The hockey world was shocked today by the Flyers moving on from Ron Hextall. Hexy had done a solid job building a great foundation when it came to prospects, but when it came to addressing team needs there were some real issues...
1. Obviously Hextall's allegiance to Dave Hakstol played largely into this decision...Paul Holmgren never said he had any issues with the drafting or developing of players...that points right to the team itself...the coach is one part of that.
2. The other part of that was the players on the team and the biggest issue was the goaltending...which was both on Hextall and Hakstol...who were trying to somehow get enough out of historically injury laden goalies until Carter Hart could make the leap.
3. The JvR vs. Wayne Simmonds issue...The Flyers put a lot of money into JvR, despite having Wayne Simmonds, essentially the same player, already on the team, in need of a new contract, and a great leader in the room.
Who will be the next guy?
This comes down to direction...Will the Flyers look Old School or New School? Most teams take their time interviewing potential GMs..This is a much larger decision than a coaching change...which is why GMs are generally not fired in the regular season...unless the only way to make coaching change is to change the GM...
Old School: Lombardi or Fletcher?
There is a ton of speculation that Dean Lombardi, already working for the Flyers, could be the guy...possibly as an interim GM announced as early as tomorrow...Fletcher, most recently with Minnesota, also has a huge amount of respect throughout the NHL.
New School: Bill Zito or Mark Hunter?
Among those in the know in the league, Columbus Assistant GM Bill Zito and former Leafs Assistant Mark Hunter are the two "red hot" young GMs who are going to land big jobs and will have huge success somewhere soon...Zito was close to landing the spot in Buffalo and Minnesota. He is Kimmo Timonen's former agent as well. One source told me, "Not since Ray Shero have there been such high potential as there is with Zito and Hunter."
What say you?
Who do you feel should the Flyers next GM?
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— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) August 2, 2017