Its ridiculous to single out one GM for not drafting a guy that 24 teams passed on or every team passed on and say he was terrible for doing something every other GM did.
- MBFlyerfan

All I am saying is the poster has a point, that's it. You can't have it both ways. You can't state that Hextall is a great drafter and built up the organization the "right way" but then when you see the results state "well he is not the only one that missed on players". I get it, everyone misses on players. Things happen to players, hockey is a rough sport, its a crapshoot, I get it, believe me. But then lets not praise Hextall for being this great GM who built up the Flyers organization because right now, and I am only basing it on right now, his "players" are not that good compared to players that were drafted and developed by other teams in the same time period. He was not smarter than everyone else, and lets not even talk about his FA and contract signings ...

I see we’re revisiting the Patrick draft debate lmfao

That pairing has been real bad
- ClaudeFather

They need to insert Freidman. Not a hard choice. Gus need to take a seat. Ghost would never get this much leeway from the coach.

I see we’re revisiting the Patrick draft debate lmfao
- arichardson22

Lol it will never end

The ONLY chatter before the draft was who are we getting, Patrick or Hischier
- ClaudeFather

If you ask SMS, he had several players higher than Patrick on his board. He just never posted any of that here.

I believe him.

If Patrick remains healthy and plays up to his ability he will be better than both heiskanen and hischier.
- Tfaehner

He had some nice plays last night.

Does anyone know if NAK has a hearing today?

They need to insert Freidman. Not a hard choice. Gus need to take a seat. Ghost would never get this much leeway from the coach.
- Striiker

The lazy backhand pass in the middle of the ice directly to the best player on the other teams stick... have an idea of who you are out there with. When ghost comes back I hope we don’t see Gus for the rest of the year

His stock was NOT falling. He was the consensus top 2 pick on every draft board.
- MBFlyerfan

Well, in fairness that draft was originally labeled the "Nolan Patrick Draft" and then by draft day as you state he was the consensus 2 pick, which I don't totally agree with BTW. Even so, that constitutes falling right, from 1 to 2?

All I am saying is the poster has a point, that's it. You can't have it both ways. You can't state that Hextall is a great drafter and built up the organization the "right way" but then when you see the results state "well he is not the only one that missed on players". I get it, everyone misses on players. Things happen to players, hockey is a rough sport, its a crapshoot, I get it, believe me. But then lets not praise Hextall for being this great GM who built up the Flyers organization because right now, and I am only basing it on right now, his "players" are not that good compared to players that were drafted and developed by other teams in the same time period. He was not smarter than everyone else, and lets not even talk about his FA and contract signings ...
- jd250

Well, I see a current team that was one win away from going to the conference finals last season, with a starting lineup that is made up with 15 starters (17 if you count Coots and Ghost) who were drafted or developed by this team. 16 if you don't want to count JVR.

That's pretty good IMO.

Well, in fairness that draft was originally labeled the "Nolan Patrick Draft" and then by draft day as you state he was the consensus 2 pick, which I don't totally agree with BTW. Even so, that constitutes falling right, from 1 to 2?
- jd250

Hischier's meteoric rise had nothing to do with that.

Every person in here would have ripped Hexy a new ahole had he not chosen Patrick after lucking in to the 2nd pick. If you say otherwise you are a liar.

Hischier's meteoric rise had nothing to do with that.

Every person in here would have ripped Hexy a new ahole had he not chosen Patrick after lucking in to the 2nd pick. If you say otherwise you are a liar.
- MBFlyerfan

Absolutely. This is before the hayes signing and before laughtons break out. Center looked like a serious need.

The lazy backhand pass in the middle of the ice directly to the best player on the other teams stick... have an idea of who you are out there with. When ghost comes back I hope we don’t see Gus for the rest of the year
- ClaudeFather

Pretty simple what the coach needs to do once he is deemed fit to play. There is zero excuse not insert Ghost on that top pair. Braun is not nearly good enough and he is dragging his partner down. Insert both Ghost and Friedman. Braun and Freidman as the bottom pair. Gus and Hagg are not going to improve.

Pretty simple what the coach needs to do once he is deemed fit to play. There is zero excuse not insert Ghost on that top pair. Braun is not nearly good enough and he is dragging his partner down. Insert both Ghost and Friedman. Braun and Freidman as the bottom pair. Gus and Hagg are not going to improve.
- Striiker

Braun and Friedman scares me a bit, but so does Braun and Hagg. We really needed to get someone to plug in.

Braun and Friedman scares me a bit, but so does Braun and Hagg. We really needed to get someone to plug in.
- ClaudeFather

Yes it may not work out; I still try it. I think it will work better then the current 3rd pair.

To me signing both Braun and Hagg was didn't make any sense. I would have let both walk; or traded Haggs rights as always a dumb GM out there.

Yes it may not work out; I still try it. I think it will work better then the current 3rd pair.

To me signing both Braun and Hagg was didn't make any sense. I would have let both walk; or traded Haggs rights as always a dumb GM out there.
- Striiker

Hagg is better than hes played with gus. Personally I believe he had a lot of comfort in playing with braun who was rarely out of position, solid defense first defenseman. Gus is all over the place and hagg is dealing with constant 2 on 1s. I think hes panicking now with the puck and you can see it in his game. Id like to give friedman a shot or else why did you bring him back ?

I’d like to see Bunnaman inserted on the fourth line, Laughton moved up, and JVR scratched. And then we can use the fourth line as a fourth line rather than the top line defender. Jvr has brought absolutely nothing for two games straight, he doesn’t even go near the puck.

