The Flyers started off hot, and now are in the midst of a free fall after dropping the last four out of five games. Now they head out west looking to find their game. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
The closest personally that I have witnessed were Ilya Kovalchuk around October 24, 2010, after signing a 15-year $100 million deal with the New Jersey Devils. The Devils started out the year 2-4-1 before he was ultimately by then Head Coach John Maclean.
Believe it or not, Timo Meier was just recently benched in the third period of a Devils game nearly two weeks ago on October 16, 2023 by Lindy Ruff. Meier is a good player, and even he gets benched. This happens throughout the course of the season, especially with expectations as high as the Devils have this season.
With the injury to Carter Hart, now Samuel Ersson is the guy between the pipes for the orange and black. When Hart returns the goal is to get Ersson in a game a week that way he can stay fresh.
Sean Walker has been a great addition to the Flyers lineup. With how young this blue line is, and will only continue to get younger, a vet like Walker will not be dealt. Walker is here to stay, especially since he has won over John Tortorella.
Morgan Frost has done a nice job at creating since his recall. Yes, he hasn’t produce the way everyone likes, but he’s given him and his teammates a shot to do such. Frost will and should be up for good for the rest of the season.
Olle Lycksell needs to be more consistent. One game he produces, the next not so much. He might be the first recall if an injury arises.
LTIR doesn’t remove the player’s salary from the team’s cap hit, it gives a team a temporary new salary cap.
This is the example in the NHL’s CBA:
A Player with a Player Salary of $1.5 million becomes unfit to play for more than 24 calendar days and 10 NHL Regular Season games. At the time the Player becomes unfit to play, his Club has an Averaged Club Salary of $69.5 million, and the Upper Limit in that League Year is $70 million. The Club may replace the unfit-to-play Player with another Player or Players with an aggregate Player Salary and Bonuses of up to $1.5 million. The first $500,000 of such replacement Player Salary and Bonuses shall count toward the Club’s Averaged Club Salary, bringing the Averaged Club Salary to the Upper Limit. The Club may then exceed the Upper Limit by up to another $1 million as a result of the replacement Player Salary and Bonuses. However, if the unfit-to-play Player once again becomes fit to play, and the Club has not otherwise created any Payroll Room during the interim period, then the Player shall not be permitted to rejoin the Club until such time as the Club reduces its Averaged Club Salary to below the Upper Limit.
The player that would fill Ryan Ellis’s void would fit like this: The current league-wide salary cap, plus the player’s salary, minus current available cap space.
It is actually more beneficial to refrain from the Flyers placing a player on LTIR like Ellis, knowing full well he will not return at all, to include the playoffs if they make it that far. The reason I say this is the Flyers would get cap relief, and spend to around the salary of Ellis. If injuries arise, the Flyers may then have to make multiple cap moves, this forcing the organization to send down a player they wouldn’t like to.
For instance, Rasmus Ristolainen had to be placed on LTIR to give the cap.fldxibility to recall Cal Petersen and his $5 million cap hit. Having some players to place on LTIR is good for cap flexibility, so the Flyers still have Ellis’s contract in their back pocket for future use.
The Flyers have to keep things simple. First things first, they have to win the initial fa eoff. This allows them to get setup right away, as opposed to having to regain the zone with the hopes of getting setup. They have struggled with zone entries in the early going, it’s quite frustrating.
Next they need a big body in front of the net. Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Garnet Hathaway on the Power Play for this very reason. If a goalie continues to see shot after shot, he will make that save nine out of ten times. The Flyers miss a player like James van Riemsdyk to shield the goalies eyes and deflect pucks.
Samu Tuomaala had to come to North America, as he was struggling finding his game in Finland. Tuomaala is producing nicely with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He just had a three point night. He seems to have found his niche in North America, so let’s see what he keeps doing with a full year in the AHL. Honestly, it appears he has his development on the right track again.
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Twitter page @flyersknitty using #Flyersmail, or @JameyBaskow. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag.
