It was pretty clear Homer and Hexy differed quite a bit on player development. There needs to be common ground where taking a Dman like Sbisa and moving him to wing when he's 18 isn't the norm, but forcing top prospects to play 3 seasons in the AHL also isn't the norm
- PhillySportsGuy

Players decide with their play how fast they get to the NHL, not management.

What's the next part of the plan? Think about this. One of the things a team has to have to be a top team is a really good puck moving two way defense. How did they accomplish that in the past under Holmgren? They traded for and signed UFA players to build that defense. That's no longer feasible in today's NHL. Holmgren left the organization empty of prospects for the most part due to constantly trying to win now with the exception of Gostisbehere. The teams top two defenseman are struggling. Another big piece is Sanheim, who is essentially a rookie. He's not ready yet. Provorov is 21 and struggling. Not uncommon. It takes time to build that and it wasn't in place when Hextall got the job. He had to draft and develop. Is another GM going to come in an accelerate that? How by trading a player like Sanheim for an older player?
- MJL

I'm not talking about trading young guys to fill holes. I'm just saying outside of drafting well and developing prospects, his personnel management was poor. See my post above.

It was pretty clear Homer and Hexy differed quite a bit on player development. There needs to be common ground where taking a Dman like Sbisa and moving him to wing when he's 18 isn't the norm, but forcing top prospects to play 3 seasons in the AHL also isn't the norm
- PhillySportsGuy

Exactly. You can leave everybody down there forever if you're winning. When you're 10-11-2, you might wanna consider giving other people a look

here's my 2 cents

Also, his one good impactful free agent signing was what...JVR? Who wanted to come back. Accounting for goalies, coach hirings, and bottom 6 wingers, Hextall really never displayed any amount of personnel management knowhow outside of trading for draft picks and drafting well.
- feelingkettle

Hextall had the team with 13M in cap space. According to reports he made an offer to Taveras. I think most of the inaction was by choice rather than know how. He wasn't trying to hit home runs or trade or buy his way to a team.

I won't go as far as that but certainly Holmgren stepped down to bring on Hextall because he knew his method of team building was not the way of the future. They bailed on the commitment they made. We'll see what the future holds.
- MJL

We do not know what the timeline of the rebuild was. We don’t know if there were benchmarks hashed out along the period. One thing I will say is that the team Isnt playing better than when hak first got here. I don’t know if both Hexy and flyers management agreed that would be ok

I'm not talking about trading young guys to fill holes. I'm just saying outside of drafting well and developing prospects, his personnel management was poor. See my post above.
- feelingkettle

Well then what is the next step? Normally getting better and more established players to make the team better now involves trading quality assets or signing players to UFA deals. Hextall was brought in to change the team from that course.

Exactly. You can leave everybody down there forever if you're winning. When you're 10-11-2, you might wanna consider giving other people a look
- AllInForFlyers

Having players on your NHL roster on ELCs is also hugely important in the cap era. It's nice to be able to have contributors making $1M per season. That's one of the huge advantages of drafting and developing your own talent. It always irked me that he'd waste those cheap years playing these guys in the AHL.

I also believe that playing against stronger competition makes you a better player, so if a guy can compete in the NHL, then let him play in the NHL and he'll probably develop faster and start contributing at a younger age.

We do not know what the timeline of the rebuild was. We don’t know if there were benchmarks hashed out along the period. One thing I will say is that the team Isnt playing better than when hak first got here. I don’t know if both Hexy and flyers management agreed that would be ok
- Just5

The timeline is set by how fast the players advance. How fast player like Patrick, Konecny, Sanheim and Provorov develop at the NHL level. Followed by other young players such as Frost, Farabee, etc.

here's my 2 cents
- twiztedmike

Eat poop, Mike

Hextall had the team with 13M in cap space. According to reports he made an offer to Taveras. I think most of the inaction was by choice rather than know how. He wasn't trying to hit home runs or trade or buy his way to a team.
- MJL

Yeah, I'm not saying he was trying to hit home runs, and I wasn't expecting him to. Obviously he drafted well and managed the cap well. He did set this team up well for the future. But we are in year 4+ of his plan, and they have shown no progress as a team whatsoever.

I can handle losing as long as the effort is there. I don't think he hired the right coach, and I don't think he put together a team that gives his coach a shot at doing something decent.

I guess my point is, outside of the JVR signing, what did Hextall show about having a talent for putting a team together that made the best with what was available? Most of his signings were bad. He will need to sign vets eventually if hte plan works. He will need to hire a better coach. I just don't think he showed he was able or willing to do those things.

Having players on your NHL roster on ELCs is also hugely important in the cap era. It's nice to be able to have contributors making $1M per season. That's one of the huge advantages of drafting and developing your own talent. It always irked me that he'd waste those cheap years playing these guys in the AHL.

I also believe that playing against stronger competition makes you a better player, so if a guy can compete in the NHL, then let him play in the NHL and he'll probably develop faster and start contributing at a younger age.
- PhillySportsGuy

You can't elevate a player into a situation he's not ready for just to use a few ELC years. That's a sure way to ruin a player.

Well then what is the next step? Normally getting better and more established players to make the team better now involves trading quality assets or signing players to UFA deals. Hextall was brought in to change the team from that course.
- MJL

I think the next step for me would be having a playoff bubble team that has an identity as a hard working team and might not be able to out talent teams, but at least work hard to get something going. I guess outside of developing prospects, I wanted the team to at least have some kind of growth.

