Yikes… is Philly that much in cap trouble that they can’t make any significant roster changes?

PHI will not buy out JVR and then bury Mrazek's cap hit, although for that package I'd do that deal.

Holl as a solid stay at home 3rd poairing and PK would be fine, but 7mil in buy out/buried monies, no thanks.

Holl for a 4th or 5th rounder I'd do that.
Mrazek in exchange for a 1st, I'd do that.

(But only if JVR and his 7mil is moved and a 2LW is brought in)

And just to add, PHI had and experienced the unreliability of Mrazek, so would only have him back with a 1st or high round 2nd

What major moves are you hoping for?

It's a lot of wasted cap space for one season. But acquiring the additional 1st round pick and a depth defenseman in Holl is worth it. The Flyers have so many young players on cheap contracts that now is a good time to see what they have in those players and use the cap space to obtain more assets. Especially in the 2022 draft. I'm not worried about the loss of JVR on a buyout. I don't think the Flyers should be giving up assets to move him. A healthy Couturier and Ellis fixes a lot of the Flyers woes from last season. Morgan Frost appears to fix their missing 3rd line center problem and Laughton is a great 4th line center.

I agree, I just cant see 7mil in wasted monies on Mrazek and JVR, when JVR could be played and moved at the deadline.

IMO I think JVR has to get moved, but he'll get moved for another team;s issue (MTL would probably give up Hoffman and a pick, OTT would give you Zaitsev and a pick, etc....), not just moving picks to get rid of him.

And I agree that looking at last yr: Bad coaching, long term injuries/losses at 1C, 2C, 1LW, 2LW, 3LW, 1RD, 4C, 4RW all missing 20 or more games (Coots, Hayes, Giroux, Farabee, Brassard, Ellis, Thompson, Allison) doomed the club and made it hard to analyze what worked/didn;t work. There will be a alot of youth on the ice, but I think the team is better served by adding one key LW in UFA to the top 6.

At RW with Koneckny, Atkinson, Tippett, Allison, Brink, Tuomaala, and probably MacEwen we are set, but the drop off from Farabee and Lindblom is a bit too much for Cates and Desnoyes/Ratcliffe.

Not exactly sure, but a good playmaking LW (Burakovsky, Nichulushin come to mind) would help. Ultimately you're right though, the youth is very promising and with good health, theres not a huge splash expected/needed.

We're deep in pretty good prospects at RW and LD especially, not great prospects, but pretty good. But I wouldn;t be surprised if a Foerster, York, Zamula, Allison forces a move of a vet (JVR, Lindblom, Laughton, Sanheim).

I know Chuck Fletcher has his detractors, but going into last season the teams weaknesses were: bad defense at RD, poor leadership and uneven goaltending. As far as Fletcher did, Hart had a good year, he acquired at lge minimum Brassard/Thompson (two solid team guys) and got 2 of the best RD available in Ellis/Risto. Even taking in the giveaway of Giotisbehere and heavy price of Risto is the almost laughable cost (in hindsight) for Ellis. The team weaknesses of 20-21 were addressed, but the injuries undid that.

This year he has no RFA/UFAs of note to worry about and can concentrate on finding the right coach, one who can develop kids.

From what I am looking at rather than buying out JVR he could still be shipped off for Zaitsev. I'm not sure Ottawa would include a pick with Zaitsev though. The Flyers prize is some cap relief this year and still having a player they could use. Zaitsev would be a bit of an insurance policy on Ellis helping keep the team afloat if he gets injured again or ends up not even being healthy since that is still in question. I like that idea.

I also still like using the additional cap space to help acquire Holl and a 1st round pick. We all like Fedotov but it is possible he's not ready and Mrazek ends up being a nice backup option.

As far as LW goes, Lindblom is a possible buyout option so I'm not sure I'm ready to consider him the 2nd best LW on the team. Noah Cates proved in my opinion that he's a responsible 3rd line LW that can likely score 15 to 20 goals next season. Desnoyers would be a very young player but he would be the playmaking winger you're thinking of so I'd like to see him have the opportunity to make it. The other LW that is not being mentioned is Scott Laughton. He can fill any hole on that side rather than being the 4th line center. Ratcliffe also looked good as a 4th line LW in his short stint so I'd be fine with him getting a look there. If Laughton moves to LW that opens the 4th line center spot to a veteran like Patrick Brown or to Zayde Wisdom or Tanner Lacynski.

Fletcher looks bad because of the injuries. You are right. He was aggressive last offseason and it should have been good. But now, he needs to be patient and see if Ellis can be healthy. Any other big UFA signing will have minimal effect on the team's fortunes if Ellis can't be healthy at all. This is what makes Zaitsev a worthwhile risky addition for the team.

Agree on the Zaitsev, something I'ver posted on here many times before.

I think alot of posters think that we'll retain 50% on JVR for nothing back, when it cost similar amount to put him in the minors. He has some value, but I expect, like you, he'll be dealt for an equally bad spare part (Zaitsev from OTT, Hoffman from MTL, Kassian from EDM, etc...)

Zaitsev is definitely a realistic option. Ottawa spends the same amount in cash on JVR but gets a higher cap hit in him. Since they're not a cap team that may be beneficial to them. Also, JVR only has 1 year remaining. Zaitsev gives the Flyers more of what they need which is depth on RD. I think Montreal could find a taker for Hoffman without taking a cap hit back. His cap hit is fairly reasonable that he is worth a risk in acquiring for cheap than overpaying a UFA for too much term. I don't think Edmonton will move Kassian unless it's to free up his cap space. For it to make sense for them the Flyers would have to retain 50% on JVR and swap him for Kassian. I don't see what that does for the Flyers at all unless Edmonton is willing to give up other assets.