Tonight is a gutcheck game for them. They were thoroughly embarrassed last night. And with no practice and little turnaround time they only can fix what they think was the problem theoretically.

Lets see how they handle it. Will they wilt like they did in the bubble or come out crazy?
- MBFlyerfan

Even though I still believe us to be a really good team on the rise, they’re still a lot of questions. Especially on that defense.

When this season ends, I’d say good bye to Erik Gustafson and Shayne Gostisbehere. The Flyers don’t need defensemen like this, not while you have a Travis Sanheim or Phil Myers who are capable of generating offense from the blue line but somehow we have two of the same very flawed players.

Justin Braun, I didn’t get it in June of 2019 and I still don’t.

As for Robert Hagg, I wouldn’t trade him just to do so. I would attempt to get a tougher version of him who is better defensively. A guy who can hit hard, steady in his own end, and clear the paint. We all remember the mid season Andrew Alberts trade of 2008-09. He wasn’t ideal but at least the idea was there. I don’t know if there is a Sean O’Donnell, Jason Smith, Darrien Hatcher type out there, but I’d look around the league. Closest thing I can think of is Jake Muzzin. I think we need a guy like that but at a more reasonable contract.

Hagg is better than hes played with gus. Personally I believe he had a lot of comfort in playing with braun who was rarely out of position, solid defense first defenseman. Gus is all over the place and hagg is dealing with constant 2 on 1s. I think hes panicking now with the puck and you can see it in his game. Id like to give friedman a shot or else why did you bring him back ?
- Tfaehner

Braun/Hagg pairing was not good. The entire 3rd pair needs to be revamped. Once Ghost comes back one will be out of the lineup; or should be. There were better options on defense available in free agency than Braun and Hagg.

There is no harm in inserting Freidman for at least 1 game. Send the message early to your defenseman.

Braun/Hagg pairing was not good. The entire 3rd pair needs to be revamped. Once Ghost comes back one will be out of the lineup; or should be. There were better options on defense available in free agency than Braun and Hagg.

There is no harm in inserting Freidman for at least 1 game. Send the message early to your defenseman.
- Striiker

Hagg is better than hes played with gus. Personally I believe he had a lot of comfort in playing with braun who was rarely out of position, solid defense first defenseman. Gus is all over the place and hagg is dealing with constant 2 on 1s. I think hes panicking now with the puck and you can see it in his game. Id like to give friedman a shot or else why did you bring him back ?
- Tfaehner

While the season is still young. I have mixed feelings about Gus right now. Will give him more time. Instead of Gus though I do wish we signed a physical defender. Easier said I know.

The team struggled last night but Gus made some of the worst decisions. I’ll give it a little more time but think he may sit when ghost returns. Haag hasn’t looked terrible and has played his role.

While the season is still young. I have mixed feelings about Gus right now. Will give him more time. Instead of Gus though I do wish we signed a physical defender. Easier said I know.

The team struggled last night but Gus made some of the worst decisions. I’ll give it a little more time but think he may sit when ghost returns. Haag hasn’t looked terrible and has played his role.
- Peter Richards

I agree.

Ghost isn’t going to come in and magically fix everything. If anything Ghost will probably replace Gus. A real physical presence might be the only thing we’re missing. Kyle Clutterbuck and Matt Martin on that fourth line I felt made a difference for the Islanders on the fourth line against us. Andrew Lee I think might be the best power forward in the league right now.

Carolina Nashville postponed due to covid. Here we go..

I agree with you overall, I for one promised myself I was not going to overreact to yet another bad start to a season from this team, but the poster does make good points regarding Hextall and his drafting record. We thought of Hextall as a great drafter and organization builder, but he clearly missed the mark in a big way. Its one thing to miss on 2nd or 3rd rounder, but its another thing to not get your first round picks right, and not drafting Pastrnak and Makar are huge misses IMO. Now I know, no GM is perfect and many miss players, for example Braydon Point was drafted in the 3rd round, but this was supposed to be Hextall's MO, this strength, and honestly he missed way more than he hit. Things like this set a franchise back quite a bit. Look at Boston's 2015 draft, they had 3 first round picks in a row with players like Barzel, Connor and Chabot still on the board, and they whiffed on all 3 picks, and they paid the price by not winning another Championship given the strong team they have already. You can't miss on your number 1 picks, especially in the top half of the round. After that I agree its a crapshoot and I also agree some drafts are deeper than others.
- jd250

Like I said, 6-1 losses always bring out the crazies.

Yes it may not work out; I still try it. I think it will work better then the current 3rd pair.

To me signing both Braun and Hagg was didn't make any sense. I would have let both walk; or traded Haggs rights as always a dumb GM out there.
- Striiker

I love when posters make half a post. They tell you who they would let go of but not how they would replace them.

Hischier's meteoric rise had nothing to do with that.

Every person in here would have ripped Hexy a new ahole had he not chosen Patrick after lucking in to the 2nd pick. If you say otherwise you are a liar.
- MBFlyerfan

Lets not decompose into name calling. I think you have to do your due diligence and pick the right player. I personally believe Hextall spent too much time trying to figure out if Patrick's abdominal injury would derail him versus looking at the entire pool of top prospects and picking the best one available at number 2. Now this is a very easy thing to say, but I would have picked Kale Makar with that pick, only because he played hockey locally and I got to see him a lot, and he clearly stood out as the best player on the ice most nights, and he was playing against stiff competition in Hockey East. I would hope that Hextall's staff saw those games also, but alas it "appears" to me that they were looking at medical reports instead. Just my opinion, nothing more, I don't have inside people that will back that opinion up. Still I think its OK to day dream of a Flyers top D pairing of Provorov and Makar.