With the Draft fast approaching the Flyers are taking care of business!

With the Draft fast approaching the Flyers are taking care of business!

[Music] welcome to the Hockey Writers Inc the show where the writer is fresh off the presses and the ink is not dry relax the keyboard is off and the press box is closed but the mic is just getting warmed up join your host Lance Green the Guardian of the Blue Paint turn writer and your co-host Ron Steel Flyers as we bring you all the latest on the Philadelphia Flyers [Music] ladies and gentlemen welcome to the next episode of the Hockey Writers Inc with your host Lance Green all right guys back again with your dose of flyers podcastism all right that isn’t a word but I just made it up that was a mouthful wasn’t it yes yes so uh yeah we got some topics to go over here Steel huh well you know there’s no such thing as off season for us right right so a lot’s happened a lot’s going on um first of all we would like to say big thank you to uh Jake and the boys at lowercaseblues.net really appreciate that man really love you guys man really appreciate all the music that you guys do by the way you got to hop on over to lowercaseblues.net and check out all their latest swag check out all their latest dates their latest albums and check out some cool videos that they’ve done man you just got to go over there and check them out man lowercaseblues.net thank you very much really appreciate that lance we we got a a long way to go in a short time to get there because there’s a lot of stuff that’s been going on here with the Flyers right i mean for sure for sure since last we talked not only have we gotten a brand new coach I mean we talked about the coach talk at being hired but holy moly how about we do this right episode number 195 with the draft fast approaching the Philadelphia Flyers are taking care of business and that means that they’re bringing in coaches they’re bringing in I mean Danny Breier has been stupid busy over the last couple weeks Lance yeah i mean and he’s had to uh to get the pieces in place um that that are going to be needed the coaching staff and all that has has been you know totally um taken down and and and rebuilt back up here so um it’s good that they got that done before the draft even i agree you know we know where we’re kind of going with a pocket yes um you know based system now and and players that are going to bet best fit his new system so yeah let’s get right into it man all right well first of all speaking of players fitting into the systems yeah okay so we know that Danny Brerier has been stupid busy like I said earlier here and he’s been busy with his pen and and he’s been getting a lot of guys coming to sit down and go “Hey here can you sign this piece of paper?” Right right we’ve gotten Noah Cage signed to a deal we’ve got Tyson Forester signed to a deal which that I think is of the ones I think that’s one of the most important ones sure is the Tyson Forester resigning and Helgi Gr’s resigning as well too lance why don’t you just walk through real quick uh what you think about the Helgi Gr the Tyson Forester and the Noah Kates resigning well the Helgi Gr one was a no-brainer i mean it it was you know he’s going to be in the same kind of position as he was um he’s going to be fighting to to make an NHL roster he’s probably going to be an NHL player yet again next season but um he could be a decent callup guy um yeah you know with wristan still being hurt he he could be somebody that could get some NHL playing time next season so no-brainer to sign him back wasn’t too costly smart move by Danny Brriier um then I believe the Tyson Forester deal was next um great deal in my mind a two-year 7.5 million uh comes out to about 375 great bridge deal you know a good bridge deal there he scored 25 goals last season with 43 points um you know he really came on towards the end of the year once he got some more playing time with guys like Lton and uh Forester and uh I mean Forester I’m sorry with u you know uh the guys that that left and went in Frost um and all going to the Flames you know opened up the lines a little bit allowed him to get a little bit more playing time and and rightfully so you know he was on my list to be drafted by the Flyers when they did so kudos to him kudos to Danny for signing him to a decent deal but the one that really has my brain you know me just scratching my brain here is a Noah Kates deal i’m with you all right so Noah Kates who is what i think he’s 26 he’s 26 years old 26 all right sorry my mistake uh four years $16 million now if we take us back here Scott Lton was kind of traded he was getting up there in age he was 30 early 30s right 31 32 I think he was yeah his early 30s but we traded him because we didn’t feel we were getting enough production from him for making $3 million a season 3.5 yeah no he made three million I think okay i thought it was like I thought it was 3.5 or something like that i think he made $3 million um a season and then um you know you you look at uh a guy like Frost frost was kind of the same thing he wasn’t producing enough he didn’t get to that level that we thought he was and he was kind of getting paid a little little much for what kind of production we were getting out of him i think he was getting what 1.8 eight uh no I think it was up in the twos or something like that after his last his latest deal but um no Kates he didn’t have a bad year this season he scored 16 goals and 37 points 16 goals is nothing nothing to you know be too shabby about but uh not 40 million a year $4 million a year for Noah Kates i don’t know i don’t know i think that’s a little rich even with the salary cap going up and all that and having some money just because you have some cap space now we just got out of that cap hell that uh the Flyers have been in for so long with the deals that Danny has been making and all that and I I think they I think the Flyers are in love with Noah Kates a