The age-old question for a team that is stuck right down the middle with nary a chance to move on up or any further down than where they currently stand; do the Philadelphia Flyers rebuild or retool?
The Flyers have never been a team synonymous with rebuilding. They have been a playoff contender for as long as we can remember, and the late 1990’s and early 2000’s were reminders that this team has the ability to contend and nab the biggest fish in the ocean. Through a myriad of errors in the early 2010s, the Flyers have found themselves in the purgatory of the NHL. Not good enough to sniff the Stanley Cup, let alone the final four, but also not bad enough to compete for the next generational talent.
The Flyers have had a handful of general managers since the 2000s and all of them have had different philosophies and viewpoints that seemed viable but in the end came crashing down. Bobby Clarke worked in an enviable time where you didn’t have a salary cap to maneuver around, and every year the Flyers were paying top dollar but could never get their hands on the chalice. As fun as it was to be a contender year in and year out, the Flyers weren’t able to win and en route to that path they gave up a lot of their futures.
Paul Holmgren had a similar vision as Clarke near the end of his tenure, but his first half was one that brought about hope. The Flyers fell to the bottom of the standings and in a calendar year, they had the biggest turnaround in NHL history, not only in point differential but also in the fact that they finished their miraculous season in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, coming two wins away from being crowned Stanley Cup champions in 2010 gave Holmgren all the reasons to start throwing money and futures every which way he saw fit.
Four years later and the Flyers’ prospect pipeline was a desolate moon where nothing was growing, so in stepped Ron Hextall, who had a hand in building the dynastic Los Angeles Kings. His route to a perennial contender was something that Philadelphia never thought of doing and that was completing a rebuild. He amassed futures like no other general manager in recent memory for Philadelphia ever did. The Flyers were always making trades to dump salary and attain draft picks and everything was seemingly making sense.
Fast forward to the present and the Flyers look no better and are on the verge of missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-94. Chuck Fletcher is the man in charge and he tried his best in retooling this club on the fly. He promised change and he delivered, but did it work? As of right now, the answer is no because they look rudderless and lost in a way that hasn’t been seen in over a decade. They’ve lost their identity, they’ve entirely lost their confidence, and they’re now searching for another head coach.
After flipping Jakub Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere, Robert Hagg, Brian Elliott, Nolan Patrick, Phil Myers, and futures for Cam Atkinson, Rasmus Ristolainen, Martin Jones, Keith Yandle, Derick Brassard, and Ryan Ellis, the Flyers seemed to be on the right path. For whatever reason it hasn’t worked out and their offensive game is non existent, their defense looks worse for wear, and the spectacular goaltending that we witnessed in October and early November is being hampered by the former reasons.
With Alain Vigneault being let go and the Flyers looking for a new coach, should they be looking for a new general manager as well? If they plan on rebuilding, then the answer is yes because they need someone with a new voice, vision, and zero attachments to this franchise to be able to tear every wall imaginable on this team. If they plan on retooling again, Dave Scott and Paul Holmgren will most likely give Fletcher another crack. However, which route works best for this franchise? We’ve heard for years that the Flyers are “a few years away” from contention, yet here we are, a few years later and looking worse for wear.
It has been a tough decade of hockey to watch and there’s a lot of “ifs and buts” that will never be answered. The rebuild that the Flyers underwent during Hextall’s tenure looked good on paper because he amassed so many picks and so many futures that the Flyers looked stacked. Through a myriad of injuries, busts, and disappointments, only a handful of his vaunted picks have really made an impact.
What should have happened at some point in his rebuild was trading Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. Easier said than done of course, however keeping those two on a team that had nothing behind them was mystifying if he truly was rebuilding. He never liked using that word, instead he liked calling it a “refresh” as he said a few times when asked about his decision to trade Brayden Schenn for futures.
It wouldn’t have been easy considering the fact that Giroux had, and still has, a full no movement clause but it should’ve been attempted at some point. Making the playoffs in 2016 and 2018 did nothing but hamper their draft position as they were outclassed and outperformed every time. After a decade in the Orange and Black, Voracek has found himself a familiar yet new home and Giroux is potentially on his last legs in Philadelphia.
They have money tied up everywhere and long term as well. Kevin Hayes is signed for another 4 years at $7.1 million, Travis Konecny has another 3 years at $5.5 million, James van Riemsdyk has another year at $7 million, Cam Atkinson has 3 more years left at $5.875 million, and the extensions for Sean Couturier and Joel Farabee kick in next season. On defense they have Ivan Provorov for another 3 years at $6.75 million and Ryan Ellis for another 5 years at $6.25.
With all that money tied up to players in and around their primes, it’s more plausible to retool than rebuild. However, a retool is only going to push their potential contending window even further back. Nobody should feel safe and nobody should be safe except for Carter Hart, Joel Farabee, and at the moment Ivan Provorov.
A rebuild is tough because realistically, what contending team is going to be trying to acquire Hayes for 4 more years at $7.1 million? Or another season of 7 million dollars for van Riemsdyk? Or close to $6 million for Cam Atkinson? They’re serviceable players, however the money tied around them is immense in a trade, especially with the salary cap where it is. Even a boost of $1 million next season won’t entirely help their trade value, on top of the fact that they’re not playing the greatest hockey either.
Trading players of that ilk would be easier if you’re retooling because you can equally trade money in and out. A rebuild never takes one season, it will most likely take 4-5, which is painful to think but the path they’re currently heading in is going to take us through another rough 4-5 years of rollercoaster hockey. Recoup as many assets as you can for expiring contracts or players nearing expiration and move from there.
It will forever pain me to see Claude Giroux on a different team but this team is heading nowhere and he deserves a chance to win the Stanley Cup. With his contract expiring at the end of this season and if the Flyers continue to free fall, he should be thinking about waiving his NMC to join a contender. It would help the Flyers jump start their rebuild and give him the chance he’s always deserved at playing for a Stanley Cup contender, where he doesn’t have to be the focal point of attention all night long.
You have enticing young players like Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost who have paved their way onto the big club. Wade Allison made some good in roads last year but was pushed further back by injuries this season. Cam York and Yegor Zamula look destined to make the big club at some point in the near future and are the best defensive prospects they have. Then you have Tyson Foerster, Zayde Wisdom, and Bobby Brink among others, who could play a big part in Philadelphia in the near future. These are the players that are going to make an impact in the future and who you’re hoping to build around.
In addition to Farabee and Frost, Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Carter Hart, and to a lesser degree Oskar Lindblom are players to focus on right now. Sean Couturier is on the verge of turning 30 so it’s going to be a coin flip as to whether or not he has a reason to stay. He just signed his extension and I don’t think he would want to leave either. However, if a rebuild were to happen, this would be another Giroux and Voracek moment, where you roll the dice and hope that by the time he’s reached the end of his prime, you have a team centred around him.
As for the rest, it should be an open market and ship them to the highest bidder. This is a team that doesn’t look destined to make a Finals run anytime soon and keeping this team intact is only going to make things far worse. The fans have had enough and it’s only a matter of time until the players themselves are gutted by the team’s spiral.
Do what Hextall tried, do what hasn’t been done before and tear down the fabric of this team, and do what needs to be done to put some respect on this once venerable franchise. Rebuild while you can, recoup as many assets as you can, and follow it through completely. Fletcher cannot be the man behind the rebuild, he was too attached to his coach, and he’s too attached to the team he created.
It’s time for Philadelphia to finally be able to spread their wings again, but it should be done as soon as possible because it’s going to be another 4-5 years but, if followed through properly, this rebuild could actually be franchise altering.
