Trust me, I've looked at this team for a long time and have periods where I doubt our top guys and think it's time to move on from them. What I'd say is ask yourself, does the team you just created look better than the Flyers lineup now? Personally, I'd say no.

Giroux will probably be here for life, personally that's what I think. When his contract is up, I think the team will still be a contender and he will resign at a lower cap hit than he is previously at to allow the young guys to get their payday and keep the team together.

Couturier is our number one center, trust me, don't trade this man, he is good. I think he is hurt because something looks off about him in these playoffs.

Voracek I find is streaky, yet he is our best player in the playoffs so far. If we were to trade anyone, I'd trade Jake. Love the guy, but if we could get something half decent in return and clear the cap, do it.

JvR, see ya buddy. Can't wait for expansion.

NaK is solid, keep this guy. Same with Raffl. Low cap hits and they are some of our best contributors as of late.

I hate to say this, but I'm getting extremely impatient on Nolan Patrick. If nothing happens next year, time to give up.

Trade Ghost, bring up Frost (maybe the new 3C), Zamula/York coming up soon, Friedman deserves a shot at D.

Make a big signing in free agency (Piet?).

Have faith, this team has the pieces but they're just lacking something. Once they find it, they will be good. Besides, they're part of the final 8 for a reason.

(Btw, both MTL and NYI are great defensively. Won't be easy series').

Niskanen is not a terrible player, but the Rangers are logged jammed up on D, specifically on the right side. There's no need.

Great insight!
you are right about everything
I think my only reason for trading Couts and G was to maybe change the culture
I also think G will be there for life and Im ok with him accepting a role on the third line(eventually) along with Jake. It would be a good third line
Having faith? thats all us Flyer fans have. I do miss the mid eighties- Poulin, Tocchet, Sinasalo, Kerr, Howe, Zezel, Mellanby, Sutter and Propp

I know, it's been rough... Try to remember that although it has been a long time with this core, they have normally been very successful individually on crappy Flyers teams that lacked depth scoring, solidified defence, and a goalie. I feel as if they have all of that now, and the pressure is off them. All I'd like to see is them have slightly less production than they had during those times, rather than all of them (aside from Jake) disappear in these playoffs.

OTT very quickly declines

some of those deals are based on current passions (i.e. playoffs), but the 3 of the 4 deals, all except for the JVR deal are poor asset management

Personally I think a culture change has already started within the team especially during the regular season we saw that. You hear the players saw how close the team is with each other and you never heard anyone say that while Hak was coach. Hayes has been a breath of fresh air in the room. I think a somewhat toxic culture was brought in by Hextall and this is the first season completely separated from him in the organization. He did a great job of drafting and giving players time to develop but it seems like he lost sight of what Mr.Snider wanted and that was to make sure that The Flyers organization was more than just a business and that it was a family. The culture is changing with the youth movement being fully underway. I'm not ready to pack it in yet I believe this group can get something done maybe it won't be this year but soon. We've seen to many players move on and go on to win the cup don't want to see it happen with these guys.

you are 100% correct
if the flyers where truly going to trade Couts they would obviously come up with a better package

I get being frustrated with the inconsistency of late, but you are allowing it to trade off valuable pieces for way less than they are worth. The Coots trade doesn't make much sense to me to be honest. We will want a player with higher upside. Although Danault is a really good player, Tatar and Domi as well, The Flyers have depth already. If we were to give up a big piece just to break up the core. It would likely be for another big piece. A one for one deal more than likely.

Now lets discuss the concept of breaking up the core:

Coots is a great player, and he doesn't quite look like himself over the last week (moving a bit slower than normal), but he's demanding a lot of attention, in the MTL game where voracek got 2 goals, Coots was right in front of the net on both of those goals in a battle with the Defender. That attention led to Voracek's goals. Coots does a lot of things well, and is one of the more underrated players in the league. I don't think trading him is the answer. It would be a huge loss I believe and takes away our best player.

( I know i'm responding to this after a game 2 win so we probably all are feeling a bit more positive, but Coots played really well today, even though they blew a 3-0 lead).

G is a flyer for life. The only way he isn't is if we get really bad in a couple of years, and it is a last stitch effort to turn things around, but I don't see that being the case any time soon. Voracek is the contract to trade, and our best bet to get good value off him is for him to continue to have a really good playoffs, and then trade him while his name is hot this offseason. BUT Voracek is a 60 pt player (not consistent), I think we could get something for him still, but it'd have to be this offseason. JVR send him any where. Ghost is a big yikes every time he touches the ice. I cringe. He carries very little value for me, but if you attach a good prospect with him, we might get a solid contributing player as some team rebuilding will love a good prospect and a chance at the ghost of old. Its just rough to have a defenseman who can't actually do any defending. Watching him clear a puck is torture.

Patty freaks me out, I have high hopes when he plays, I see the flashes, but man his situation is very concerning after this year. If you can't come back within a year from it, I just don't know if there is a future for him with this migraine disorder. And no disrespect to Patrick, but Pettersson and Heiskanen sure are looking good right about now....

Finally, like it was said before by others, lets not panic, this team was the hottest team in hockey until the shut down then we were 3-0 in the round robin. The Canadiens were a huge trap team given their style of play and the extra motivation being a huge underdog and having an ill coach. The Islanders are a tough draw also after just getting out of a really physical series. Regardless of the outcome of the series and playoffs, the Flyers are in a good spot for now and the future.

I don't disagree with anything you are saying but my point was haven't we been patient enough with this core? how much more rope do we give them? we have brought players and coaches in and out of Philly with basically same result. yes, this year they have played extremely better but are they any closer to winning a cup? Montreal, which is not a good team, outplayed the flyers in a losing effort. The Islanders look far superior to the flyers. And if you look at the teams that are left the Flyers don't compare yet.
now the good news:
They have a good coach
I love Provorov, Sanheim and Myers the defense is almost elite
Konecny and Farabee look like really good top six forwards but other than them who else are you excited about? Frost is unproven, I am hoping he turns into a #2 center. Patrick? He'll never play at a high level if at all.
Lindblom? If he stays cancer free he also will be a top six forward, I think- he is still in my mind unproven
I think we thought all these players were going to be top 3 players when in fact they are 2nd line players with potential 1st line minutes. You can argue that Konecny and Farabee are first line players but until they consistently score 25-30 goals per year they are 2nd line players.
The rest - NAK, Raffl, Pitlick, Laughton are players I really like but are basically 4th line players who have the ability to move up in the line-up (Raffl and Laughton only) but eventually become exposed. Raffl is a good example of that. More recently Laughton, remember how good he looked in the round robin? And now he has been scratched. Why? because I think the coach mis judged him as a second line player. Laughton is a valuable player but he is NOT a second line player.
If G and Jake where in their prime I think the play of all the players above would have been more dangerous, especially Konecny, Farabee and Lindblom. But as it is G and Jake are declining players trying to carry this team while grooming the young players and they can't do it. JVR is a waste of space
Hayes has been great
I hope Couts is hurt (he really does look hurt)because if he is not then he doesn't look like a #1center.

Thanks for the discussion