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TABLE TALK: The 2025 Flyers Offseason Matters · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:29
Speaker 1: Welcome to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table
0:31
Speaker 1: podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show
0:34
Speaker 1: in the world, twelve years strong. You've got a great
0:37
Speaker 1: discussion coming your way regarding this Philadelphia Flyers offseason and
0:41
Speaker 1: what may happen during this upcoming season. Haven't taught Flyers
0:44
Speaker 1: too too much recently on this podcast platform, but to
0:48
Speaker 1: get into this team this offseason for what the future
0:51
Speaker 1: holds for the Flyers. We've got our great friend Ryan Quigley, Buddy,
0:55
Speaker 1: how are you, my friend Jeff Warren.
0:57
Speaker 2: I'm doing wonderful and I am excited back on the pod.
1:00
Speaker 2: It's been a while and there's I mean there's not
1:03
Speaker 2: really there hasn't been a ton to talk about anyway.
1:05
Speaker 2: The off season. The Flyers are quite dormant at the moment.
1:08
Speaker 2: Right he's up at the he's at the cottage. You know,
1:10
Speaker 2: he's doing whatever he's doing. So but it's good to
1:13
Speaker 2: be back talking about the Flyers. I'm excited.
1:16
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Look like we said before we hit the record button,
1:20
Speaker 1: this season is going to be here before we know it.
1:22
Speaker 1: Camp is going to be here before we know it.
1:24
Speaker 1: We're going to dive into some storylines here, but Ryan
1:26
Speaker 1: to everybody where they can find you online, where they
1:29
Speaker 1: can get your flyers content.
1:31
Speaker 2: Let everybody know, yes, so you can find my content
1:35
Speaker 2: as well as all of my great colleagues at broad
1:38
Speaker 2: Street Hockey all their content. You can find it at
1:40
Speaker 2: Broadstreet hockey dot com. And you can also find us
1:42
Speaker 2: on YouTube. We've been doing a lot more video content,
1:45
Speaker 2: a lot more video slash podcast stuff, so you can
1:49
Speaker 2: find us all there. You can find me on Blue
1:52
Speaker 2: Sky and I'm calling it Twitter at Ryan to Ze.
1:57
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, so, but that's where you can find my stuff.
2:00
Speaker 2: Make sure to like and subscribe Broadstreet Hockey at all
2:03
Speaker 2: It really goes along.
2:04
Speaker 1: Way absolutely and folks, as you may know, I've mentioned
2:07
Speaker 1: it a number of times. Broadstreet Hockey dot com one
2:09
Speaker 1: of my favorite sites out there for flyers hockey. I'm
2:12
Speaker 1: a five dollars subscriber. I just want to make sure
2:14
Speaker 1: that I'm contributing to the folks over there because they
2:16
Speaker 1: give fantastic content all the time. Again, head on over
2:19
Speaker 1: to Broadstreet Hockey dot com. Be a subscriber. Five bucks
2:22
Speaker 1: a month. Probably not gonna kill you, but it's a
2:26
Speaker 1: great investment for the content you get. So buddy, let's
2:29
Speaker 1: get started talking about this offseason here and I and
2:32
Speaker 1: I think from an overall standpoint, when I think about
2:34
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Flyers, I think about basically the past thirty
2:39
Speaker 1: years and what we haven't seen and what we haven't
2:41
Speaker 1: really gotten with this team. But when I look at
2:44
Speaker 1: where we are right now in twenty twenty five, I
2:47
Speaker 1: think that this was an overall productive, good off season
2:52
Speaker 1: for Danny Brier in the front office. I think it's
2:55
Speaker 1: safe to say that there's a vision that the front
2:57
Speaker 1: office has, there's a plan of action. Nothing is ever
3:01
Speaker 1: one hundred percent perfect when it comes to hockey, and
3:03
Speaker 1: especially when it comes to the Philadelphia Flyers, but I'm
3:07
Speaker 1: happy at where this vision and plan is currently at
3:09
Speaker 1: right now, and I certainly want to get your thoughts.
3:12
Speaker 1: So what are those thoughts you have on how we
3:13
Speaker 1: should be viewing this Flyers off season as we start
3:17
Speaker 1: looking towards camp and start looking toward this regular season here.
3:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I do think that this off season should
3:25
Speaker 2: be considered a success, not because they went out and
3:28
Speaker 2: they made these incredible you know, they fleeced a million
3:31
Speaker 2: teams and all these trades and all of a sudden
3:34
Speaker 2: they have, you know, a top line center who's one
3:37
Speaker 2: hundred point player, like, nothing like that. But I think
3:40
Speaker 2: what makes this off season a success is the fact
3:43
Speaker 2: that there is a vision and there is a plan,
3:45
Speaker 2: like you mentioned, and that was one of the issues
3:48
Speaker 2: that kind of plagued the Chuck Fletcher era, Yes, I
3:51
Speaker 2: should say, is that it seems like they were just
3:54
Speaker 2: kind of trying, you know, throwing you know what at
3:58
Speaker 2: the wall and seeing what's right, and it seemed like
4:02
Speaker 2: there wasn't really a cohesive plan. And for Danny Briere,
4:06
Speaker 2: it seems completely opposite. It seems like every move he
4:09
Speaker 2: makes is very calculated, h with the long term in mind.
