The “Large boulder the size of a Small boulder" is celebrating its 5-year anniversary today with our Sheriff’s Office. We thank the boulder for its service entertaining 77 million who've viewed our post in the Twitterverse. Pictured: Tweet author PIO Susan Lilly with The Boulder.
People are confusing the reaction to the Rantanen trade with the general skepticism people already had about how Briere is doing his job. Fair or not, the Avs decisiveness all season is in such sharp contrast to the Flyers. We wish the team was somewhat further along in acquiring younger players. Regardless, TK was the only player the Flyers have in MR’s strata and he wasn’t getting traded.
Nobody seems to know what their plan is. On the one hand, they decided to keep TK and Michkov is here (some sense of urgency?) …while on the other hand, they only have mid 6/pair prospects that are going to take time to develop- no blue chips (would seem to indicate a longer path). They have 3 1st round picks coming up this draft, but, because of draft position, only one of them has the likelihood to be an impact player w/in the next 2-3 years.
At the same time, they seemingly want to hang on to guys like Laughton and maybe even Risto while they’re already stuck with Coots’ bad contract.
Their development read on players is confusing when you look at Andrae and the way they initially kept Luchanko here purely out of need. Jett still needs more development time and we have concerns that they’ll rush him because they lack other options.
Teams like the Caps were able to retool by shrewd drafting and patience in Hershey. A lot of their kids grew together down there. In the interim, they made smart pickups like Dylan Strome, a young player that could have been useful to the Flyers. Replicating this model is something the Flyers could aspire to.
In short, the Flyers timeline doesn’t seem to be clear and neither does their commitment to development. If they need a longer runway, shed some more vets, bring in some young pros that have potential -even if they need more seasoning- and hope the picks work out. Fans could see tangible assets on display in Lehigh or elsewhere in the system and will understand.
If they believe they are closer, they need to be more aggressive in the trade market for NHL-ready talent. We’re hoping that by July’s end, Briere’s actions will provide more clarity.
Right now, it feels like they’re trying to split the difference…like Hextall 2.0