If the Flyers had the opportunity to trade for an elite goaltender such as Luongo or to trade/sign an elite defenseman such as Bouwmeester which one would you prefer? Which do the Flyers need more?

i think defenseman. the goalie can't do it all.

Tough one..but I go for defender

That's a toughie, you can get away with an average goaltender if you have exceptional defensemen. Still, I'd like to have Luongo.

I'd say goalie. A defender doesn't play all game.

This team needs defense, not necessarily a good goalie. Even though Biron and Nitty aren't the best, they can win us games. Put a competent defense system in front of the net and you will limit the number of shots on goal and thus makes the work on our goalies that much easier. We have been beaten by statistics: too many shots on goal leading to too many opportunities for the other team. We have not necessarily lost because our goalies suck.

We need to look at the bigger picture here in terms of what our real problems, i.e. weaknesses, are on this team. Focusing only on a goaltender is not only ignoring the real problem at hand, but fixing something that is not quite broken. By going for an elite goalie, you're asking him to basically cover up for the defensive mistake of the team and THAT is just too much to put on any goaltender. You'll just end up tiring out the elite goalie, rendering him useless over the season. An elite defensemen will offer experience, guidance, confidence, and above all some jump to our stale defense.

The elite goalie. Simply because they are harder to come by then an elite defenseman (we've already got one of those anyway).

I'd have to say defencemen because as was all ready stated, if you have a GREAT D, you can get by with an average goalie.

Defenseman.
If you got a good defenseman, your goalie will be better.

How can you pick goalie over a defenseman in the situation like Flyers has right now?
With the defense we had in the first 6 games even Luongo would be in trouble.If we get our defense in better shape ,Biron would be enough for us,simple as that.You can't win games with a great goalie if at the same time you have a deletedty defense.I think it is clear by now based on how we played the first 6 games.
Defense is the real problem Flyers has,not goaltending.At least not anymore.
Let's trade Briere and some picks for Bouwmeester

thank you! someone who sees my point. Why the h3ll would you want to waste a top trade on a goalie over a defenseman in this case?????

An elite goalie has a bigger affect on the outcome of a game then an elite defenseman.

Goalie. Defense is bound to get better the more they play together. Especially once Parent and Jones return.

Goalies can steal games.....

How many games has Marty taken from us??

Come on, we are in the Atlantic and see arguably the best goalie of all time on many occasions throughout the year... an elite goalie can steal games, can steal series and wins cups.

What can an elite defender do when it's not his shift?

So you'd rather have let's say Brodeur and OUR defense?
Or would you rather take Devils' defense,the best in the NHL and an average goalie like Biron?
You're serious?Yes,the goalie can save games,alot of them.But with the defense we have right now even for Brodeur it would be too hard of the task to handle.
Even if Brodeur could be in TOP-5 of all time it still doesn't make him THAT much better then Biron,based on the last two games.

i say goalie. but someone like Lundqvist, who has a more set future, whereas Luongo's career is just about past its prime.

so everyone who wants a goalie to "steal us games" wants to win on the merit of getting by by the skin of our teeth? Wow. That's the way I want my Flyers to win, the reputation to have: "dude, you're team still sucks, you only beat us because of your goalie". Just wow. And what happens when all those shots on goal exhaust our top goalie? Look what happened to Biron.....the boy has been going through periods of time where he just gets tuckered-out from being at the worng end of a shooting gallery. Way to want to SOLVE the problem. I didn't know we just wanted to cover it up.

BTW, the impact of the elite defensemen goes well beyond his shift on the ice. If you can't see that......

Well I have nothing more to say about the subject except look at the Sharks' back to back games and how many goals did they scored on us.
Was the reason Biron?Nitty?(they both played)Or our "good" defense as you point it out to be by your answers?And the shot advantage the Sharks had in both games,was that because of the deletedty goaltending or our defensemen?You make the math

But there is only one Brodeur. If we could get a d-man along the lines of Phaneuf or Green, great. I think we have a better shot at Beauchemin. I still see Bouwmeester as over-rated. He could)that's the maybe that scares me) be good on a good team but the cost would be more than I'd be willing to gamble. Homer might want to ask Richard and Carter what they think the upside on Ian White could be. TO would probably let him go for a medium pick. Also, if there are any goalies that look good in the next draft, lets take one earlier rather than later when the best ones are gone.They normally need a bit of time to mature. You don't usually find a Hextall at 119. Lindbergh was about 35th I think. Also, draft d, we look to be set at forward for a while.

Luongo, No. Roy or Broduer, I mean is that really a question? I don't think it's our D's fault but our forwards aren't playing good enough defensively.

Depends on the terms. Young elite goalie with a long term contract would be ideal. We have a good future depth on defense, but basically nothing in goal. If we're talking about what the team needs the most right now, I'd rather add a d-man. If it's long term, we definitely need an elite goalie over an elite d-man.

I voted for goalie.

I don't get it.......prior to our first win, there was thread upon thread complaining about the defense. Now people rather have a goalie?

You really think New Jersey;s defense is that good?... wow, must have have thought it was the best defensive squad to ever assemble when they had Scott Stevens, Brian Rafalski and Scott Neidermeyer (1 already in HOF and 1 more garunteed, other still not sure, but solid defensemen).... but wait, they have been without all those guys for how long now? 3 seasons, and who is still the best goalie?... Marty

Yes, not every goalie is like Marty, I agree, he is an aunomiley, however, him, Fleury, Luongo, Nabokov, Lundquist are ALL elite goalies and ALL steal games regardless how good or pouros their defense is...

I highly doubt we can get one of these guys, and wanna know why? Because only idiots give up elite goalies because THEY STEAL GAMES and are so rare to come by....