4:13
Speaker 2: And so that's what I'm excited about with this offseason.
4:16
Speaker 2: And so again, it's not like they went out and
4:19
Speaker 2: they got some sort of sure thing as a top
4:22
Speaker 2: line center or number one defenseman. But they did go
4:24
Speaker 2: out and they get they got a player like Trevor Zegress,
4:27
Speaker 2: who is by all means and he's a reclamation project.
4:31
Speaker 2: But that's an exciting move that has an eye looking
4:35
Speaker 2: down the road on the future. So to me, that's exciting.
4:38
Speaker 2: He's staying true to his plan. They're not going nuts,
4:40
Speaker 2: they're not trying to I mean, based off of his moves,
4:44
Speaker 2: it's not like he's very clearly stating we're gonna win
4:48
Speaker 2: now right now, what's going on. It seems like they
4:50
Speaker 2: really have an eye on the future, and that's been
4:52
Speaker 2: kind of the whole vision all along. So it's good
4:56
Speaker 2: that there's the consistency there with it.
4:58
Speaker 1: And I think that is so important because a US
5:00
Speaker 1: Flyers fans and we know how divided this fan base
5:03
Speaker 1: can be. For us to I hope all of us
5:06
Speaker 1: to sit back and say, yes, there is that vision,
5:10
Speaker 1: Like if we can come together as a fan base
5:11
Speaker 1: and say that, I think there's more possibilities of us
5:16
Speaker 1: enjoying this coming season knowing what it is that's right
5:20
Speaker 1: in front of us here at this moment, as we're
5:22
Speaker 1: looking towards the future and we're certainly going to get
5:24
Speaker 1: into it. And I mean, you mentioned Trevor z Grass
5:28
Speaker 1: right off the bat here, and I wanted to get
5:29
Speaker 1: into him a little bit more because that one offseason
5:33
Speaker 1: move that I think was definitely an A plus move
5:36
Speaker 1: from Danny Brier in the front office was acquiring Trevor
5:39
Speaker 1: z Grass. Yes, he's a rehab project at this point,
5:42
Speaker 1: but they really didn't give up too too much to
5:45
Speaker 1: get him. So what are your thoughts, maybe in a
5:47
Speaker 1: little bit more detail here, Ryan, about Trevor Zgress and
5:51
Speaker 1: how we may help to propel this team to another level.
5:54
Speaker 1: You know, should the thought process of the front office
5:57
Speaker 1: really come to fruition here? What are your thoughts?
6:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I mean you're totally right. He is a
6:02
Speaker 2: rehab project. This is not someone who, you know, last season,
6:05
Speaker 2: is coming off a big year or anything like that. Yeah,
6:08
Speaker 2: he's been rough, He's he's had a couple of rough
6:10
Speaker 2: years in a row, and you know, you could attribute
6:12
Speaker 2: that to injuries. You know, there was there were some
6:15
Speaker 2: issues with him and the head coach in Anaheim. I
6:17
Speaker 2: think that was a pretty big issue as well. And
6:21
Speaker 2: some may look at that and think, well, could that
6:23
Speaker 2: happen with the Flyers new coach Rick Hackett. I personally
6:26
Speaker 2: don't think that would be that huge an issue because
6:30
Speaker 2: just how Rick Hackett is with players. But seems like
6:33
Speaker 2: everybody unanimously loves the guys, So I don't think that'll
6:36
Speaker 2: be too much of an issue. But overall, you know, listen,
6:39
Speaker 2: before these last couple of seasons, where again there was
6:43
Speaker 2: some injuries involved Trevor Zegres was known as and considered
6:48
Speaker 2: pretty much league wide as one of the more exciting
6:53
Speaker 2: stars rising stars in the entire NHL. And you know,
6:58
Speaker 2: that's a very exciting thing to be adding to the team.