little more than they should be yeah that’s a good way to He’s a versatile player i mean he can play wing he can kind of play center um I mean he’s he’s Scott Ltonesque yeah but I mean we have that we have that in Sean Couturier we had that in Frost we had that in Scott Lton we had that in Noah Kates but that’s what I mean we’re talking about Noah Kates that’s what I’m saying he like that okay look I get it he had a he had a you know season high in goals i mean 16 goals like okay I’ll give him that but uh I don’t know i think it was a little expensive but but I agree with you though Lance i think that that resigning for that amount of money and that amount of of of tenure is is a bit of a dome scratcher if you ask me i and I agree with what exactly what you said i think the Flyers are a little bit more in love with Noah Cage than maybe what they should be you know I I would think he was would be more along the lines of like two or three years at maybe like 2.2 or $2.3 million a year is kind of where I would kind of see Noah Cage because I kind of see him more as like that fourthline guy you know maybe even a third line guy you’re going to be drafting we all know that Danny wants to land a center early in the draft he’s made that pretty well known um you know and there might be some that we’re going to talk about later yep and uh you know that’s that’s cool and everything but uh you know you’re you’re there’s some rumors out there of some other guys too we won’t really get into because they’re just rumors right now but he’s been looking at trying to grasp some other centers as well in the free agency realm so where would Noah Kates really fit in in my mind I think they were playing him out of position on a left wing um you know so you’re going to pay him to play out of position why not just get a better left winger i don’t know it doesn’t make much sense to me but we can move on i We’ll see how that all plays out i think it and exactly what we’re going to do and you know I I think one of the other reasons why he was signed and I just wanted to say this one last thing i I think the reason why he was resigned for the amount of time that he was resigned for is because the experience that he has with the group of guys that are already in the room and with who is now being the head coach okay i think that Noah Kates is a big Rick talk kind of guy okay he plays that I mean he plays that kind of style he kind of fits in and he would be another message on the ice i’m just assuming here okay that that’s just kind of what the reason why I’m thinking that the Flyers did that with Noah Cades okay so all right enough let’s hope so i’m not I don’t dislike him either but I don’t know if I like him $4 million so right i I I just I just dislike him at$4 million i’d much rather appreciate him more at like 2.2 or 2.3 million you know what I mean right okay so speaking of continuing to take care of business Danny Brriier not only did he hire Rick Tocket who was probably the biggest name coach out there i mean he won the Jack Adams in 2024 right and he’s got a Stanley Cup ring with the as an assistant so all right and and the main I think the main reason why he was hired was because of what he did uh with Phoenix when when Phoenix was rebuilding because obviously the Flyers are rebuilding so Danny Breier went out and got some assistant coaches right we got a uh I believe he’s a Czech Republic native Yarsav Severki and yeah so so he worked under Rick Tocket in in Vancouver right for a long time you know while he was there but he’s been in Vancouver system for quite a long time yeah um you know a a pretty good coach um he just stepped up as the assistant coach over there he was more of a skills coach i think he’s going to generally be our power new power play coach and you know anything’s got to be better than what we had a knuckle dragging Rocky Thompson on a power play ice anyway um running the power play that made no sense at all so I’m welcoming in anybody so it was good that Tak kind of got a guy that you know he’s kind of going to be familiar with he knows what to expect out of he’s been working with for the past couple of years so I expected a signing like that it was good that we were able to steal him away from Vancouver in that regards right but he also spent some time coaching some of the junior ranks sure you know what I mean so and that was one thing that Rick Tockett said in his press conference about guys that he would like to have on his staff that that he wouldn’t have a problem with having an ex head coach on the staff because that he said that kind of helps him kind of you know they they’ve been down the same road you know they they kind of share some of the same experience so they can kind of bounce ideas off of one another you know what I mean and I think you’re going to get some of that too with uh um Jay uh Veratt right um a a United States uh coach right um really I’m looking forward to seeing these two new coaches uh behind the bench here for the Flyers Lance yeah I mean uh Jay is a guy that is young he’s still in his 40s as far as coaches go that’s pretty young um he’s been a head coach at the AHL level before um he’s worked as an assistant with with the um Detroit Red Wings for the past couple of years he’s had some you know and they’re very young too the Red Wings and they’ve gotten a lot of young guys in and he’s had a lot of success with coaching those young guys so to the point where he was even getting some looks as a possible head coach option for other teams right so it’ll be interesting i I thought you know I I don’t dislike either one of those coaching uh choices um you know so overall for him building his staff um I I like what Rick Tocket has put out there um and and you know it brings new blood in uh you know Rick Tocket is kind of that um guy you know is linked to the Flyers for so long and he was so beloved here it was good that I I think anyway that at least he didn’t do