We are in a division with 3 of the top 5 goalies in the league, and we have a top 15, maybe 20 goalie. No offense to Biron, he is average, but I would NEVER put him in elite status... besides the 5 mentioned above, i rather also have Vokoun, Bryzkalov, Gigeur, Backstrom, Khabulin, Miller, Kippersof, and Leclaire, just to name a few...not including others who look good and have great potential, like Price, Rask, Ward and Garon to name a few..

Lets face it, we been fooled, Biron is good...but he is not an elite, he is not even above average....he is your run of the mill goalie, who is very serviceable but rarely will steal games for you.

I dont care how we win.... as Al Davis says "Just win baby"

We can win with a pair of shaved monkey on defense and 3 turtles as our offense, if we win the cup, i dont care how its done

I agree with most of the points... there is only 1 Broduer, and probably we wont see one for a long time.... but there are other quality tenders is what I am saying and we need one...if not elite in top 5... at least some one you can definitivley say is in the top 10

Bouwmester is good maybe over rated, but he is good...he plays on team Canada for a reason

Beachumin, would be great, big fan of this guy

Not sure on Ian White, havent jumped on that bandwagon

And yes... we are set at forward for a long long time...draft Dmen and goalies...well, we did use first rounder on dmen this year and it looks mighty good right now.... so hopefully the trend continues

Defenceman for me.

Bowie would be perfect. Would love to see Mike Green in the orange and black too!

Goalie.

Goalie. The elite goalie can be a bigger impact player and win games by himself. With the offensive firepower of this team, adding a goalie with an GAA like 2.60 would make the Flyers simply unbeatable.

No question, elite goalie. No single player has more of an impact on the game than the goalie. Also, few teams have won a Stanley Cup with an average/above-average goalie (Canes being a recent exception).

Didn't Florida have both? What did that get them?

I'd say Elite D. I dont care who your Elite Goalie is, if your D is horrible and leaves the Goalie to hangout to dry, Elite goaile gets beat.

i went elite goalie, they dont come around as often

Same here.

Especially because in our situation just one elite defenseman won't fix our defense, as where having a goalie, he plays the whole game (usually) and he is the main one to stop the goals, with or iwthout defense.

I thought we were talking about these Elites.

Defense is important, but it's not all about your defensemen. You have to have a good team defense, like the Devils. Not only do they have the trap, but all their forward are all defensively accountable or they don't play. Losing Stevens, Niedermayer, and Rafalski has kept them from contender-status, but their team defense still gives Brodeur easier work than all others goalies in this league. On the other hand, usually goalies are your guys that go nuts in the playoffs and win Conn Smythes en route to Stanley Cups. The Devils didn't need Brodeur to do any more than to just be solid, and he got it done, as Conn Smythes went other places in their lineup.

In our situation we have Kimmo as our elite defenseman, but I think we need one more, to really give our D some depth and we need to draft a goalie, which is risky, but we have to try

Jess knows what im talking about


saw the sig, had to call you jess

haha I figured its easier than calling me flyersflyersflyers24

it is haha, if i didnt see that i would have probably used fff24

fff24 sounds like one of those color code things haha
infact if you add an extra f its yellow

okay back on topic. if we were to get an elite defenseman we would need one that could help the rest of the defense out, because he doesnt play every shift, so I dont know how much that would help. unless we already have pretty good defense and just needed an extra spark.

i voted for goalie, goaltending as we saw last playoffs wins you games, just look at broduer and roy in nj and col even though they had great teams in front of them, they carried their team to the cup

If we're talking about a Patrick Roy, then one of him, and even he is above elite. They are a rare find to be honest.

Defense is important, but it's not all about your defensemen. You have to have a good team defense, like the Devils. Not only do they have the trap, but all their forward are all defensively accountable or they don't play. Losing Stevens, Niedermayer, and Rafalski has kept them from contender-status, but their team defense still gives Brodeur easier work than all others goalies in this league. On the other hand, usually goalies are your guys that go nuts in the playoffs and win Conn Smythes en route to Stanley Cups. The Devils didn't need Brodeur to do any more than to just be solid, and he got it done, as Conn Smythes went other places in their lineup.

In our situation we have Kimmo as our elite defenseman, but I think we need one more, to really give our D some depth and we need to draft a goalie, which is risky, but we have to try

We don't need another elite defensman, we just need a solid defenseman. Sure, Dion Phanuff or Chris Pronger would make us better, a lot better, but getting a Luongo-like goalie is akin to winning the lottery.

If a D man were to come to Philly, who would you have?:

Jay Bouwmeester
Mike Green
Duncan Keith
Brent Seabrook
Ryan Suter
Shea Weber
Dennis Wideman

Or someone else?

Bouwmeester

I'd take Weber at this point since we wouldn't have to worry about his contract for a couple years.

One of these players is not like the others.

Green is an awesome OFD, but I don't think he's much more solid in his own end than our guys are. However, I would kill to see how he would do on our PP. It would be nasty.

If given the choice, I'd probably take Suter or Weber because they're so young and I think they're only going to get better. Nashville has a nice farm system.

I'd go for a stud defenseman because he could also, depending on his skill set, add offense to the equation.

I'm also a big fan of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter in Nashville. I'd take either one of them.

Mike Green. Offense itself is a form of defense and he really isn't bad defensively, at least he is not a liability. Just pair him with a good defensive defenseman.

Weber is another I like but he can never stay healthy.

Defenceman is more important, just look at Detroit Osgood did a great job because of Lidstrom, Rafalski, Kronwall, Stuart. Plus you do not need a top elite goalie to win the cup just look at the Red Wings.