7:01
Speaker 2: And so granted they got to get him back to that, right,
7:03
Speaker 2: It's not like he's a sure thing. It's not like
7:05
Speaker 2: he's going to come in and put up seventy points
7:07
Speaker 2: and play all eighty two games. That's not exactly something
7:11
Speaker 2: a realistic expectation. But the fact that the Flyers got
7:14
Speaker 2: someone who wants to play center and has played center
7:18
Speaker 2: before and has the point production of someone who's a
7:21
Speaker 2: top six guy, you know, there's a very real possibility
7:25
Speaker 2: that the Flyers have at the very least of totally
7:29
Speaker 2: solid two c. So that's good. That's a very good
7:32
Speaker 2: acquisition for not giving up any premium ass ats. Like listen,
7:35
Speaker 2: say what you will about Ryan Paling. I thought he
7:38
Speaker 2: was a great fourth liner. I'm giving away Ryan Paling
7:41
Speaker 2: one hundred out of one hundred times for Trevorsy. I
7:44
Speaker 2: don't care. So that is a real that is a
7:46
Speaker 2: very very good bet for Danny Briere in company to
7:49
Speaker 2: bring this guy in. He's absolutely reclamation project. But this
7:55
Speaker 2: is an experiment worth trying out. See if you can
7:58
Speaker 2: get him back to what he was a couple of
8:00
Speaker 2: years ago, when he was on the cover of the
8:02
Speaker 2: video game and when he was doing the Dish again
8:05
Speaker 2: and the Michigan and all these different crazy goals. That creativity,
8:09
Speaker 2: offensively is what I think the Flyers could use more
8:12
Speaker 2: of than just the fact, you know, you pair him
8:14
Speaker 2: with mitchkov What I mean, what an enticing fun idea.
8:17
Speaker 2: I mean, it's just gonna be so much fun to see.
8:19
Speaker 1: I think when I look at Zegres and I look
8:22
Speaker 1: at certain players like him in this with the situation
8:26
Speaker 1: that he's in Ryan and maybe I'm just you know,
8:29
Speaker 1: maybe I'm thinking too much lollipops and rainbows here. But
8:33
Speaker 1: he has something to prove, not just to himself but
8:36
Speaker 1: to the league. He has something to prove to the
8:39
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Flyers. Now, this is a new beginning for him
8:43
Speaker 1: based on where initial expectations were for him. He's had
8:46
Speaker 1: the injury bug here and wanting to get back to
8:50
Speaker 1: another level and wanting to reclaim perhaps what he once
8:55
Speaker 1: had from a from an overall, how can I say,
8:59
Speaker 1: from from what he should be you know and what
9:03
Speaker 1: fans think he should be hockey fans in general, and
9:06
Speaker 1: I think that bodes well for what he could be
9:09
Speaker 1: for this team, because again, it is a new beginning.
9:12
Speaker 1: That's why I love this so much because he has
9:14
Speaker 1: a lot to prove to himself, He's got a lot
9:16
Speaker 1: to prove to the hockey world in general.
9:20
Speaker 2: Yeah no, And that's exactly it, Like it's kind of
9:24
Speaker 2: like that not to and this is apples and orgous
9:26
Speaker 2: because it's two different sports. But it does kind of
9:28
Speaker 2: remind me of that old quote by Jason Kelce, which well,
9:32
Speaker 2: actually technically I think it was Jeff Statlin who said it,
9:35
Speaker 2: Hungry dogs run faster. Oh yeah, right, yeah, And it
9:38
Speaker 2: seems like he has that hunger to prove people wrong,
9:41
Speaker 2: just like you mentioned. And so it makes you wonder
9:44
Speaker 2: like if he comes into the twenty twenty five twenty
9:46
Speaker 2: twenty sixth season, you know, is he going to have
9:49
Speaker 2: that little chip on his shoulder where he takes his
9:52
Speaker 2: game to the next level to prove to everyone like, Hey,
9:54
Speaker 2: I'm still here, I'm still Trevor freakin Ziegres. Yeah, and
9:57
Speaker 2: I'm about to show you all that you should have
9:59
Speaker 2: never count me out. I'm still very much that guy,
10:03
Speaker 2: that dude. So it's an exciting it's that's exciting to
10:06
Speaker 2: kind of keep an eye on see if he does
10:09
Speaker 2: have that extra gear to prove people wrong.
10:11
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna see it for sure. But as
10:13
Speaker 1: we're moving along with the conversation here and talking about
10:16
Speaker 1: some new talent on this team, the Flyers, as we know,
10:20
Speaker 1: they definitely needed a center this offseason, and they got
10:23
Speaker 1: one in Christian Dvorak. And look, it's a one year deal.
10:29
Speaker 1: This isn't this isn't some sort of talent coming into
10:32
Speaker 1: the Flyers organization here that's just gonna light things up.
10:35
Speaker 1: You know, He's probably a third line center at this
10:39
Speaker 1: point here. But the fact of the matter is they
10:41
Speaker 1: made a move and it goes back to the vision
10:44
Speaker 1: and the plan of Danny Brier. I think. So I
10:46
Speaker 1: wanted to get your thoughts on Christian Dvorak and and
10:50
Speaker 1: what he may be able to give to this team
10:53
Speaker 1: and why this particular move may be important in terms
10:56
Speaker 1: of this next year.