um a whole Exflyers reunion um uh as of yet there’s still one spot open so he still could bring in somebody that used to wear the black and orange but you know um I like I like his picks i like his pick still so Okay and and I do too Lance i’m I’m cautiously optimistic about these coaches um they do come with a little bit of uh uh background in coaching um and not just an ex player that used to be an enforcer that’s now friend of somebody or something yeah you know what I mean like these guys have purpose these guys have you know some some background behind them some coaching background right so I I think it’s going to be nothing but good for the Flyers especially a developing program with a a lot of I mean Flyers are going to be what the fifth youngest team in the league right i mean or something like that it depends how it it can still shake out whether they do get somebody pretty young that can can step up you know it it always how it shakes out at this point you know with potentials of Luchenko making the team and and some of the other younger guys you know Emilio Andre making the team potentially um Heli Gr’s making the team potentially there’s and other guys you know that are going to be coming in like Bonk or or Bump even too you know what I mean and there’s all kinds of other guys that potentially could make this team that are going to be really young okay so speaking of coaches we’ve had a major shift in not just the head coaching of the Philadelphia Flyers but now we have a major shift in the head coaching of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms where I laier has no has been um not relieved of duties of head coaching but not um brought back its head coach um he is now going to be um in the front office as an advisory role uh for Ian Leier and and now the search is on for the head coach of the Phantoms yeah i don’t I don’t get it i don’t get it um you know I’m I’m uh I like to say I’m I’m an acquaintance or so with with Ian i talked to him occasionally uh yeah message him or whatever and um you know we we covered him at the playoffs you know but you can’t you can’t find a nicer guy i think uh you know you went he went back to back taking the team the Phantoms to the playoffs in in the past two seasons um he went up and lost against Hershey i think the team played hard against Hershey hershey won the past you know two seasons prior um in the AHL they won the Calder Cup so I mean it’s not like it’s a team that he was even expected to win against um that his team lost to in the playoffs um it’s kind of a headscratcher um in my mind I I really wouldn’t have minded um him coming back i think he was I think that’s his niche i I think he worked well when he was a player development coach i think he worked well when he was taken off the bench by the Flyers and sent down to the Phantoms and and he took on that role and did it pretty well um obviously you know like I just said taking the team to the playoffs for two seasons in a row so um you know hopefully he likes the new role within the Flyers and I’m glad they didn’t get rid of him entirely um and he’s still around the organization and kind kind of um you know put in his two cents I guess now in terms of being up there with Danny and um you know maybe in his ear a little bit and and how he I mean I guess we’ll see things go i don’t know i don’t know i guess we’ll see but he does kind of have um a very um intimate knowledge of the current team and it would behoove the Flyers to keep Lappy around at least until this crop you know makes it up through uh uh you know to the big club or however it’s going to pan out you know what I mean at least for the next year or two um and this was something that we talked about at the very beginning when Le Perriier was brought in as the coach of the Phantoms where he was basically was given the Phantoms and said “Okay Ian do what you need to do right?” And he did what he needed to do he really did and he came up with his own systems and the whole nine yards and the Flyers now realize that you need to have the AHL team and the NHL team both coaching the same system let’s hope so let’s hope they get that okay or or some faximile thereof because it it was so very evident when a player would come from the Phantoms up to the Flyers that they were I mean okay yeah you’re skating around and that’s all fine and great but they looked a lot lost it took them too many games to get acclimated with what was going on with the Flyers based off of what was going on with the Phantoms does that make sense it does and I think Tortoella’s systems are a little dated i mean he’s he’s been a coach for a long time um not saying that I agree with all of Ian Leer’s coaching styles either um I you know if I if I was the coach of the team which I’m not obviously I I would have a whole different setup of uh you know plays and how to breakouts and as far as breakouts go and and you know different power play setups and stuff like that so I mean I think we you know would all coach it a little bit differently but I do agree with you i think that at some point um how the NHL team is run and how the teams are effective let’s say um in the sense of bringing prospects up and having them be able to jump in day one with the NHL club and and be effective run very similar systems that’s very true i mean it it almost makes too much sense though i mean excuse me all you have to do is look at the current defending uh Stanley Cup champions right now um the Florida Panthers where um their AHL team the Charlotte Checkers are just running rugshot um to the CER Cup right now they’re in the finals you know what I mean and those guys that have been called up are able to just step right in mhm you you know you need to be able to have that same kind of system going on in the AHL that you got in the NHL i I’m just saying Lance you and I have been talking about that for how long now it’s been a while it’s been a while for sure okay so now