Man I agree with all of this!
Nisky retiring left a void and it's not an easy one to fill, especially with a flat cap
His previous additions of pitlick and Braun and nisky were low key but had tremendous effects on this team!
I think CF is going to surprise and impress all of us this off-season.
I hope you are all ready for the craziness that's coming this off-season.
I know that I am!
- Bob Habib

This is not a knock on fletch by any means but nisky was a decent move. Him retiring I don’t think was reason team ranked this year. Nisky played like poop in playoffs 2 years ago. Ran out of gas. It is what it is. The bruan move I hated and still hate. Player just doesn’t do it for me to move draft capital like they did. 2nd/3rd too much IMO but debatable I gues. Pitlick move I liked. Which made me hate it more that we let him leave? And now want what he brings? None of these on the whole make me confident or negative toward fletch so far. I look at these as deals to tweak roster that need to be made almost on a yearly basis and decisions geared toward a grand plan. These next few weeks should and better start to paint a picture or it will clearly tell everyone status quo

That defense is pretty horrible. There is depth with the forwards but the core guys are aging. And to be honest the goaltender is a question mark at this point. I’d say we are right around average.
- ClaudeFather

I think if the team plays as it is capable of, they're a playoff team. Of course that could also mean they're average if they go back to the original alignment.

$$$$
- Stayin alive

A supposed better team can also offer money.

Agree with everything you said. I just can’t stand the constant negativity like oh we’ll never get x player or y player bc we are such a poop franchise yada yada we have morons running this team. And it’s not just here on this site. It’s on Any social media platform or in article comments. Maybe it’s just the long off season that’s causing this but I don’t think Fletcher deserves this heat. If anything he actually has the least ties to our core and could be the one to flip the team (who knows). Hold judgment on Chuck after this offseason/season IMO. Year 3 (not counting when he took over for Ron) is usually a good indicator.
- arichardson22

I'm on your side on this but I can also see why it's like that. When you look comparatively with talent, last year for me was the worst season I ever experienced as a Flyers fan. It was that frustrating. That were that bad for a team that didn't lack talent. It all went sideways but I view last year as an outlier for a variety of reasons and causes. I think even without making a move, not saying they shouldn't make a move, they will be much better. We'll see what they do in the next few weeks.

The guy has a track record of mediocrity at best
- corduroy

His decade long tenure in Minnesota needs a spit polish to be deemed mediocre.

This is exactly what I was saying last year. The mechanism is different, but the end result is the same and Kraken has priority dibs.

But people kept insisting UFAs don't need to be protected. 😭
- PT21

They don't need to be protected. Seattle cannot draft a UFA. They can only try and negotiate.

I'm on your side on this but I can also see why it's like that. When you look comparatively with talent, last year for me was the worst season I ever experienced as a Flyers fan. It was that frustrating. That were that bad for a team that didn't lack talent. It all went sideways but I view last year as an outlier for a variety of reasons and causes. I think even without making a move, not saying they shouldn't make a move, they will be much better. We'll see what they do in the next few weeks.
- MJL

I 100% am with you on this top to bottom. And last season was just as frustrating for me for the same exact reason: we should have never taken that big of a step back with our team (on paper). Your last point on not making a move is why I hesitate on trading a guy like Jake. I think that can potentially create a bigger hole for us vs bouncing back.

I think you can find a point in most current (or ex) GMs that had a state of mediocrity. I don’t disagree with you, but GMs can learn from mistakes.
- arichardson22

cf's mediocrity is not a point, it is his career, sure they can learn -- but do they? cf has not shown me that he is anything but mediocre in his two years as the Flyers GM. The signing of Gustafsson last season and the 2-year extension of Braun pretty much erases the good of the Niskanen trade

Wild are buying out Suter and Parise per Michael Russo.

WOW! What a waste those two turned out to be.

$14mil in dead cap space between the two in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. Ouch

I 100% am with you on this top to bottom. And last season was just as frustrating for me for the same exact reason: we should have never taken that big of a step back with our team (on paper). Your last point on not making a move is why I hesitate on trading a guy like Jake. I think that can potentially create a bigger hole for us vs bouncing back.
- arichardson22

As far as Voracek is concerned, I'm not in the camp to move him just to move him. He is still a productive point producer and losing that would hurt. We have some young forwards moving up that I think have a chance to be pretty good but that will take time. My issues with Voracek is that he is a good offensive player but not a good overall player. I hate that he doesn't shoot the puck enough and when he does, he often "passes" the puck to the net instead of ripping it. I also think they would be better having a shooter of the half wall opposite of Giroux on the PP.

Oh…that’s nice of you to say.

Everyone here should expect improvement up and down the roster, even without adding to the roster. Patrick cannot play any worse than he did. Konency had a down season. We haven’t seen full seasons from Tylson Foerster, Wade Wilson or Morgan Frost. With much improvements in the medical field to counteract Covid, you shouldn’t see long stretches of key players sitting this coming season, which in my opinion hurt any chance we had of recovering when 5 key players were asked to quarantine.