10:58
Speaker 2: Yeah. I do think that this is one of the
11:00
Speaker 2: moves where there was like a little bit of criticism,
11:02
Speaker 2: and not because Christian Devorik is a bad player. I
11:05
Speaker 2: just think people look at that five point four million
11:07
Speaker 2: price tag and they say, my god, he's gonna be
11:09
Speaker 2: He's a maybe a third line center. What are we
11:12
Speaker 2: doing here? Listen, it's a one year deal. This is
11:15
Speaker 2: a year where the Flyers are far from a guarantee
11:18
Speaker 2: to be even in the running for a playoff spot.
11:20
Speaker 2: So truly, really, what does it matter? So give their
11:25
Speaker 2: if their goals to try and shore up the center
11:27
Speaker 2: ice position. This is a good bet to make. See
11:30
Speaker 2: what he can give you. He's familiar with Rick Tocket,
11:33
Speaker 2: He's played for him. He played for him in Arizona,
11:35
Speaker 2: So that's exciting. And I think, you know, is he
11:41
Speaker 2: some sort of big time you know he's gonna he's
11:44
Speaker 2: gonna have this career year. Probably not. I do think
11:48
Speaker 2: you're right. I do think he's probably a third line center,
11:51
Speaker 2: maybe even a fourth line center. If the Flyers, I mean,
11:54
Speaker 2: you got jet Lachenko, he could strain himself a job
11:57
Speaker 2: in training camp. Like, it's not out of the realm
11:59
Speaker 2: of possibility. He could be playing those fourth line minutes.
12:03
Speaker 2: But the thing with him is that he is a
12:05
Speaker 2: very very good man in the face off dot So
12:07
Speaker 2: that's something that they've needed a little bit more of yes,
12:10
Speaker 2: And you know it's I don't think this is a
12:13
Speaker 2: bad bargain. I really don't like. Is it a little
12:16
Speaker 2: bit of an overpay, Yes, but it's also a position
12:19
Speaker 2: of need. And he is a guy who has proven
12:22
Speaker 2: that he's a totally serviceable center in the NHL, veteran guy,
12:28
Speaker 2: hard work or plays a two hundred foot game. I
12:30
Speaker 2: think this is a totally fine signing. And you know,
12:34
Speaker 2: don't go into this year expecting him to go off
12:37
Speaker 2: because that's just not what he's That's just not his game, right,
12:40
Speaker 2: He's gonna play that that two hundred foot game, and
12:43
Speaker 2: he's just gonna be I think he'll be a totally
12:45
Speaker 2: solid edition And we'll see what happens next offseason. Maybe
12:49
Speaker 2: they re up. Who's to say?
12:50
Speaker 1: Yeah? All right, Well, as we are going to be
12:53
Speaker 1: heading to a break here again, folks, we're talking to
12:56
Speaker 1: Ryan Quigley from Broadstreet Hockey dot com. If you're new
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13:31
Speaker 1: to get our content. And with that being said, we're
13:34
Speaker 1: gonna take a break. When we come back, we're gonna
13:35
Speaker 1: be discussing some developmental aspects of this Flyers team, also
13:40
Speaker 1: Sean Coatore's role and Rick Tockett what type of leadership
13:43
Speaker 1: we're gonna be seeing from him in the future. We're
13:46
Speaker 1: gonna take that break now. We'll be back in a bit,
13:49
Speaker 1: all right, folks. We are back with our good friend
13:51
Speaker 1: Ryan Quickly from Broadstreet Hockey dot Com. And I'm really
13:55
Speaker 1: looking forward Ryan to seeing what this season is gonna
13:59
Speaker 1: offer us Flyers fans in terms of the development of
14:02
Speaker 1: certain players, because we do have this young core now,
14:05
Speaker 1: we do have this young core that is looking to
14:08
Speaker 1: take steps in terms of that vision, in terms of
14:11
Speaker 1: that plan that Danny Brire has, and I think it's
14:14
Speaker 1: going to be fascinating to watch for sure. I'm wondering,
14:17
Speaker 1: are there a couple guys that you're really looking forward
14:19
Speaker 1: to seeing this season specifically from that developmental standpoint that
14:23
Speaker 1: you want to mention here. I'd love to hear what
14:25
Speaker 1: your thoughts are on a couple of these guys here.
14:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think one the easy answer, of course,
14:32
Speaker 2: is going to be Matt ve Miskott. Like he's at
14:35
Speaker 2: this point, he's the face of the franchise's he's regarded
14:38
Speaker 2: as the savior, and for him to have the season
14:41
Speaker 2: that he had as a rookie sixty plus points, just
14:44
Speaker 2: I mean, you see that creativity, you see how he
14:49
Speaker 2: dazzles with the puck, just this hockey iq. He sees
14:52
Speaker 2: the game at such an incredible level. Really excited to
14:56
Speaker 2: see how he takes his game to the next level
14:58
Speaker 2: because I do think that there's a second level. I
15:01
Speaker 2: do think there could be even a third gear that
15:05
Speaker 2: he reaches. I truly believe that he has the potential
15:09
Speaker 2: he's gonna be an All Star. I'll go I'll just
15:11
Speaker 2: straight up say, I really believe he's gonna be an
15:12
Speaker 2: All Star one day, probably maybe even this season. He
15:15
Speaker 2: could go even beyond that I really think he is
15:19
Speaker 2: going to be the cornerstone of this franchise for a
15:22
Speaker 2: long long time. And if we see him take another
15:24
Speaker 2: step this year, then I mean that is just so
15:28
Speaker 2: huge for the Flyers because they haven't had a guy
15:30
Speaker 2: like that of that ilk since Drew. And you know,
15:34
Speaker 2: if I mean, Drew was great, Don't get me wrong,
15:36
Speaker 2: I one of the greatest players in franchise history. But
15:39
Speaker 2: I think Mishkov has a chance to even surpass Drew.
15:42
Speaker 2: I really really do. I'm bullish on him, yeah, but
15:45
Speaker 2: you know, beyond him, one guy that I'm really, really
15:49
Speaker 2: really excited to look at is Bobby Brink. And the
15:52
Speaker 2: reason I bring up Bobby Brink is because I feel
15:55
Speaker 2: like he's kind of forgotten about as like a younger
15:58
Speaker 2: guy who's skilled developing good point. A lot of people,
16:01
Speaker 2: you know, this offseason, people were talking about, Okay, Marco Rossi,
16:05
Speaker 2: he's available, and the you know, the Minnesota Wild might
16:07
Speaker 2: trade him. Let's trade Bobby bring from Marco Rossi. And like, listen,
16:10
Speaker 2: I'm a huge Marco Rossi guy. I would do having
16:13
Speaker 2: an earth to get Marco Rossi right. But I'm a
16:17
Speaker 2: huge Bobby Brink apologist and you know, you look at
16:20
Speaker 2: his numbers from last season, basically a point per any
16:25
Speaker 2: other half point per game guy, and at his age,
16:29
Speaker 2: that's pretty good. He's early twenties, young guy, he's he
16:32
Speaker 2: looks like a child still. But you look at his
16:36
Speaker 2: his five on five scoring. He was one of the
16:37
Speaker 2: best five on five players statistically that the Flyers had
16:41
Speaker 2: last season. He was most of his points came at
16:44
Speaker 2: five on five and famously, most of the game is
16:47
Speaker 2: played at five on five, so that's pretty important. And
16:50
Speaker 2: just imagine how he would what his numbers would have
16:52
Speaker 2: looked like if he were distributed more on the power play,
16:55
Speaker 2: and if the if the Flyers power play was even
16:58
Speaker 2: semi competent. So I really am excited to see what
17:03
Speaker 2: else Bobby Brin can bring to the table. I think
17:05
Speaker 2: his game improved a lot last season. He's never gonna
17:09
Speaker 2: be mistaken as like, you know, a Marion Hosa kind
17:12
Speaker 2: of two way wing, but he is. He certainly improved
17:16
Speaker 2: his two hundred foot game last year. Still a lot
17:18
Speaker 2: of work to be done, but he improved, and I.
17:21
Speaker 1: Think I really yeah, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but
17:24
Speaker 1: like his his development from a defensive responsibility standpoint was
17:29
Speaker 1: very noticeable. I think this past year too, I mean
17:31
Speaker 1: not just offensively, but on both sides. I mean, we
17:35
Speaker 1: saw pretty incredible development from him, and I think that
17:38
Speaker 1: should be noted.
17:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, and listen, John Tarterella is not an easy guy
17:43
Speaker 2: to win over. It It seems like someone who once
17:45
Speaker 2: he has an opinion of you, like that sticks to them,
17:49
Speaker 2: that sticks with them. Yeah. Yeah, and now it has happened.
17:51
Speaker 2: But like it does seem like he's kind of set
17:53
Speaker 2: in his ways in regards to opinions of some of
17:56
Speaker 2: his players, not all, but some. Bobby Brink seems too
18:00
Speaker 2: of really won over John Tortilla last season, and I remember,
18:03
Speaker 2: you know, we saw Bobby Brink get benched. He did
18:06
Speaker 2: not have any issue with benching Bobby Brink. He did
18:09
Speaker 2: it to him in his own hometown in his first
18:11
Speaker 2: game in Minnesota, in front of his friends and family.
18:14
Speaker 2: He's like, guess what, Bobby, You're you're not You're you're
18:16
Speaker 2: not playing it scratched. And then this past season you
18:20
Speaker 2: hear some of the things that torts was saying about
18:22
Speaker 2: Brink and it was just like, is this the same player?
18:24
Speaker 2: And honestly, no, it's not. He improved his game so
18:28
Speaker 2: much that it fit more to what John Tortorello wants,
18:32
Speaker 2: and I would be you know, I would imagine that
18:36
Speaker 2: Tako would probably appreciate that style of play as well.