I guess if you take the PK as an example, and as kind of a symbol of the larger team problem. Nothing has improved there in years.

Pierre McGuire reports the philosophical differences between #Flyers management and Hextall were that Ron didn't deviate from the rebuild enough. People in the organization wanted to see Hart up in the past. PHI has lost millions in ticket revenue recently.
- arichardson22

This was quoted from Flyers Feed, I highly doubt Pierre was reporting this.

Yeah, I'm not saying he was trying to hit home runs, and I wasn't expecting him to. Obviously he drafted well and managed the cap well. He did set this team up well for the future. But we are in year 4+ of his plan, and they have shown no progress as a team whatsoever.

I can handle losing as long as the effort is there. I don't think he hired the right coach, and I don't think he put together a team that gives his coach a shot at doing something decent.

I guess my point is, outside of the JVR signing, what did Hextall show about having a talent for putting a team together that made the best with what was available? Most of his signings were bad. He will need to sign vets eventually if hte plan works. He will need to hire a better coach. I just don't think he showed he was able or willing to do those things.
- feelingkettle

Well last season they improved by 10 points and finished 3rd in the Metro. This season they've obviously regressed. I'm disgusted by the effort this team gives out on some nights also but I put that on the veteran leadership.

This was quoted from Flyers Feed, I highly doubt Pierre was reporting this.
- Doctor DOOM

Think he actually said it on Sirius XM, tho

I think the next step for me would be having a playoff bubble team that has an identity as a hard working team and might not be able to out talent teams, but at least work hard to get something going. I guess outside of developing prospects, I wanted the team to at least have some kind of growth.

I guess if you take the PK as an example, and as kind of a symbol of the larger team problem. Nothing has improved there in years.
- feelingkettle

I agree with that. You don't have to be a top talented team to play a consistent team game. The individual errors this team makes on a regular basis is astounding.

Yeah, I'm not saying he was trying to hit home runs, and I wasn't expecting him to. Obviously he drafted well and managed the cap well. He did set this team up well for the future. But we are in year 4+ of his plan, and they have shown no progress as a team whatsoever.

I can handle losing as long as the effort is there. I don't think he hired the right coach, and I don't think he put together a team that gives his coach a shot at doing something decent.

I guess my point is, outside of the JVR signing, what did Hextall show about having a talent for putting a team together that made the best with what was available? Most of his signings were bad. He will need to sign vets eventually if hte plan works. He will need to hire a better coach. I just don't think he showed he was able or willing to do those things.
- feelingkettle

Your posts are pretty dead on. There were specific roles to fill on this team over the years that every summer ufa’s are available. He never showed a knack for being able to competently fill these stop gap roles on short term deals. In other words he’s been terrible in ufa

Well last season they improved by 10 points and finished 3rd in the Metro. This season they've obviously regressed. I'm disgusted by the effort this team gives out on some nights also but I put that on the veteran leadership.
- MJL

Did they regress this year or overachieve a bit last year?

Well last season they improved by 10 points and finished 3rd in the Metro. This season they've obviously regressed. I'm disgusted by the effort this team gives out on some nights also but I put that on the veteran leadership.
- MJL

I think under Hextall's tenure, they've been consistently inconsistent. And I agree they've regressed this year. I would put the effort on both the players and the coach, but we won't agree on that front.

I think the issue here is this: the players have failed the coach. The coach has failed the players. The GM has failed the coach and players in who he signed - not even talking about the young kids.

Prospects are gonna have ups and downs, of course. Which is why you need to put them in a structure and culture that doesn't destroy their confidence. Seems like that's happening this season.

Did they regress this year or overachieve a bit last year?
- nails

I don't think they overachieved last year. This team should be much better this year than it is.

I'm frustrated because I can see the talent, as compared with other teams.

Yeah, they have some holes. Some obvious holes. But so do other teams.

I am not going completely to the well of "they didn't work hard enough," but some nights they didn't. They just didn't. They haven't been blasted with back-to-backs this season so far, and some of their efforts have been nothing short of horrific

Combine that with a PK so bad I almost can't fathom it and injuries to goaltenders who haven't been good enough as a whole, this has been the most frustrating quarter for the Flyers since 2006-07, to me

Well the nice thing is they have some vets with value, prospects with value and cap room heading into the off season. Within reason they should really be able to land 1 or 2 guys that they really want to build around moving forward.

I think under Hextall's tenure, they've been consistently inconsistent. And I agree they've regressed this year. I would put the effort on both the players and the coach, but we won't agree on that front.

I think the issue here is this: the players have failed the coach. The coach has failed the players. The GM has failed the coach and players in who he signed - not even talking about the young kids.

Prospects are gonna have ups and downs, of course. Which is why you need to put them in a structure and culture that doesn't destroy their confidence. Seems like that's happening this season.
- feelingkettle

That's a good point. The team environment on the ice is not conducive to young players developing. Hard to expect young players to do what veterans won't do.

I'm frustrated because I can see the talent, as compared with other teams.

Yeah, they have some holes. Some obvious holes. But so do other teams.

I am not going completely to the well of "they didn't work hard enough," but some nights they didn't. They just didn't. They haven't been blasted with back-to-backs this season so far, and some of their efforts have been nothing short of horrific

Combine that with a PK so bad I almost can't fathom it and injuries to goaltenders who haven't been good enough as a whole, this has been the most frustrating quarter for the Flyers since 2006-07, to me
- AllInForFlyers

I really just think it comes down to players that didn't really mesh well together or mesh with the coaching scheme.