If there isn’t a sense of faith or belief in what we already have, why would a big time player come here?
- SuperSchennBros

I’m not worried about the forwards, it’s the defense, that group as of now is very weak.

Wild are buying out Suter and Parise per Michael Russo.

WOW! What a waste those two turned out to be.
- mickel25

Chuck Fletcher begins to salivate...

They don't need to be protected. Seattle cannot draft a UFA. They can only try and negotiate.
- MJL

Lol he can’t sign anywhere else, we drafted him!!

cf's mediocrity is not a point, it is his career, sure they can learn -- but do they? cf has not shown me that he is anything but mediocre in his two years as the Flyers GM. The signing of Gustafsson last season and the 2-year extension of Braun pretty much erases the good of the Niskanen trade
- corduroy

signing chris Stewart

Chuck Fletcher begins to salivate...
- Tomahawk

As far as Voracek is concerned, I'm not in the camp to move him just to move him. He is still a productive point producer and losing that would hurt. We have some young forwards moving up that I think have a chance to be pretty good but that will take time. My issues with Voracek is that he is a good offensive player but not a good overall player. I hate that he doesn't shoot the puck enough and when he does, he often "passes" the puck to the net instead of ripping it. I also think they would be better having a shooter of the half wall opposite of Giroux on the PP.
- MJL

I think we need a change of culture here, and that alone is a reason to move on from Jake. To me it doesn't matter if he still puts up some points. After last year, constant blow outs, Oskar having to do his own fighting, Scotty getting dumped on his head. No response from anyone. It wasn't just how bad they were playing, but them just mailing it on and not even competing. Need roster changes regardless of how good people think jake is offensively

As far as Voracek is concerned, I'm not in the camp to move him just to move him. He is still a productive point producer and losing that would hurt. We have some young forwards moving up that I think have a chance to be pretty good but that will take time. My issues with Voracek is that he is a good offensive player but not a good overall player. I hate that he doesn't shoot the puck enough and when he does, he often "passes" the puck to the net instead of ripping it. I also think they would be better having a shooter of the half wall opposite of Giroux on the PP.
- MJL

Can you become a better team by removing Jake an his points then insert another player who offers a different skill set who wont put up as many points? Yes or no.

As far as Voracek is concerned, I'm not in the camp to move him just to move him. He is still a productive point producer and losing that would hurt. We have some young forwards moving up that I think have a chance to be pretty good but that will take time. My issues with Voracek is that he is a good offensive player but not a good overall player. I hate that he doesn't shoot the puck enough and when he does, he often "passes" the puck to the net instead of ripping it. I also think they would be better having a shooter of the half wall opposite of Giroux on the PP.
- MJL

My biggest concern with moving Jake is slotting younger forwards in his spot (or just up in general) that can’t be relied on just yet. We saw this last year with a few of our young guys both on offense and defense. I’d love to see Jake go back to his more rounded play from 19-20.

Can you become a better team by removing Jake an his points then insert another player who offers a different skill set who wont put up as many points? Yes or no.
- hello it's me 2050

100%

I’m not worried about the forwards, it’s the defense, that group as of now is very weak.
- ClaudeFather

I’m the opposite. If we find something that compliments Provorov well, we’re good. There isn’t much down there middle beyond Sean Couturier.

My biggest concern with moving Jake is slotting younger forwards in his spot (or just up in general) that can’t be relied on just yet. We saw this last year with a few of our young guys both on offense and defense. I’d love to see Jake go back to his more rounded play from 19-20.
- arichardson22

i'm fine with getting rid of voracek's cap hit somehow as long as they can find a way to upgrade the defense.

100%
- bradster

Baffles me people cant or wont see this possibility.

Man I agree with all of this!
Nisky retiring left a void and it's not an easy one to fill, especially with a flat cap
His previous additions of pitlick and Braun and nisky were low key but had tremendous effects on this team!
I think CF is going to surprise and impress all of us this off-season.
I hope you are all ready for the craziness that's coming this off-season.
I know that I am!
- Bob Habib

I hope you are correct….let’s hope Fletch can get this team headed in the right direction.

Chuck Fletcher begins to salivate...
- Tomahawk

The times they aren’t a changin’

I'm on your side on this but I can also see why it's like that. When you look comparatively with talent, last year for me was the worst season I ever experienced as a Flyers fan. It was that frustrating. That were that bad for a team that didn't lack talent. It all went sideways but I view last year as an outlier for a variety of reasons and causes. I think even without making a move, not saying they shouldn't make a move, they will be much better. We'll see what they do in the next few weeks.
- MJL

Last season was so bad it was almost comical watching game by game, but I don't agree that even if the Flyers did nothing they would be much better than last year. I guess better maybe in terms of not having a month like March, because they would have practice time and hopefully is immune to Covid now. However this team as currently constituted is not a playoff team in this division; they are not better right now than Washington, Pittsburgh, Boston, Islanders, and even the Rangers. This team needs significant upgrades in speed, skill, leadership and toughness to become a playoff team and have a chance to get out of their division. Fletcher has got to make big changes this off season if we are to have any hope of a much improved team next season.