18:38
Speaker 2: So I'm really excited to see what Brink has in
18:42
Speaker 2: store for the season. I'm not saying he's going to
18:44
Speaker 2: be some sort of you know, twenty five goal scorer,
18:47
Speaker 2: fifty sixty point guy, but he is a very very
18:51
Speaker 2: good middle six winger. Yeah, And I think there's more
18:54
Speaker 2: and more there for him, I really do. I'm excited
18:57
Speaker 2: about him and his future with the Flys.
18:59
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be fascinating to watch him as
19:01
Speaker 1: well too. And I mean I think he's he's the
19:03
Speaker 1: type of player that is going to continue to take
19:05
Speaker 1: steps forward. But you know, I also, moving along, want
19:10
Speaker 1: to talk about what our expectations should be for a
19:12
Speaker 1: veteran on this team, a guy who all of us
19:16
Speaker 1: just absolutely love, and it's Sean Katorier. I mean, he
19:20
Speaker 1: certainly knows Spring Chicken as he's going to be beginning
19:23
Speaker 1: his fourteenth season in the league here, and perhaps his
19:28
Speaker 1: time on the ice is going to be managed more.
19:31
Speaker 1: I mean, maybe eighteen to twenty minutes per game or So.
19:34
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's it's getting to a point where
19:36
Speaker 1: I want, because of his leadership, because of who he is,
19:38
Speaker 1: I want to see him get that success and especially
19:41
Speaker 1: that postseason success that I think Sean Katorier deserves. So, Ryan,
19:46
Speaker 1: how do you see Sean Coattorier's role really taking shape
19:49
Speaker 1: this season as that one real true veteran on this team?
19:54
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah, well you mentioned it already. But you know
19:56
Speaker 2: how crazy is that He's How crazy is it that
19:59
Speaker 2: he's now the longest tenured I know, it seems like
20:03
Speaker 2: yesterday he was. He was, you know, that little toothless
20:06
Speaker 2: kid in the Penguin series with the hat trick but
20:09
Speaker 2: shutting down at Guinea Malkin. But yeah, he you know, listen,
20:14
Speaker 2: he's not what he was, right. I think those back
20:17
Speaker 2: injuries really set him back a little bit. I don't
20:20
Speaker 2: think he's the same player he was. That said, It's
20:24
Speaker 2: not like he is this shell of himself like a
20:28
Speaker 2: lot of people assumed he would be when he came back.
20:30
Speaker 2: And now, granted he started this year a little bit slow,
20:34
Speaker 2: but it's pretty wild when you look at the numbers.
20:37
Speaker 2: This is the best season he's had, at least from
20:39
Speaker 2: a raw point production perspective since that COVID season when
20:44
Speaker 2: he won the Selkie. Yeah, you know, forty five points
20:46
Speaker 2: seventy nine games. Nothing incredible, but he was very good.
20:51
Speaker 2: And you know, when you keep his two hundred foot play,
20:55
Speaker 2: I mean, that's kind of his calling card, right, That's
20:57
Speaker 2: what makes him such a good players. How good he
20:59
Speaker 2: is at a two hundred foot From a two hundred
21:02
Speaker 2: foot perspective, he's still a very very good player. The
21:08
Speaker 2: situation now is, you know, he's he's not your optimal,
21:13
Speaker 2: your your ideal one. See, you want to have a
21:16
Speaker 2: first line center who's going to be, you know, kind
21:18
Speaker 2: of pushing that century mark from a point perspective. Not
21:22
Speaker 2: not all the time, but like you know, that's on
21:25
Speaker 2: a wish list, right, Sean Coturry is not that kind
21:27
Speaker 2: of guy. He's not gonna at this stage in his career,
21:30
Speaker 2: certainly he's not going to be putting up big point production.
21:33
Speaker 2: But without question, I do think he is their best center,
21:38
Speaker 2: I would say on the team right now. I don't
21:40
Speaker 2: really think there's much debate. There are and that's just
21:43
Speaker 2: the situation the Flyers are in, you know, and so
21:46
Speaker 2: I think he's going to continue taking on that role
21:48
Speaker 2: of being the responsible two hundred foot guy. He's obviously
21:53
Speaker 2: the leader of the team, is the captain of course.
21:56
Speaker 2: But you know, it's going to be interesting to see
21:58
Speaker 2: how he performs this season an after you know, a
22:01
Speaker 2: year removed from the you know, just another year to
22:05
Speaker 2: rest up the back. I think that'll be interesting to see.
22:08
Speaker 1: If you can stay healthy.
22:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, if he stays healthy, yeah, yeah, so I think
22:13
Speaker 2: that's huge. And in an ideal world, he would be
22:16
Speaker 2: just an incredible third line center. I mean, that's what
22:19
Speaker 2: you would want on a Stanley Cup team, having Sean
22:21
Speaker 2: Coturrier as your third line center. That's incredible. Yes, the
22:24
Speaker 2: Flyers aren't that team right now, not even close, so
22:28
Speaker 2: they've got some time to figure that out. But at
22:32
Speaker 2: the time being lessen, I could see a world where
22:34
Speaker 2: the Flyers you know, kind of deploy Sean Conturier and
22:37
Speaker 2: use him as their first line center until further notice. Yeah,
22:40
Speaker 2: and that's just the world we live in right now.
22:42
Speaker 2: So and that's not exactly terrible because he is still
22:45
Speaker 2: a good player.
22:45
Speaker 1: Absolutely, stay healthy, absolutely all right. Well, I wanted to
22:49
Speaker 1: end our conversation here Ryan by talking about new head
22:52
Speaker 1: coach Rick Hacket, and what we can expect from him
22:55
Speaker 1: right out of the gate this coming season, because I
22:57
Speaker 1: think it's going to be a breath of fresh air.
22:59
Speaker 1: I'm holding on to that. We know he's a demanding guy.
23:05
Speaker 1: But also you know, as you mentioned earlier, that the
23:07
Speaker 1: like player friendly coach, allowing players to be creative and
23:12
Speaker 1: have that freedom you know when they are on the ice,
23:15
Speaker 1: you know that trust in players. I think it's gonna
23:17
Speaker 1: be again be a breath of fresh air. What are
23:20
Speaker 1: your thoughts on what kind of coaching leadership we're gonna
23:23
Speaker 1: end up seeing from Rick Tockett as the as the
23:25
Speaker 1: season gets underway. What are your thoughts here?
23:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'm really excited about Tackett. And listen, I
23:30
Speaker 2: know a lot of people are looking at this hire
23:32
Speaker 2: as oh great, the Flyers are bringing in another former flyer.
23:35
Speaker 2: Of course they are, this is what they do. But
23:38
Speaker 2: with Rick Tockett, it's it is exciting to me because
23:41
Speaker 2: I think, yes, he is a former flyer, but he
23:46
Speaker 2: is I think he brings a best of both worlds
23:50
Speaker 2: type situation to the Flyers right now. And so what
23:53
Speaker 2: I mean by that is he's demanding. Yes, he's very
23:57
Speaker 2: in a way, He's kind of like uh John Tortorella,
23:59
Speaker 2: where he expects a lot from his players and he
24:02
Speaker 2: holds them accountable. I think accountability is a big part
24:05
Speaker 2: of how he coaches the game. That said, he's also
24:09
Speaker 2: such a player's coach. I mean, he's constantly just dishing
24:13
Speaker 2: it back and forth like they're talking trash to each other.
24:15
Speaker 2: It's like a game for him and his players. It's
24:18
Speaker 2: like fun. It seems like it's a fun team when
24:21
Speaker 2: Rick Tackett is your head coach. And you know, when
24:24
Speaker 2: you hear about how he interacts with players, one of
24:28
Speaker 2: the number one things and he says this himself all
24:31
Speaker 2: the time and his interviews. One of the big things
24:33
Speaker 2: for him is communication. And that was one of the
24:36
Speaker 2: big pitfalls for torts was. You know, let's use Sean
24:39
Speaker 2: Katrier as an example. When Coots was benched like two
24:44
Speaker 2: weeks after he was named captain, which still is crazy
24:46
Speaker 2: as it is. When he was benched, someone was asking him,
24:50
Speaker 2: you know why you benched, and he essentially said, I
24:52
Speaker 2: have no idea. There was never a conversation. Yeah, and
24:56
Speaker 2: that's a situation that would never ever ever happen. And
25:00
Speaker 2: with Rick Tockett, he's gonna let you know exactly what's
25:03
Speaker 2: going on. He's gonna tell you how he's feeling. And
25:06
Speaker 2: I mean that's how you should be as a head coach, right,
25:08
Speaker 2: And you know, it's just it's exciting to know that
25:11
Speaker 2: there's gonna be some major improvement in communication with players
25:15
Speaker 2: with Rick Tackett at the Helm, and it just you know,
25:19
Speaker 2: it's just I think the locker room is going to
25:21
Speaker 2: be in a much better place. And now from an
25:23
Speaker 2: on ice perspective, I know that there's a little bit
25:25
Speaker 2: of fear that, you know, the team is going to
25:29
Speaker 2: become dump and chase heavy. People are gonna you know,
25:34
Speaker 2: gain his own toss the puck in line, change, get
25:37
Speaker 2: the four checkers in there to try and win the
25:38
Speaker 2: puck battles. Yeah, and that is part of how he coaches,
25:41
Speaker 2: going to see does want this? Yeah, it's gonna happen. Yeah,
25:44
Speaker 2: but news flash, every single team has to play a
25:47
Speaker 2: little bit of dump and chase. Yes, you must. You
25:50
Speaker 2: simply must to survive in the year twenty twenty five
25:53
Speaker 2: in the NHL as a team. So that's gonna be
25:55
Speaker 2: happening for the Flyers. But you know, Talkott has come
25:59
Speaker 2: out several times since being hired and said, listen, a
26:02
Speaker 2: guy like Matthey Mishkov, if he's got the puck and
26:05
Speaker 2: he has room to enter the zone, I'm not going
26:07
Speaker 2: to tell him to just dump it in for no reason.
