When Chuck Fletcher was finally relieved of his duties as the President of Hockey Operations and General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers, the entire fan base was able to exhale and finally breathe a sigh of relief. The dastardly fall from grace between the COVID bubble in 2020 to his demise in 2022-23 culminated into one of the darkest moments in franchise history.
This is an organization that very rarely struggled from their inception in 1967 all the way to 2011-12. They missed the playoffs only 8 times in that stretch and 5 of those came consecutively from 1989-90 to 1993-94. They qualified for the postseason in 17 consecutive seasons before 1989-90 and then 11 straight seasons after 1993-94. In other words; a very successful regular season club.
In the 11 seasons between 2012-13 and 2022-23, the Flyers only qualified for the postseason 4 times and only advanced past the first round once. 2 of those postseason berths came during the Ron Hextall and Dave Hakstol era, which ironically came to pass after the Flyers relieved Paul Holmgren from his general managing duties – unfortunately he was promoted to being President but was in the background with Hextall in charge.
Hextall was a hot commodity with several teams trying to lure him in as their respective general managers. The Flyers had brought him back into the fold as an assistant in 2013-14 and were essentially given an ultimatum the following summer when he was thrust into the general manager’s chair. Holmgren was already on the hot seat and the Flyers didn’t want to lose Hextall, so they made the appropriate move ahead of the 2014-15 season.
The club went 33-31-18 with Craig Berube behind the bench after making the postseason the year before with a 42-30-10 record. Hextall had the opportunity to potentially land Mike Babcock and Dan Bylsma in the offseason – both of whom were at the top of the list – but instead he opted with Hakstol, who became the second-ever collegiate coach to make the immediate jump.
It can argued and debated for eternity but it seemed that for the first time in maybe franchise history, the Orange and Black were finally going to undergo a rebuild. Hextall refrained from using the word rebuild – the “R-word” as he referred to it as – but his verbiage elsewhere reflected as much. He wanted to build from the ground up, he wanted to replenish the pipeline, and his masterplan would take about 4-5 years so patience was of the utmost importance.
After years of having to deal with trigger-happy managers, as a fan base we were able to sit back and watch the process unfold. In the first season with Hakstol behind the bench, the Flyers surprisingly made the postseason. In fact, it almost directly parallels the 2023-24 version of the team for a myriad of reasons.
Balanced offense, good to great goaltending, the defense was good, they were playing with a purpose and through an actual system, and of course no one pegged them into being a playoff team.
However, what unfolded afterwards is what Daniel Brière, Keith Jones, and the rest of upper management should look to avoid doing.
Now to Hextall’s credit, he definitely replenished the pipeline. Holmgren left him with a wasteland and a cupboard of draft picks that was essentially empty, not to mention salary cap issues. Hextall maneuvered his way out of the cap issues, he stockpiled draft picks, and subsequently added a slew of prospects in his 5 years at the helm.
Between the 2014 and 2018 drafts, Hextall had selected 42 players – a job well done. Unfortunately, trying to just build through the draft and development leagues is a crapshoot. Outside of the first round, it’s almost impossible to predict how some of these prospects will pan out. Even within the first round, there are always duds and busts.
Hextall had 8 first round picks and 6 second rounders in his 5 years with half of his first round picks playing in over 250 games and outside of Carter Hart, he really missed on his 2nd round picks. It wasn’t all bad as the Flyers still employ Travis Sanheim, Travis Konecny, Felix Sandström, Hart, Wade Allison, Tanner Laczynski, Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, Olle Lycksell, Joel Farabee, and Samuel Ersson, but again, it’s not the most inspiring bunch outside of a few names.
This is where the debate truly begins because some believe that Hextall wasn’t given full authority to enact his rebuild; in other words, move on from Claude Giroux and Jakub Voráček among other veterans. Others believe that not moving on from those veterans was problematic to their future goals. If you did plan on keeping them around for when your masterplan was to blossom, they should have helped them out a little bit more than by just adding Petr Mrázek and James van Riemsdyk.
