaper reclamation project like David booth. Grossman would be replaced by someone like Mark Fayne or maybe someone a bit cheaper like Tom Gilbert. If you noticed, both of those suggested defensemen are right handed; Luke Schenn is the only righty on the current roster. If you want Laughton in the AHL, you may need to sign a vet like Dominic Moore, or see if Bellemare can play center in the NHL. Last but not least, Steve Mason still needs a back-up.

The reality? The Flyers will need to be very creative in order to fill there current needs because of their cap situation.

I think a good start would be trading Lecavalier and retaining 25% of his salary, along with Grossman to the Panthers for Tomas Fleischman, Quinton Howden, and John McFarland. Vinny Viola has said he'd like to spend close to the cap in order to make the team competitive. Vinny waives to go back to Florida and mentor Barkov and Bjugstad, filling a top-9 center spot. Nicklas Grossman helps solidfy an otherwise mediocore blue-line. The Panthers rid themselves of the last year of Fleischmans contract, while the Phantoms gain some youth in Howden and McFarland. Howden is lost in the shuffle in Florida's plethora of young forwards, and McFarland is a project at best.

Next, I'd give Tom Gilbert a more than fair raise of 600k for a total cap hit of 1.5 mill; I would even sign him for 2 years, 3 mill total. I would also sign Al Montoya for 1 year, 1 mill to be Mason's back-up; another more than fair raise of 400k. I'd sign RFA's Tye McGinn and Jason Akeson to 1 or 2 year deals, with each getting modest raises based off their recent contributions to the big club (Akeson much more so than McGinn because of strong playoffs).

Pre-opening day roster would look something like this...

FORWARDS
Tomas Fleischmann ($4.500m) / Claude Giroux ($8.275m) / Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m)
Michael Raffl ($1.100m) / Brayden Schenn ($2.500m) / Jakub Voracek ($4.250m)
R.J. Umberger ($4.600m) / Sean Couturier ($1.750m) / Matt Read ($3.625m)
Tye McGinn ($0.750m) / Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($0.600m) / Jason Akeson ($0.825m)
Zac Rinaldo ($0.750m)

DEFENSEMEN
Mark Streit ($5.250m) / Andrew MacDonald ($5.000m)
Braydon Coburn ($4.500m) / Luke Schenn ($3.600m)
Kimmo Timonen ($2.000m) / Tom Gilbert ($1.500m)
Chris Pronger ($4.941m)

GOALTENDERS
Steve Mason ($4.100m)
Al Montoya ($1.000m)

RETAINED SALARIES (1.58% of upper limit)
Vincent Lecavalier ($1.125m—25.00%)
BONUS OVERAGE
$345,000

CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $238,571


After effectively placing Chris Pronger on LTIR, I would call-up Scott Laughton and one of Oliver Lauridsen, Brandon Manning, or Mark Alt to fill the 7th defense spot. Opening day roster would look something like this.

FORWARDS
Tomas Fleischmann ($4.500m) / Claude Giroux ($8.275m) / Wayne Simmonds ($3.975m)
Michael Raffl ($1.100m) / Brayden Schenn ($2.500m) / Jakub Voracek ($4.250m)
R.J. Umberger ($4.600m) / Sean Couturier ($1.750m) / Matt Read ($3.625m)
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($0.600m) / Scott Laughton ($0.863m) / Jason Akeson ($0.825m)
Tye McGinn ($0.750m) / Zac Rinaldo ($0.750m)

DEFENSEMEN
Mark Streit ($5.250m) / Andrew MacDonald ($5.000m)
Braydon Coburn ($4.500m) / Luke Schenn ($3.600m)
Kimmo Timonen ($2.000m) / Tom Gilbert ($1.500m)
Oliver Lauridsen ($0.600m) /

GOALTENDERS
Steve Mason ($4.100m)
Al Montoya ($1.000m)

LTIR
Chris Pronger ($4.941m)
RETAINED SALARIES (1.58% of upper limit)
Vincent Lecavalier ($1.125m—25.00%)
BONUS OVERAGE
$345,000

CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $3,716,667


Just a late night roster hypothetical. What does everyone think?

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