“We are what we are right now.” is a direct quote from Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher when asked about the current state of the team on Tuesday.
It doesn’t really invoke much positivity, but it also goes to show that even the man in charge has no idea what is wrong with his hockey club. Is it the ownership? Is it the coaching again? Is it the on-ice product? Or is it himself? There’ so many questions but no answers to quell the minds of Flyers fans and Flyers management alike.
Fletcher has been a relatively patient general manager since taking over mid-season in 2018. He sat back, observed, and watched as his inherited team crumbled in yet another embarrassing season for the Orange and Black. He brought about changes from the coaching staff to the players in 2019-20 and it worked out in the way of an actual playoff series win; the first of it’s kind since 2012. The wheels fell off again as he sat back in 2020-21 and then he went off during the following summer, purging what he thought was the root of all problems.
Now we’re sitting at 8-9-4, in the midst of a seven-game losing streak, while only scoring 34 goals in their last 18 games and wondering what’s wrong now? The general manager went out of his way in the summer to fix the locker room’s toxic environment, he backed his coaches by ridding players that had clashed with them, and he brought in several new players with leadership and accountability at the helm. After a decent start to the season, the November tradition of losing in inexplicable fashion has reared its ugly head yet again.
To his credit, Fletcher did deliver on his promise of changes. For the most part, the majority of fans were happy and pleased with the moves he had made because on paper the team looked really strong. They had balance, depth, and most importantly vocal leaders all throughout. A few injuries brought about some hurdles at the beginning of training camp, however a lot of teams around the league have dealt with their fair share of injuries.
Before their first of two losses to the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier in the month, the Flyers were a respectable 8-3-3. There were some dents in the armour like offensive struggles, an anemic power play, and several players mired in slumps, but the goaltending and improved defense were shielding them. Now that everything has seemingly come to a boil, the Flyers look lost, rudderless, and in need of change; but where does it come from?
Coaching is the most viable route for change because it is starting to become more and more evident that Alain Vigneault is losing the locker room. They look completely uninspired, their play is debilitating, and he is making no effort is trying to find a solution. When things get tough, his solution always seems to be James van Riemsdyk being promoted to the top line. He has tinkered with his lines on several occasions now, always trying to find the best chemistry possible, instead of just playing and using his best players in situations they’ll thrive under.
He is not a bad coach by any means and his system isn’t entirely flawed either; it just doesn’t work with this team and the group of guys he has. Dump and chase could work for bigger and stronger teams, but the Flyers don’t necessarily possess the players that would chase the puck in the corners and retrieve it through puck battles. They have issues even entering the zone, let alone getting the puck out of their own zone with ease. The number of turnovers keeps climbing and incidentally so are the losses.
The other coach on the hot seat, maybe more so than Vigneault, is assistant coach Michel Therrien. His power play has looked completely flat, is filled with flaws, and is more of a disadvantage to the team than anything else. They have scored more shorthanded goals than power play goals in the last 2-3 weeks; that alone should speak volumes. The power play is mired in a 5-for-57 slump and it’s obvious that the players are pressing.
They’re not scoring because they’re pressing, and they’re pressing because they’re not scoring. Instead of just going back to the basics, they keep tinkering their units, changing the personnel on a game-by-game basis, and forgetting the most important fundamental aspect of a successful power play; shooting the puck.
They’re slow at reacting, they make the obvious passes, the cross-ice pass to the opposite wall is always blocked off, the quarterback of the power play is too patient, and there’s no net-front presence. That’s also if they can even enter the zone and set up. Dumping and chasing has been brought to their power play units as well and it doesn’t work when no one is chasing when the puck is being dumped. On top of all that, the personnel on the power play have no idea what to do at the hands of aggressive penalty killing. All their plays are so slow at developing that any aggression from the opposition is going to lead to a turnover, a blocked shot, or a clearance.
The power play has bogged down the offense so much that it’s becoming mind numbingly inexplicable as to why Therrien is still at the helm and in charge of the man advantage. Vigneault keeps absolving his assistant by taking the blame himself but is it valid and warranted? The players are relatively new, they tried changing the identity and culture, how is it still not working?
If Fletcher pulls the plug on his head coach, who are the replacements? And better yet, will they even be able to make a difference? We’ve seen plenty of coaching changes in the past and it usually brings out a positive result in the first few weeks, maybe even months, and then their voice gets lost in the midst of a collapse or losing streak.
If the Flyers move on from Vigneault, they need a head coach who commands respect, a head coach who is well respected amongst the NHL lore, and actually holds players accountable while utilizing his star player’s potentials. Whether that is John Tortorella, Bruce Boudreau, or even Mike Babcock remains to be seen, but they seemingly fit those criteria.
It seems that whenever a player has reached Vigneault’s doghouse, he just benches them without saying much. However with a guy like Tortorella, you know exactly why you’re being benched and you know exactly what is coming next. His methods aren’t entirely fruitful but he has had plenty of success during his career. I’m not saying he’s the answer or that he’s the perfect fit, but someone along those lines would help shape the Flyers back to their once successful selves.
If Fletcher keeps his coaches then the only other route would be personnel turnover. Making a trade right now is going to be very tough for several reasons: 1) salary cap constraints, 2) not many teams are looking to trade core pieces at the moment, and 3) what assets do the Flyers possess that can really bring about change through a trade?
The Flyers find themselves tightly bound by the salary cap like most NHL teams, meaning any significant trade is going to have to include equal dollars coming out and equal dollars coming back in. Kevin Hayes is tied up for another 5 years at $7.1 million, James van Riemsdyk has another year left at $7 million, Travis Konecny has 3 more years left at $5.5 million, Cam Atkinson has 3 more years left at $5.875 million, and Joel Farabee’s and Sean Couturier’s long extensions have yet to kick in as well.
Not a lot of teams will want that kind of money tied together with underachieving success. Couturier and Farabee are most likely the sole untouchables on offense, unless the Flyers rebuild from the ground up and look to find Couturier a new home. Other than that, the pickings are slim and even if you add Morgan Frost in as a sweetener, you’re dealing with the fact that not many teams are looking to flip core pieces or make such a substantial move.
So, it’s a little disheartening to hear those words being reverberated by the general manager but currently he doesn’t have many options. It seems unlikely that he parts ways with his head coach, which would be the easiest avenue for change, however would that be a move for the sake of change? We have seen a lot of turnover behind the bench and it hasn’t changed the fact that they are still the same middling team 10 years later.
He believes that his injured players returning will be the key to reversing their fortunes but time is slowly slipping away. They may be only 21 games in but the odds of making the playoffs, especially when you’re on the outside looking in, after Thanksgiving are ridiculously low unless you go on a run like the St. Louis Blues did in 2019.
Kevin Hayes has finally returned again, Derick Brassard is close as well, Wade Allison is looking to hopefully be a week or so away from a call-up, and Ryan Ellis is still on the mend. Having Hayes back is a huge boon for this team but it remains to be seen if it will fix their offensive woes, especially if it’s a systematic problem.
For now, we have to be as patient as Chuck Fletcher and see how things unfold. After the Rangers game last night, the Flyers have 3 days off before a tough back to back against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche. That back to back sets off a rough five games in seven nights stretch that also includes the New Jersey Devils and another back to back set against the Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes on the road.
It seems like this is the stretch that makes or breaks the season, considering they’re already on a seven-game losing streak. If things don’t work out, what changes are we looking to see unfold? Most likely a coaching change and perhaps some personnel being moved out. If things work out in their favour and they have a very promising turnaround, then a lot of these issues will be swept under the rug until the next broken window comes about in the glass house that is the Philadelphia Flyers.
