The Philadelphia Flyers’ exit interviews after this season came and went rather quickly and compared to previous seasons, it didn’t get as much attention.
It was understandable since it was another lost season, the writing was on the wall before the season even started, and the harsh realities hit by November-December. Throughout the season, many veterans were either benched, scratched, met with trade discussions, or all of the above.
James van Riemsdyk mentioned how he was disappointed to not have been traded at the trade deadline as he wanted a chance to play for a contender. I don’t think anyone has a clue as to what Chuck Fletcher was doing ahead of the trade deadline, but he came out of it saying that no one in the league wanted the veteran forward. Considering who was traded, how many teams were looking for depth and help, it turned out to be the nail in his coffin as he was finally relived of his duties a week later.
”I’m obviously, probably like everyone else, looking at the situation and I’m assuming there’s a direction they’re going to go as far as being a younger team and still a team that’s kind of transitioning to be as young as they can,” said van Riemsdyk. “That’s just kind of the way I’m assuming that things will go. I haven’t had official things one way or the other, but just assuming that’s what’s going to happen.
“I’m assuming they are going to get younger, and that’s the direction they will go. I’m assuming I won’t be back.”
Two other veterans who spoke their mind at the end of the season were Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo. DeAngelo thought the scratches were “ridiculous” after what was a good season offensively. However, his issues were far from his offensive production as Tortorella was on record saying he was a little shocked at how much work was needed defensively and that Carolina might’ve sheltered him. Nevertheless, he remained professional through it all and tried to explain his side of the story.
Earlier in the season when talking about DeAngelo’s defensive struggles, Tortorella said, “Last team he played for, Carolina, I think they could absorb some of that with their roster as far as maybe some of his deficiencies defensively. It kind of sticks out more with us.
“I’m a little bit – not disappointed – but the defensive liability is something we need to work at. I didn’t think the amount of work that we need to do with him…I didn’t think that at the point in time when we got him.”
When Tortorella was questioned ahead of the final game about DeAngelo, he stated, “I know that’s probably a big topic for you guys, Tony didn’t play the last five games, so something happened, right? That’s going to stay between Tony and I and the team.
“I’m sure there are reasons for it, but nothing that either one of us was obviously willing to discuss. I’ll just leave it at that. We talked, but not a whole lot.”
DeAngelo chimed in with a lot of quotes, courtesy of NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jordan Hall, never disparaging the head coach, his decision, or anything in between.
“He’s the coach of the team, so you’ve got to respect that and I respect what he does. Do I agree with it, what happened in the last five games? Absolutely not. I think it’s ridiculous that I didn’t play the last five. That’s one thing. But he’s also the coach of the team. It’s not my job to decide that.
“All I can worry about is being a good teammate, which I think I did. Tried to stay out of the way. I don’t want to be a distraction to anybody, these guys had stuff to play for…there’s milestones guys are trying to get to, guys are trying to play for contracts next year.”
He showed a desire to remain on the team even after a bumpy ride in his first year.
“The way I put it, I love being a Flyer. My whole life I’ve wanted to be a Flyer. Now that I am, I don’t take it for granted at all. It’s something that means a lot to me, so we’re not going to let any relationship stuff get in the way.
“I’ve wanted to be a Flyer forever. As far as what’s going to happen, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. Even if I’m back next year, if I’m back after that year, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. As long as I’m wanted here, I’ll be here.”
DeAngelo also took accountability for his poor play.
“I’ve got to play and I’ve got to play better. I’m pretty accountable of myself. Did I have a good year offensively? Probably. In my opinion, I was pretty good with the puck. Did I have the points that I probably think I should have had? No. Lower year than I would have expected, even in the 70 games.
“But there was other stuff that I didn’t do as well. I didn’t think I was great defensively all the time. There were some games where I was real good. Early in the year, I thought I was really good defensively, and then kind of dipped, then the points weren’t coming — it was all over the place. Too inconsistent. I thought it was very frustrating for myself to be that inconsistent this year, especially after the year I had last year, where I thought I was very consistent.
“I can’t blame Torts for that, me being inconsistent and him not being happy about it. That’s stuff that I take responsibility for and I was pissed about. It was a disappointing year for me in that sense.”
DeAngelo understood what was expected of him this year with previous productive seasons, his contract, and his supposed role when he was acquired.
“I thought I did a lot of good things with the puck. Without the puck, average at best. Some games really good, some games terrible. When you’re getting paid $5 million, to me, you really can’t let that happen. I take a lot of pride in being worth what I’m getting paid. People think that guys get paid and they don’t really care. Maybe that’s the truth for some guys; not for me. I think I care even more, especially being a Flyer, as well, so that bothered me.
“Having said all that, that would make me want to come back even more. I don’t care who the coach is, I want to come back and this is where I want to be.”
Words are just that – words. You want to see action based on the supposed accountability, but unfortunately for the offensive defenseman, he wasn’t able to show that to close out the season. Whether he remains on the team beyond this summer is up in the air but if he does return, he will be highly motivated for a variety of reasons, including his desire to prove his doubters wrong and it being another contract year.
However, it was Kevin Hayes who never seemed to bounce back after being a healthy scratch in December for one game.
At the time of his scratch, Hayes was leading the team in points, which is why the rest of the hockey world took umbrage with John Tortorella’s decision. The grizzled and fiery head coach had mentioned on countless occasions – before the season, during the season – that if you don’t show effort, determination, and fight, you’re going to ride the pine. If you make mistakes constantly and don’t learn from them, you’re going to ride the pine. If you’re costing your team with turnovers and are not backchecking, while looking disinterested, you’re going to ride the pine, to which Hayes did all 3.
