Paul Holmgren Admits Expectations Were a Bit Too High for Young Players
Yo, are our jobs in danger? (pic from last year)
Paul Holmgren spoke with ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun today about the Flyers, the local hockey team that missed the playoffs with a mismatched group of young forwards, a win-now goaltender, and no defense:
“We rely a lot on Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier, they both played significant minutes this year,” Holmgren said. “They probably had similar years than they had last year in terms of numbers if you prorate it, but obviously when you’re playing those minutes maybe you expect a little more. Maybe our expectations were a little bit too high for those young guys. I think they’re both good young players; they’re going to continue to grow and get better. Sometimes you can’t speed up that process no matter what you do. You just have to let time take care of it.”
That’s been my problem all along: Who didn’t see this coming? Schenn, Simmonds, Couturier and, to an extent, Voracek, were all win-later players. But at the same time the Flyers acquired those guys, they signed Ilyz Bryzgalov, a win-now player, at the time a 31-year-old goaltender, to a ridiculous contract. Setting aside the fact that Bryz isn’t that good, you knew it would take a year or two for the young players to develop. So, going in, they were going to be squandering a goalie’s prime. Now it’s two years later, the youngsters still aren’t at a point where they can be the core of a good team, and the goalie might be gone anyway. That’s the GM’s fault.
Homer answered that question about Bryz, too:
To be clear, I asked Holmgren if there was any basis at all to the speculation of a Bryzgalov buyout.
“No,” he said.
He lies.