Good News and Bad News from the John Stevens interview

by chrislanci on Aug 20, 2009 6:22 PM EDT

The link to a recent interview with John Stevens was posted on the BSH a couple of days ago and instead of adding a very long comment I decided to open a new fanpost and discuss the two most important statements the Coach made.

Giroux is going to "start" camp at center this leaves me with 3 questions that are going need answers by the end of camp.

1) Who is the other top six foward?

With the current roster this leaves a opening for a significant ice time with the top two lines. Who is going to be playing with the top six if not Giroux. I envision Briere with Carter and Hartnell so who is going to be playing along Richards and Gagne on the number 1 line. That is a lot of ice time to fill against very tough competition. I am not sure we have someone around to make sure a jump on the RW to fill that position vacated by Knuble. This also ends the idea of running a 3rd line checking line so forget the possibility of signing Malhotra. I guess in an ideal world JVR would absolutely dazzle in training camp and start the season on the top line, something I don't see happening but he was drafted to replace Knuble. I just don't think Homer expected he would need to replace Mike in this offseason, one more year would have made things a lot easier.

2) Who is going to play with Giroux?

Giroux's great playmakers abilities are an unbelievable asset to have on your 3rd line. Now you need to find two wingers to play with him who have the ability to get open and the hands to bury the chances. I guess Carcillo will be one of those players so that is a question mark right there. I will refer back to the previous statement and okay so maybe JVR won't show enough to make the top line but can he show enough to play on an NHL 3rd line, that is a more likely scenario. I know the Flyers have been saying they don't expect him to make the big club this year and he is not ready and all that. Last year the said the opposite about Claude and I think that pressure got to him and we all know how he started out. Maybe the Flyers are taking the opposite approach with James and trying to make him prove them wrong. I don't know either way but I will like to remain positive and a Carcillo-Giroux-JVR line wouldn't be that bad. Other options are some of the Europeans we added which I know little about so I can't comment or Powe. I don't think he is anything more than a 4th liner player so I rather see a raw JVR get that ice time.

3) Who is going to be centering the 4th line?

This is pretty good spot to have open at the start of camp I like a Powe and Lappy on the wings but that leaves open the center spot. Hopefully we got someone who can win some faceoffs another major flaw in our current lineup. I think Mika Pyörälä would be a good fit there or maybe Ryan Dingle. Lappy can easily move over to center with Nodl on the wing. 4th line center is something that can easily be filled from the AHL so I am not overly concerned about this opening.

Now the good news John Stevens stated the following

"I also think last year we relied too much on our top lines and I think with Laperriere, Carcillo, Giroux and Powe we have more depth up front and we need to even out the minutes."

The complete lack of ice time chewed up by the 4th line really hurt us come the end of the year and in the playoffs. Powe, Lappy 4th line can eat up some 5 on 5 time and help lessen the penalty killing load for Richards, Gagne and Carter keeping our top guys fresher allowing them to play the "more aggressive forecheck" we have been promised to see this season. This is even more important in a Olympic year where I am sure a good amount of top players will be playing.

So the debate over whether this team was going to go a top heavy with 2 all-star scoring lines or try to stay with a balanced 3 line attack is over. Despite the loss of two 25 goal scoring wingers it looks like we can expect to see a scoring 3rd line to start the season. Now we just need to hope that there is a FA out there who is willing to sign cheap that can fill those afore mentions holes. Or If not someone from the Phantoms needs steps up big at camp and earns the opportunity of a lifetime to play wing alongside the talented RIchards or Claude "G" Giroux.

This item was written by a member of this community and is not necessarily endorsed by Broad Street Hockey.

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Comments

1. I dunno.

I think your right, Briere makes the most sense on the Carter Hartnell line, but I still dont like it. Danny needs a more solid presence on the ice then Harty. So that means replacing Harty, but Moving Harty off the line with Carter makes even less sense. Ideally youd put him on the line with Carcillo, since he can score, hit, and turn the puck over, while maintaining speed. Maybe Carcillo Giroux Briere? Even that doesn’t sit right with me. Im just not comfortable with anywhere to put Briere. 3rd line seems silly given his pay and skill.

2. Possibly Answered. Id rather see Carcillo with Richards to develop some discipline, but it could be an amazing 3rd line if Briere swallows his pride.

by BroadStreetBully on Aug 20, 2009 8:53 PM EDT reply actions

This is all pointless speculation before camp even opens. And by “this”, I include anything stevens says in an interview.

1) That said, I’d say Nodl playing with Carter and Hartnell is the most likely move. Those three had good chemistry last season before Nodl hurt himself.

