The Philadelphia Flyers need a complete rebuild.
When interim GM Danny Brière took over the Flyers front office this season, fans were at their breaking point. They had just endured a third straight season of missing the playoffs after a promising 2019-2020 season. This alone would be a reason enough to be upset, but there was much more than that.
There’s a famous saying that goes, “They don’t ask how, they ask how many.” In most situations, that usually is the case. Well in this situation, the “how” is why Flyers are losing the fanbase in waves, more-so than any time in franchise history.
I’m not going to sugarcoat the situation, the Flyers rebuild might take 3-5 years before we actually see results. There are a lot of problems with this franchise, most of which have come from the past 2 GMs and their inability to assess what the Flyers actually were vs. what they wanted them to be. One ruined the team through the draft, the other ruined the team through contracts and trades, but both ruined the Flyers chance of completing an ACTUAL rebuild, not just a retool, Charlie.
The Hextall Era
Let’s start with Ron Hextall. Honestly at this point, the Hextall era will be looked on better than the Fletcher era, something no one could’ve seen coming when the Flyers relieved Hextall of his GM duties in 2018. While Hextall made some mistakes with contracts, for example signing James van Riemsdyk to a five-year, $35 million dollar deal, we wouldn’t feel the damage of his tenure until a couple years after his firing.
Hextall hurt the Flyers farm. His drafting was not great. Hextall missed on Nolan Patrick after many advisors reportedly told him to take Cale Makar. He took Travis Sanheim ahead of Alex Tuch and David Pastrnak. He drafted German Rubtsov in the first round in 2016. Rubtsov played four games ever in the NHL. Travis Konecny looks to finally be a solid second line player, but Ivan Provorov seems to have fallen off a cliff after being a steady 1B on the blue line for a season or two. Hextall filled this team with second and third line players (at best) with his high draft picks. That’s usually not a sign of success.
The Fletcher Era
Then enters Chuck Fletcher. Fletcher’s job was to add to the prospects Hextall had accumulated to build a perennial contender. After his first season it looked to be headed that way. But after sitting on his hands in the 2020 offseason, the team started to go downhill.
The next two offseasons derailed the opportunity to actually rebuild the team. In these 2 offseasons, Fletcher traded away Nolan Patrick, Phil Myers, Shayne Gostisbehere, Robert Hägg, Jake Voracek, a 2021 1st round Pick, a 2022 2nd round Pick, a 2022 4th round pick, a 2022 7th round Pick, a 2023 2nd round Pick, a 2023 3rd round pick, and a 2024 2nd round pick.
With all that being traded what did Fletcher end up getting back? Ryan Ellis who might never play hockey again, Rasmus Ristolainen who he gave big extension to, Cam Atkinson who missed the entire 2022-2023 season, Tony Deangelo who has been a mess so far, and a 2022 7th round pick that turned into Alexis Gendron…yeah I don’t know who he is either. Not a great return for all those assets. Assets that could’ve been used to help kickstart a rebuild that the Flyers have desperately needed for the past 2 offseasons.
The Start of the Brière Era
When we look at what the Flyers have left to work with, it’s not a lot. Fletcher tied up $52.99 million of cap space in Rasmus Ristolainen, Travis Sanheim, Tony DeAngelo, Joel Farabee, Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes, and Sean Couturier. On top of all that money being used up on underperforming and hurt players, they’ll have to pay their RFAs this offseason too. That will add even more money to an already tight cap.
So what can they do?
Maybe they move Kevin Hayes, but the question with that is will they have to eat salary and throw in picks as a sweetener? The same can be said for Ivan Provorov.
What’s the plan with Sean Couturier? Will the Flyers try to bring him back as soon as possible next season or will they wait until they know this problem is fully healed?
What about Travis Konecny? His contract doesn’t seem to line up with the Flyers plan anymore. After a career year by Konecny, does Brière make his first major trade to get more assets that will help the rebuild accelerate?
What do they do with Travis Sanheim? His new contract kicks in on the first day of free agency. This contract has a full no trade clause for the first four years. Do the Flyers dump him at the draft or do they bite the bullet and have his cap hit effect this team for the foreseeable future?
Briere has a lot he needs to fix. Nine years of incompetence by two straight front offices isn’t going to be easy to fix quickly. Many fans want this rebuild to be fast, but it most likely won’t be.
What the Flyers have to work with
The Flyers do have some pieces though.
Noah Cates turned out to be a shutdown defensive center that can be the teams 2C/3C for the future if he can develop his offense.
Morgan Frost had a breakout season and maybe will turn into a reliable 2nd line wing/Center.
When Cam York played this year, he looked awesome. He might not be a 1A, but he can absolutely be a 1B on the blue line.
Owen Tippett had his best season in his young career. If he continues to improve, he’ll be a very reliable 2nd liner, maybe even a 1st liner.
When Tyson Forester was called up for a couple games this year, he didn’t look out of place. He could definitely contribute in the future.
Cutter Gauthier looked great at Boston College this year, and he’s going back one more year to develop. This allows the Flyer to hold his rights for another year.
Carter Hart bounced back after a bad couple of years and continues to show he’s the goalie of the future for this team.
The Florida Panthers’ 2024 first round pick is top 10 protected, but let’s be honest, that’s going to end up being a bottom 10 pick in the first round with the way the Panthers are playing and built.
And now, after the lottery gods spat in the Flyers face, they have the #7 pick in the 2023 draft.
What to expect
It’ll take time, and unlike the last time the Flyers tried to “rebuild,” they won’t have Claude Giroux there to bail them out and drag them to the playoffs. This will be a drudge. They won’t be able to sign big time free agents over the next couple of seasons due to being handcuffed by the contracts Fletcher handed out like candy.
Draft lottery luck would be great, but they aren’t going to be bad enough consistently to be in the legitimate running for a first overall pick. It’s going to take strong scouting, strong player development, smart trades, and time to rebuild this team. We might not see the results from this rebuild for 3-5 years, and those results might even mirror the Sabres’ “successful season” this year.
However, if they rebuild correctly this time…well, fun hockey could eventually make its way back to South Philly.
