At this time one week ago, Flyers fans were buzzing in Wells
Fargo Center for game six of the team’s first round playoff series with the hated
Pittsburgh Penguins. After a promising start that saw Flyers hold a 4-2 lead in
the second period, a game 7 back in Pittsburgh was looking more like a reality
than a dream. But, a dreadful end to the second period followed by an equally
as dreadful start to the third period resulted in five unanswered goals for the
Penguins to lead 7-4. Pittsburgh would go on to win 8-5 and the season was
over.
The knee-jerk reaction was a lot of “same old Flyers” in
reference to the franchise’s inconsistent goaltending and defensive woes that plagued
them in all four of their losses in the six-game series. But, it’s easy to see
that the Flyers are ready to turn the corner. General Manager Ron Hextall inherited
an old and flawed roster in the spring of 2014 when he took over. The organization
had an abundance of burdensome contracts on the books to go with a shallow
prospect pool. Losing in the first round to the New York Rangers felt like the ceiling
of the 2013-14 team. External options to improve the team in free agency were
limited thanks to the dead weight that any cap-strapped team had to deal with
getting rid of first. They weren’t deep enough to shake things up with a trade
and expect better results. There weren’t many internal options either as the
team lacked young blood to promote to the NHL roster.
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| David Maialetti/Philly.com Hextall has gotten the Flyers out of salary cap hell. Now he must get them into cup contention. |
In short, the Flyers were stuck. It’s what lead to Hextall
taking over for Paul Holmgren in the first place. For years, the organization
always had an ultra-aggressive approach to each season and it wasn’t leading to
better results, save for a magical run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 in a
season in which it took a shootout in the final game of the regular season just
to make the playoffs. Hextall logically decided to peel the bandage off. The focus
became finding takers for bad contracts, even if it meant retaining salary,
accumulating draft picks and building up a legitimate core of prospects. It’s
difficult to do all of that, and also remain competitive. Naturally, the Flyers
missed the playoffs in 2014-15 and coach Craig Berube was let go.
This led to Hextall hiring Dave Hakstol out of the
University of North Dakota to stand behind the bench. It was an outside-the-box
hire but it was easy to see Hextall’s thought process. There was an obvious
emphasis placed on player development and getting younger, so why not bring in
a coach who dealt with young players on a regular basis given his experience
was in the college ranks? In a mild surprise, the Flyers returned to the
playoffs in 2015-16, Hakstol’s first year. But, the team was clearly outmatched
by the Washington Capitals and still in the middle of a transition.
The following season was as disappointing as 2015-16 was
surprising. In 2016-17, the Flyers became the first team in NHL history to win
10 games in a row and miss the playoffs. However, this ended up being a
blessing in disguise for the franchise as the team got some lottery luck after
the season and jumped up 11 spots in the 2017 NHL Draft order and ultimately
drafted Nolan Patrick second overall last year. With Patrick making the NHL
roster last fall, 2016 is now the only draft out of Hextall’s four as GM, that
at least one player does not have NHL experience. One of Hextall’s picks in
2016, was goalie Carter Hart in the second round. After two years in the WHL, Hart
will graduate from junior hockey and will likely be in the AHL with the Lehigh
Valley Phantoms come fall. Many believe he is the long-awaited answer to the
organization’s goaltending problems.
Even without Hart, who seems destined for Lehigh Valley
barring a miraculous training camp, the Flyers can take a step forward in
2018-19 with the right moves this summer. Thanks to Hextall’s wheeling and
dealing, the Flyers finally have some serious cap space to play with in the
offseason. Regardless of how good he drafts and develops talent, there will
almost certainly come a time when an outside acquisition will be necessary to push
the team into contention. One of several advantages to having prospects and draft picks is the flexibility to explore trades that would improve the NHL roster, since there's not going to be space for all the prospects anyway. After a 98-point season that saw the Flyers finish
third in the Metropolitan division behind only the two-time defending Stanley
Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins and regular season juggernaut Washington
Capitals, this summer would appear to be a good time to attempt to narrow the
gap.
Captain Claude Giroux just posted a 102-point season. Jakub
Voracek produced at a point per game level. These two players are some of the
veterans that have stuck around through Hextall’s rebuild and this season
proved they are not yet coming out of their primes after down seasons last
year. We haven’t seen Hextall as an aggressive executive looking to add to the
roster in an offseason or as a buyer at the trade deadline. For as warranted as
some of the concerns with Hakstol’s coaching ability can be, in three years,
the team has performed to expectations for the most part. In all three seasons
under Hakstol, the Flyers have been that borderline playoff team many pundits
expected them to be and they got in the playoffs in two of those three seasons.
All you had to do is watch the games this year to know that
the Flyers bottom six forward group was not good enough and they had no defensive
depth. Fixing one of both of those things will likely result in a step forward
next year regardless of who is in net. Hextall must now prove he knows the time
is right to improve the NHL roster and how successful he is at doing it will
determine if the Flyers can launch themselves into Stanley Cup contention.