2) Clearly Carcillo, Asham, and/or Laperriere are the third line wingers, depending on how they perform in camp. It’s time to stop talking about JVR. Dude couldn’t hang in the AHL four months ago, he’s not jumping to the NHL.

3) Dingle is not NHL ready. Powe is the 4th line center right now.

by MarioD on Aug 20, 2009 9:03 PM EDT reply actions

JVR

Mario why are you so down on JVR he played 7 games in the AHL at the end of the season jumping straight over for the NCAA. A complete offseason and training camp at this level can make a huge difference. Also Giroux looked much worse in his 1st 10 AHL games then JVR did, if you seen any of Van Riemsydyk in the World Juniors a tournament you would stop call him a bust. He led the entire tournament in scoring in two years ago and finished in the top 5 in scoring all 3 years he played. He is the second all-time for USA PTS scored in the tournament ahead of Zach Parise, Brian Gionta, John LeClair and Mike Madano. So stop hating on this guy and don’t be too surprised if he is playing on the top two lines come playoff time. At least that didn’t draft Alex Cherepanov the other top 3 prospect that year, he died of a heart attack at the age of 19 on his teams bench during the game.

by chrislanci on Aug 21, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Find one place where I said he was a bust.

But you make the case yourself, then inexplicably come to the opposite conclusion. He played a total of 7 AHL games in his career. In those games he looked better than Giroux, and Giroux still needed a full season of junior hockey and 2/3 a season of AHL hockey before he was ready for the NHL. In JVR’s own words, he wasn’t even ready for the strength of AHL competition. It’s a pipedream to think he’ll be ready fro the NHL before 2011.

This is what he said about going from NCAA to AHL: “I think the biggest change for me was the positioning of players. Guys are a lot smarter out there. They always seem to know what they are doing before they get the puck. They are a step ahead.”

He will be blown away by NHL players right now.

by MarioD on Aug 21, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions

I definitely agree

Anybody expecting JVR to start the year with the Flyers needs to read your post. He is not ready. Period. And that’s fine. My best case scenario is the Winter Classic. I don’t expect that at all. I just think anybody clamoring for him needs to push their expectations back to at least January 1st. More likely, I expect he gets his feet wet in the NHL around March, but no more than 10 games. 2010-2011 is when we should see JVR

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 21, 2009 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Giroux vs. JVR

The main reason why Giroux was sent back for a 3rd year of Juniors was the Flyers roster 2 years ago. We had tons of talented forwards, Umberger, Upshall, Knuble, and Lupul were all on the roster, they weren’t going give Giroux a free year on his pro-hockey contract (increase FA eligbility by a year) with no chance of him playing at the NHL level. So of course they sent him back to Juniors. If the roster and cap was as is today Giroux would have never got sent back to the Q. Circumstances are much different now with all those guys missing. The entire league is different in general younger players are going to need to get to the NHL faster they are such a good value on the cap especially this season as for the 1st time the cap did not increase at all.

Sbisa is another example thrown into the fire in the most difficult position to adjust to on the NHL level do a rash of injuries and cap issues. Was he great no, was he serviceable in that role more so in my opinion. I can see the same circumstances applying to JVR this season. Times are a changing.

by chrislanci on Aug 21, 2009 1:57 PM EDT up reply actions

NCAA vs. Canadian Juniors

The talent level is staggering between the two levels. The NCAA isn’t even close to preparing players as well as a league like the QMJHL. If things go perfect for JVR I think Geoff is right, not till the new year would he see some time. He needs to adjust to the pro game before he goes to the NHL. Worst thing you can do to an athlete is throw him in over his head and set him up to fail. I’ve said in a previous post that the Flyers will wait and let JVR develop like Anaheim let Bobby Ryan develop. While a big strapping power forward would look nice on the Flyers 2nd line, it’s not realistic because of the lack of development he received at UNH.

by Pondhockey on Aug 21, 2009 9:15 PM EDT up reply actions

First off, the league has not drastically changed in two seasons. Giroux got sent back to Juniors in September of 2007. Nothing has “drastically changed” since then. Second, he was too young to play in the AHL. It was either NHL or Juniors.

Sbisa was sent to juniors for the majority of last season. So I’m not sure what point he proves. And that’s before we get to the fact that he played terribly before he was sent back to juniors. He looked exactly like a kid who wasn’t ready for the NHL. Carried the puck too much and made bad decisions without the puck. His -2.1 GVT ranked just barely better than Darrol Powe, good for second worst on the team. And he took a penalty every other game, all of them minors.

Sbisa’s terrible performance last season is what you can expect from JVR if he were to start this year in the NHL.