Essentially their primes were wasted on middling clubs that were never bad enough to nab a high draft pick but also never good enough to get past the first round of the post-season once they got there. Whatever happened in 2015-16 was right on cue. See what you have with the club that brought you to the playoffs and then slowly add to the mix. It doesn’t have to be expensive veterans, but to not make any changes for the better and to subtract the depth around Giroux and Voráček was a curious move.
In the summer of 2016, the Flyers signed Dale Weise and Boyd Gordon. They also traded for Jordan Weal in January of 2016.
In the summer of 2017 they signed Corban Knight, Brian Elliott, and re-signed Mark Alt. They also traded for Valtteri Filppula at the deadline and acquired Jori Lehterä at the draft.
In the summer of 2018 they signed James van Riemsdyk and Christian Folin. They also traded for Mràzek ahead of the 2018 deadline before letting him walk in free agency.
That brings us to the 2023-24, Flyers because it’s almost an identical path. Brière and the Flyers are in a rebuild but they are not doing it the Arizona or the Buffalo way, where the foundations are ripped apart and they start from the ground floor.
John Tortorella has taken a rudderless ship and led them to an incredible 19-11-4 start that has put the hockey world on notice. It goes without saying that this year they do not need to add at the trade deadline, unless a younger player with term and potential suddenly becomes available.
You look ahead at who could be available leading into the trade deadline and you’re left with an uninspiring group of veterans that the Flyers absolutely do not need. William Nylander, Steven Stamkos, Sam Reinhart, and Jake Guentzel are not going to be moved. You’re then left with Adam Henrique, Anthony Mantha, Jordan Eberle, Jason Zucker, Jakob Silfverberg, and Vladimir Taranseko among others. It’s also a little crazy that some people are pushing for the Flyers to acquire Johnny Gaudreau who is a prime example of a contract, salary, and age that the Flyers do not need at this moment.
With how the Flyers are employed right now, it would be tough to envision any of these players making headway in the Orange and Black. Noah Cates is also still on the mend so when he returns, the Flyers have to make a difficult decision on who to sit out.
Making the post-season this year is almost irrelevant to their future plans because they need to focus on their younger core and add more NHL-ready players under the age of 24. They don’t necessarily need to stock-pile a treasure chest of draft picks, they don’t need to completely shift all of their focus towards the draft and replenishing the pipeline, and you can still build around the Sean Couturiers and the Cam Atkinsons of the team while remaining in a rebuild – and for some, waiting on their contracts to expire.
If it’s true that Hextall was handcuffed during his tenure, then it bodes well for Brière because he has been given the green light and full authority to do whatever he sees fit. Jones and Tortorella are also a part of this mix but Brière essentially has the final say; which is how it should be.
The Flyers have an exciting team and a lot of young players who should figure into the present and future. Add to this core because there’s always young NHL-ready players being made available at the deadline, ahead of the draft, or once free agency opens up. Hesitation on moves of this ilk could keep them stuck in purgatory.
This club is different than 2015-16 because the plan and the path is a lot more straightforward, there’s a lot more transparency, and very little guess work is required. Tortorella hasn’t deviated once since he stepped foot behind that bench and Brière and Jones have yet to make a seriously puzzling decision – which might be too early to tell but it’s still a good sign.
The pipeline is oozing with talent that was not present in 2015-16, the prospects might be ready anywhere between the next 2-3 seasons with Cutter Gauthier probably making the club in 2024-25. You add an older, slightly more developed Gauthier to the current mix and the Flyers are that much more frightening.
It remains to be seen what will happen to pending UFAs like Sean Walker and Nick Seeler, but as things stand right now and with the salary cap projected to go up to $87.5 million, the Flyers will enter the summer with a shade over $20 million in cap space. Owen Tippett and Carter Hart are the main priorities, but fortunately enough they’re at least RFAs.
This is a club with an actual identity, playing through an actual system, and have the benefit of playing under a regime that is willing to make the right changes to bring back glory to the city of Philadelphia. Brière, Jones, LeClair, Sharp, they know what it’s like to play for a successful Flyers team and everyone under the sun has seen the team swirl into the abyss.
Those days might hopefully be behind us with the New Era of Orange taking effect. However, the moves enacted by the new front office ahead of the deadline, at the draft, and in the upcoming free agent frenzy will be a tell-tale sign of how this rebuild will fare.
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