Hayes was benched in the 6th game of the season against the San Jose Sharks alongside Travis Konecny for the third period. Hayes was then benched on the 15th of December against the New Jersey Devils, where he only saw 9:47 of ice time. He had 9 goals and 29 points in 30 games entering that tilt against the Devils. He even recorded 45 points in his first 49 games. Hayes was well on his way to a career-year as all he needed was 10 points to tie his career-best of 55 points with 32 games left on the season. Unfortunately for Hayes, he ended the season with 3 goals and 9 points in that final stretch and finished with 54 points – second to Konecny who missed 20 games.
You can make the argument that he had a near-career-year this season when you look at his numbers alone. He finished 2nd on the team in points and made the All-Star team, and you can even make the argument that he was putting up points on a struggling offense. All of that can be said about Hayes in his first 49 games, but he turned off the switch completely in his final 32 games and it was far too obvious for anyone to try to disagree with.
In that same stretch:
Owen Tippett: 32 games, 14 goals, 9 assists, 23 points
Morgan Frost: 32 games, 9 goals, 13 assists, 22 points
Noah Cates: 32 games, 6 goals, 12 assists, 18 points
Scott Laughton: 32 games, 6 goals, 9 assists, 15 points
Joel Farabee: 32 games, 6 goals, 8 assists, 14 points (13 in his final 19)
Tony DeAngelo: 25 games, 3 goals, 10 assists, 13 points
Rasmus Ristolainen: 31 games, 1 goal, 12 assists, 13 points
Travis Konecny: 16 games, 7 goals, 5 assists, 12 points (12 in his final 11)
Kevin Hayes: 32 games, 3 goals, 6 assists, 9 points
James van Riemsdyk: 31 games, 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points
Tyson Foerster: 8 games, 3 goals, 4 assists, 7 points
Hayes’ comments echoed what the Flyers are going to do this summer and where he stands with the new regime and supposed rebuild.
“I’m turning 31. I picked up the message that was sent months ago. I’m okay with it. It’s their decision. I don’t want to say I’m suited for a contender, because I think I’m suited for anyone, to be honest. Yeah. we’ll see how that unfolds. Their decision has probably already been made and we don’t know it yet. I’m sure I’ll find out around the draft.
“I don’t know if they want a guy making the money that I’m making, playing nine to 10 minutes a night. I don’t make those decisions, they do. I’m sure they have to make them pretty quickly. The draft is coming up.
“It’s tough when you’re getting 22 minutes a night and leading the team in points, and then you get back from the All-Star break and you’re playing eight minutes a night and playing with different players. But like I said, it is what it is. They want to go younger here if they want to win. That’s how you win in this league, you have to rebuild and that’s what they’re in now.
“As much as I would love to stay and help out, I have no idea if that is going to be the case.”
Well, it would be tough if you’re only playing 8 minutes a night compared to 22 minutes pre-All-Star Game, however the change in ice time was only an average of 1:14. He averaged 18:02 in the 50 games leading into the break, while averaging 16:48 in the final 31 games following the break.
His role did change in terms of 5-0n-5 or even strength hockey as he slowly became the 3C behind Noah Cates and Morgan Frost, was playing with fellow struggling wingers in either James van Riemsdyk, Wade Allison, and sometimes Joel Farabee, but still had power play time, and never actually saw less than 9 minutes of ice time in a game – which also only happened once. He also only saw less than 15 minutes of ice time 7 times post-break and he only played more than 20 minutes per game 3 times in the final 20 games leading to the break – since he believed he was averaging 22 a night; could’ve been a figure of speech but something to keep note of regardless.
DeAngelo’s role also changed after being a stalwart on the top pairing for the first month of the season, and he even outpaced Ivan Provorov in average ice time for a very long stretch of games to start the season. When his play dropped and the top pair became a liability – or at least they were no longer the standout pair to the other 2 – the points dried up for him as well, the power play incidentally struggled because of it, and he found himself shuffling around the second pair before finding a permanent home on the third pair with Nick Seeler.
He played relatively well with a more stay-at-home defenseman and not always being tasked to playing against the opposition’s top lines. The points eventually returned, his offensive game was up-and-down, but you gotta give him credit for never calling anyone out – the head coach especially.
As for Hayes, he struggled to the tune of a goalless drought that spanned 23 games, in which he averaged 16:32 of ice time, was a minus-12, had 6 assists, and only fired 43 shots on goal. The shots are somewhat important because he went from averaging almost 3 shots a game in the first half to almost less than 2 a game.
It must’ve been frustrating for the veteran, who made a great comeback at the end of 2021-22 after dealing with several injuries. He scored 7 goals and 22 points in his final 28 games, then added 45 in his first 49 games this year – 22 goals and 66 points in a 77-game stretch.
Unfortunately, as Hayes dropped in production and expression, players like Noah Cates and Morgan Frost kept churning away and earned top-6 minutes. Tortorella was all about rewarding the players that deserved it, and we saw that message shine brighter and brighter as the season was winding down. Once Chuck Fletcher was ousted, it became very obvious what direction the Flyers were going to head into the off-season. Trade discussions were taking place with Fletcher, and you’d have to imagine they’re only going to increase now with Tortorella having a lot more sway in personnel changes.
The whole world could see a change in Hayes’ mood, expression, demeanour, and of course his on-ice play. It happens, and as he kept reiterating, “it is what it is”. The Flyers want to get younger, they want to shed contracts, they don’t want to block their prospects, and all 3 of those things should spell the end of Hayes’ and DeAngelo’s tenure in Philadelphia.
Money is a key factor and with the Flyers essentially just matching James van Riemsdyk’s departing $7 million with Travis Sanheim’s incoming extension at $6.25 million AAV, that money becomes moot. Hayes’ at $2 million retained and DeAngelo packaged out to a contender could net the Flyers upwards of $10+ million in cap space.