that Enrier’s got a new job now Danny’s going to be looking for a new AHL coach for the Phantoms and I’m going to be interested to see who that voice is going to be very interested to see who that’s going to be and with that being said there’s going to be a lot of young players coming into the AHL team andor such with the draft very fast approaching Lance we are less than four I’m sorry less than three weeks away from the coveted NHL draft and this past weekend was the NHL’s scouting combine yep um held in Buffalo and Lance you and I both know that there are a list as long as our arm of kids that even we talk to that are going to be available for the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round with three picks yeah it’s definitely gonna be interesting um yeah let’s let’s talk about this real quick the prospects um the Flyers were able to uh bring in and and interview were rumored to be James Haggins um amazing amazing young centerman yep uh Jackson Smith a big uh defenseman that we interviewed on Prospect Watch uh Jake O’Brien who I had as being uh my first selection in my NH my annual uh NHL or Flyers mock draft uh Brady Martin who is another center uh we all know Danny Breier is is is coveting a center probably with that first pick yeah uh Victor Eglund Roger McQueen who we had on the show as well and um you know our our boy Annette right from from Switzerland Lewan Swander yes yes my favorite goalender in the draft yeah and also uh Ravens uh Bergen yes raven Bergen right yep another another uh guest of ours both u you know um both of those goenders uh we we had on the show as well and both those guys I really really like obviously that’s you know kind of why we had them in on the show and uh you know it’s nice to see that uh some of the players that we uh we had on the show uh the Flyers are bringing in to to possibly interview and and are interested in so uh kudos kudos to them i I’m convinced I am highly convinced that we are going to see one of the players that we interviewed Lance is going to be drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers hopefully multiple with three first round picks and four second round picks okay right so I I I I I’m going to just I’m going to call it out right here and now that one of the players that you and I interviewed on our Prospect Watch show hop on over to steelflyers.com/links/prospectwatch show to catch all of the latest Prospect Watch shows where you can see interviews with Lance and I doing Matthew Schaefer um the previously mentioned Aaliyah Newan Swander the Jackson Smith And then you can also check us out with doing some of the guys that are going to be coming up in the next draft from 2026 and 2027 from Tynan Lawrence and Roco Pelosi hop on over to Prospect Watch and check us out man for sure for sure lance I’m guaranteeing you there’s going to be a kid that we interviewed that’s going to be drafted by the Flyers i I guarantee it and and one of the players who we drafted is going to go number one overall i I just have that feeling i just have it hopefully hopefully you know right but the Flyers are have put themselves Danny has put themselves in a really really awesome position to have a lot of draft capital this coming draft and I can’t wait to see what they do you know right yeah i mean uh it’s it’s going to be interesting the next in the next u you know couple weeks for sure so with that being said Steel I I think we should leave it at that yeah and uh and wrap the show on that note it’s going to be an interesting uh off season it’s already uh uh turning up uh you know to be to be good in our mind so um man let’s just leave it at that and uh I can’t wait to see what the Flyers do in the in the in the coming days in the coming weeks especially exactly especially with the draft coming up for sure be looking for some new stuff coming out here with everybody all involved here at steelflyers.com and including maybe some new steelflyers.com stuff oh oh oh I didn’t let any of that out of the bag oh no sorry anyway hop on over to lowercaseblues.net and check out Jake and the boys and all the great stuff they got going over there they got their swag they got um tour dates um and all kinds of stuff over there check them out lowercaseblues.net thank you very much Jake for all you guys do man really appreciate that thank you to all the Facebook groups really appreciate you guys out there uh for putting us out there and allow us allowing us to put all of our content out there on your Facebook page thank you all very much for that really appreciate that lance really appreciate all you do man really can’t say it enough um also big props and thanks to Frame for doing all the great videos and all the great shorts man oh man oh man can’t say thank you enough for our video editor for doing a smashing job the last four videos are all up over a thousand thank you very much for all you folks out there also thank you very much for getting us a top 10 ranked Philadelphia Flyers Centric podcast that’s right folks we are ranked number 10 in all of Philadelphia Flyers podcast i’m your co-host Ron Steel Flyers we will catch you all on the next episode of the Hockey Writers Inc

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The Hockey Writers Ink Eps. 195 “With the Draft fast approaching the Flyers are taking care of business!!”

Relax the keyboard is off, the press box is closed, and the mic is just getting warmed up as the Guardian of the Blue paint turned writer is about to enlighten us!

The show where the writer is fresh off the presses and the ink is not dry.
Welcome to the Hockey Writers Ink, join Lance Green and Ron “SteelFlyers” as we bring you all the latest on the Philadelphia Flyers!

This week’s talking points:
1. INTRO and THANKS
2. New Contracts – 3:20
4. New Coaches – 11:30
5. Looking for new Phantoms coach – 16:30
6. Draft Approaching – 22:25
7. Wrap up – 26:40

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