26:08
Speaker 2: Keep the puck away. That's not what we're trying to do.
26:11
Speaker 2: We're trying to it's situational. If you know there's a
26:15
Speaker 2: guy coming at you and you're trying to gain the
26:17
Speaker 2: zone and he's right at that blue line ready to
26:18
Speaker 2: take your head off, dump that in. Live to fight
26:21
Speaker 2: another day and go and get that fight that puck battle,
26:24
Speaker 2: you know. But if you have space, you have time,
26:26
Speaker 2: there's no reason to just dump it in just to
26:28
Speaker 2: dump it in. And so I'm very encouraged by the
26:32
Speaker 2: way Rick Taktt has been talking about his system and
26:36
Speaker 2: how it's not going to be as you know, detrimental
26:39
Speaker 2: to you know, controlled zone entries and things like that. Yeah,
26:44
Speaker 2: as people think, because I do think that there is
26:46
Speaker 2: a serious fear amongst some portions of the fan base
26:49
Speaker 2: that it's going to be way too dump and chase heavy.
26:52
Speaker 2: It's going to exist, but I don't think it's going
26:54
Speaker 2: to be to the degree that some fear that it
26:56
Speaker 2: could be so I'm excited. I think this is as
26:59
Speaker 2: good hire. I do know that a lot of people
27:01
Speaker 2: are a little hesitant because he doesn't exactly have a
27:06
Speaker 2: ton of success as a head coach. But then again,
27:09
Speaker 2: you look at the teams he was coaching, Arizona Coyotes,
27:12
Speaker 2: Good God almighty. I mean, they're just they're a travesty.
27:16
Speaker 2: There's a reason they don't exist anymore, right, and it
27:20
Speaker 2: doesn't have to do with Rick Tocket I can tell
27:21
Speaker 2: you that right now. And then the Vancouver Canucks, they
27:24
Speaker 2: were fantastic and just a couple of years ago, and
27:27
Speaker 2: then last year there's all this drama with the players
27:29
Speaker 2: and just weird situations. I'm excited to see how he
27:33
Speaker 2: does with the Flyers. It's just I think some much
27:37
Speaker 2: better days lie ahead. I really do.
27:39
Speaker 1: Think absolutely it's going to be an exciting season, folks.
27:42
Speaker 1: It's not going to be perfect, Like I mentioned before,
27:44
Speaker 1: it's not going to be all lollipops and rainbows, but
27:46
Speaker 1: we are going to see I think the fruition of
27:50
Speaker 1: aspects of this plan of the vision really coming together.
27:54
Speaker 1: So again, folks. Ryan Quigley from Broadstreet Hockey dot Com, Buddy,
27:58
Speaker 1: let everybody tell tell everybody where. They can find you
28:01
Speaker 1: on the interwebs out there if they want to follow
28:02
Speaker 1: you and see what you're doing out there.
28:04
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, check me out on Blue Sky, Slash Twitter
28:08
Speaker 2: at Ryan Quiggs with a Z, and then also make
28:11
Speaker 2: sure to like and subscribe broad Street Hockey. We're doing
28:15
Speaker 2: great work. We just started our Top twenty five under
28:17
Speaker 2: twenty five series, which is a staple of ours. We
28:20
Speaker 2: do that at least once a year. I think now
28:22
Speaker 2: we're starting to do a mid season Top twenty five
28:25
Speaker 2: under twenty five as well. So just kick that off
28:28
Speaker 2: and I bet you have no idea who number one
28:30
Speaker 2: is going to be. Guys O, sure you have not
28:33
Speaker 2: even no, not an inkling of an idea of who
28:35
Speaker 2: that could possibly.
28:37
Speaker 1: I'll tell you it's killing me. I don't know who
28:39
Speaker 1: it's gonna it's killing me.
28:40
Speaker 2: Bens and Nels, right, So absolutely, but yeah, go like
28:45
Speaker 2: and subscribe broad Street Hockey. We're doing some great work
28:48
Speaker 2: over there.
28:48
Speaker 1: Appreciate you having uh. I appreciate you coming on and
28:51
Speaker 1: having a great discussion about this team.
28:53
Speaker 2: Ryan.
28:54
Speaker 1: Come back and join us in the future. We'd love
28:55
Speaker 1: to have you, my friend.
28:56
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Thank you, Jeff. It's always a pleasure.
28:59
Speaker 1: That's gonna do for us here on table Talk this week.
29:02
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