EP Rinkside Mailbag: CBA questions ahead of the preseason

Just a week until training camp starts. Everyone is now getting into the business of shoring up their rosters, making the behind-the-scenes decisions that will lead to potentially major changes for their franchises.

Some are naming new captains, others are already trying out line combinations and more are waiting for that just-right moment to put someone on LTIR.

Until then? Well, there's always time to talk about… collective bargaining agreement stuff, I guess?

Let’s get to it:

Sound Flyer asks: "How bad can the Flyers be and is anyone actually interested in seeing how that happens?"

I think the Philadelphia Flyers can be very, very bad. Probably not "worst in the league" bad, but close to it. Their problem, obviously, is that they're at least nominally Going For It, which means that they will keep guys who have actual quality and value longer than they should (especially because they should have traded guys like Kevin Hayes and James van Riemsdyk over the summer).

The issue for the Flyers' final standings position in 2022-23, I think, boils down to what Carter Hart is. We heard a lot that his struggles the last couple of years were related to how the pandemic affected him, and if that wasn't actually just a post-facto explanation, average goaltending could get them to, say, 20th in the league. They have talent, just not enough of it.