I think JVR being ready for the NHL by April is a pipedream. Emphasis on “ready”. However, if he conquers the AHL, I could see him called up and put on the fourth line at the end of the year in the hopes that they can limit his time and benefit from flashes of his brilliance, and get him a head start on being ready for 2010-11.

by MarioD on Aug 22, 2009 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions

Sbisa Terrible

Sbisa “terrible performance” I think that is a bit harsh to say terrible. He wasn’t great but he certainly wasn’t terrible in the role he was given. Mario did anyone play well on this team last year. Also if you can provide an example of a forward in the NHL who was ruined by being brought up too early, I don’t recall many. Yes I can see it happening to goalies and pitchers in MLB but forwards are not as fragile or important to the team especially 3rd line wingers they can learn on the fly in a 3rd line role. Will a rookie make mistakes yes regardless of what league he played in but to play on the 3rd line is not that big of a stretch. If QBs can do in the NFL after 2-3 years of NCAA football a winger on the 3rd line can the pressure 1000x times less.

by chrislanci on Aug 24, 2009 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Umm, -2.1 GVT and a penalty every two games is terrible.

Bringing guys up may or may not kill their development, but it kills the team because they have an incapable player in the lineup.

by MarioD on Aug 24, 2009 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Sbisa was perplexing

Looking at other new-ish stats, his numbers are quite contradictory. I was shocked the first time I went through them. His plus/minus rating relative to the team was barely in the middle of the pack at 0.21. 11 Flyers were better than him, 7 were worse. He played against below average competition (-0.05), with only 5 Flyers playing against worse, and the same numbers applied for his qualteam rating. His GFON/60 was low at 1.88, but his GAON/60 was phenomenal. He was second best on the team with a 2.09 GAON/60, behind only Claude Giroux. This averaged out to a +/ rating of -2, including special teams.

I think this shows that Sbisa was neither terrible, nor as good as most people remember. Basically, he was a rookie who played damn well for an 18 year-old kid, but was clearly not ready for the NHL.

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 24, 2009 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I think you are too dismissive of his boatload of penalites. But this is purely a semantical disagreement between you and I.

I’m more than willing to say “clearly not ready for the NHL” means he was terrible.

by MarioD on Aug 24, 2009 8:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Haha

Yeah, I didn’t even mention penalties because I figured you handled it well enough. I had noticed that too when I was grading him, and I thought it was a huge problem.

And I’m more than willing to say it’s just a matter of degrees, so no disagreement here.

Broad Street Hockey -
Makin' it look mean since 1967.

by Geoff Detweiler on Aug 24, 2009 8:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Sbisa vs JVR

Stack up Sbisa vs. the 6th defense on other teams for comparison was he really that bad for a 6th defenseman. Factor in his salary and you got yourself a serviceable 6th D-Man on the cheap who is only going to improve as he gets more experience. In the cap era it if you can get by with a little less for a lot less you have yourself a good deal.

1) Defense is harder to learn than forward, by a longshot
2) JVR is older and has more experience than Sbisa did when he started on the Flyers
3) JVR is a better prospect than Sbisa

Could JVR serve as serviceable 3rd line winger for 10 – 15 minutes per game without single handily costing the Flyers a playoff seeding and ruining the 2010 season. Until a better solution presents itself I say stranger things have happened I certainly rather watch JVR in that role than have Giroux playing with Asham and Carcillo.

JVR costs < than Asham who would you rather have in there.
Sbisa cost < than Randy Jones take your pick there as well.

I say see JVR does at camp and if he can keep up and doesn’t look out of place then run with it. I don’t think it is fair to think he couldn’t earn the spot. I do agree that I don’t think he will but I predict he will play enough games this year with the big club to loss his rookie status for next year (35 games or so).

by chrislanci on Aug 25, 2009 3:49 AM EDT up reply actions

My only comment is that Stevens can only look at the roster he is handed by Holmgren – and who knows what he’s thinking for the time before the season starts. If we are to play a more up-tempo game, I guess Stevens plans to run three scoring lines … even if the players to do so aren’t available! (Maybe Pyorala, Kaspars, Maroon, etc. are better than we expect!)

by MaximumTalbot on Aug 21, 2009 9:15 AM EDT reply actions

lines?

gags rich lappy

briere carter harts

cillo giroux asham

cote powe ??

by fitzy first on Aug 25, 2009 12:28 PM EDT reply actions

I wouldn’t make too much of what Stevens said is going to stay put throughout the course of the season…..
Stevens showed throughout the course of his NHL coaching career, when it comes to line combinations, he will juggle like he’s in Ringling Brothers Circus.
Now he has a monkey wrench thrown into his plans with the recent injury to Gagne.

by FlyersGoalies1and27 on Aug 25, 2009 5:59 PM EDT reply actions