I'll admit I don't know anything about Braun. If this is just a meh trade I'll hate Chuck for it. Wild fans warned he might be prone to pointless trades. Is he worth it?

He said north of $6.5m I believe, but I don't think it's quite an overpayment if he would be 2C. Him and JVR would be sick. I also really like your 4th line, sans Raffl maybe but still much better than the typical 4th line grinders. Not sure what to feel about the defense yet, as I think it all really depends on the young guys development. Provorov will be great, and Sanheim was doing better than I expected him to do after seeing him play in LV. I also assume they will trade Ghost for a bump in the top 6, but other than that I think I would be comfortable starting the season with that lineup. A full year for Carter Hart will be the deal breaker for me.

imo, no, he is def not worth it. Old, slow, and not very good with the puck on his stick. It seems like Chuck has this delusion of making good, young defensemen play with "veteran" (i.e., old) guys. I wouldn't mind it so much if he at least traded for good players. But in my opinion, both Nisky and Braun are not good players.

I think if it was 6 years x $6.5M per it woulda been done by now. I wouldn't be shocked to see it north of $7M when he signs

As much as I hope you're wrong, I think you are right lol. My realistic guess is 6 x 7.25M, but above is my optimistic guess. And I still can't decide if I want him on that contract or let him walk and sign that contract somewhere else.

Wow a 2nd and 3rd for Braun on that contract is a lot. Every SJ fan and every stat says he is a 5-6 dman.
This gives me lots of hope for the Leafs to dump Zaitsev easy

He's a top 4 defensive defenseman that is very good at getting the puck out of the zone with possession. So far Fletcher has traded Gudas and these 2 picks for upgrades to the RD position. Last season they had Gudas and Myers playing too high in the lineup and a spare tires playing on the 3rd pair. This coming year they'll have proven veteran defenseman on the #1 RD and #2 RD positions. They will be stabilizing forces hopefully for Provorov and Sanheim to help them grow into what we all think they can be. Neither Braun nor Niskanen are signed long-term. Neither would block Myers or Gostisbehere from moving up the lineup if they show they are ready to do so.

It'd be a good deal for the first couple of years. But by the end of the deal it'd probably be pretty rough with Hayes style of play that he plays

Lol I'm sure Dubas has been calling Chuck non-stop, and I wouldn't be surprised if Chuck was interested.

Price is apparently a mid pick, 5-6 dman, and a depth prospect.
So 4th + Hagg + plug prospect
Got to think I would take that 100 times over before Braun for a 2nd and 3rd.
Seems odd to me

Respectfully disagree with top-4 label. Lots of SJS fans are ecstatic for him to be off the team. And I also personally don't buy the "veteran presence" thing. If you're good at your position, I want you on the team, regardless of age. And vice versa. I certainly do agree with you that the positive is that if these trades turn out to be terrible, they will both be off the books in two years. However, we have to start realizing that G/Jake window is closing, and we can't afford to wait 2-3 more years when these guys are in their mid-30s. Just my opinion though.

I think some of your numbers are a bit off, but I guess that doesn't really matter. My initial reaction to your AGM is why would the Flyers ever sign Panik, and for that kind of money, when they have some pretty superb prospects basically ready, or almost ready, in the pipelines. I am obviously referring to Frost, Farabee and Ratcliffe.

Worst case he's replacing Gudas and I think overall he's better than Gudas. We can argue all day if he's a #4 or #5. Honestly, he's probably like Gudas in that fringe area. The good thing about the Flyers is that Gostisbehere isn't really a true #5. If you think about it, the Flyers can sub Ghost in on the 2nd pair offensive zone starts and Braun for D-zone starts and they easily have a strong defenseman in the proper zone for situational play. The Flyers didn't go after Trouba. So they're saying they believe in Ghost and Myers to be more than 3rd pair defensemen. Niskanen and Braun are short term quality depth to get the team to a high level regardless of how well those two play. If the young guys break out and Myers starts playing like Trouba this coming season then we might be talking about a cup run. For now, the baseline is get back to the playoffs and get the kids the experience. Voracek and Giroux haven't been able to force a win before and I wouldn't expect it now. So it's all about them being here and having the right young players jump in and start claiming the "star" play status on the team as theirs. Here's looking at you, Provorov, Sanheim, Myers, Ghost, Konecny, Farabee, Frost, and certainly not last or least Carter Hart.

All you really want from Braun is 20 minutes of solid hockey per night where nothing happens in his end. I do value the experience of Niskanen and Braun. Both having been to the Cup Finals and Niskanen having won. It does matter.

Nearly everyone in Flyers community knows that Frost, Farabee, Ratcliffe aren't NHL ready yet. I think one of them may be called up from Lehigh this year, but I don't think they'll start the year in Philly unless they have an unreal camp. Also, nearly everyone in the Flyers community knows that 3RW/3LW is a position of need this season. I wish one of those guys were ready now, but I just don't see it happening.

What's this Flyers community you keep referring to? It seems like it's a membership based club with swag and such included yearly haha. At least one of those guys are ready for the NHL. That being said, the Flyers may choose to be patient with all of them.

Lol nah just referring to beat writers, analysts, fans, etc. Not to mention that Chuck has always favored "veteran" players over younger ones. But like I said, it definitely a possibility that one of the young guys you mentioned could blow the doors off in camp and make the team. Trust me, I would much prefer that to signing an older guy on a 1-2 year deal. I guess we will find out in a few months.