It was also mentioned at the time that Hexy didn't appreciate Hartsy being a wisecracking dumbass too, so it was definitely part of the trade calculus.
- Tomahawk

This is an example of what Hexy needed to learn as a GM. It’s not about building a team w 20 of the same player.

Name vets you can get please as you like to throw that out to other posters when they suggest something.
- hello it's me 2050

There are probably 20-30 players that fit that "physical play" requirement. Most are third pair guys. Most won't be paid $6+ mil a year for that single attribute.

Boss Comcast (Brian Roberts) personally tapped him for the job. They actually pulled Scott out of early retirement... with the plan to groom him to run the Flyers.

Snider was fighting cancer and he only had a minority stake in Comcast-Spectacor, so I'm guessing he didn't really have much of a say. I'm sure he already knew Scott, tho.

Source: http://www.comcastspectac...all-in-as-the-flyers-boss
- Tomahawk

Thanks.

This all sounds vaguely familiar to me, like I intentionally blocked it all out of my mind to keep it from spinning. I'm more of an front-end product guy, not the back-end corporate workings/politics behind it.

It was also mentioned at the time that Hexy didn't appreciate Hartsy being a wisecracking dumbass too, so it was definitely part of the trade calculus.
- Tomahawk

Pretty sure Hartnell had a no trade at the time. I think it was pretty telling what the players thought of the hextall regime that he would waive it to go to Columbus.

Flyers need somebody capable of stepping up if Ellis is hurt. RR has proved this season that he's not capable of that. I can't believe Chuck is still hung up on RRs physical impact when he's been on the ice for so many breakdowns and goals against.

And in hindsight, Flyers should have hung on to Gudas. He's playing almost 19mins per night with one of the best teams in the league, at an AAV of $2.5M. A few good months of Niskanen was nice, but ultimately they gave up another effective player to go chasing after unicorns.
- Tomahawk

Gudas is easily the better player over Ristolainen. It's becoming more and more comical every day that Fletcher gave up what he did for Ristolainen. The fact that he want's to re-sign him further proves the incompetence.

Couldn't the Flyers kind of do what the Avs did in their retool/rebuild. The Avs moved guys like Duchense and O'Reilly. Built around Mackinnon, landeskog, Ratannen and johnson and then drafted Maker.

I am not saying the Flyers are in the exact position but they could kind of follow that blueprint.

You get a high pick this year and get someone like Wright, Savoie, Geekie or Lambert. You move Giroux for a 1st rounder and close prospect. You move Risto if he wants test the market. You try to find a place for JVR. I think you look at Konecny and see what he brings in.

It seems like fantasy hockey but I think you can you to do this to retool/rebuild your team for next year. I know they said they want it done for next year but maybe it takes 2 or 3 years.

I don't know. I am just a armchair gm
- J35Bacher

I think that Duchene trade turned into Makar didn't it. That doesn't happen very often. I wouldnt say you can count on repeating that kind of scenario

Flyers need somebody capable of stepping up if Ellis is hurt. RR has proved this season that he's not capable of that. I can't believe Chuck is still hung up on RRs physical impact when he's been on the ice for so many breakdowns and goals against.

And in hindsight, Flyers should have hung on to Gudas. He's playing almost 19mins per night with one of the best teams in the league, at an AAV of $2.5M. A few good months of Niskanen was nice, but ultimately they gave up another effective player to go chasing after unicorns.
- Tomahawk

Gudas had his own issues in his last year here as well. He looks a hell of a lot better then he did here, but who wouldn’t when you consider the roster break down. Look at Montreals, d last year…the reason in my view why they went to the cup. Big, physical, mobile guys. The one thing I agreed with yesterdays presser was that the team is still not hard to play against…guys like Risto are the answer not the problem.

The blind ignorance this organization showed at that press conference is tough to stomach. Imagine thinking a crew of coots Hayes and Ellis as your long term core pieces is a good one? All over or about to be 30 and seriously injured. The writing was on the wall and clearly no one could comprehend it.

Pretty sure Hartnell had a no trade at the time. I think it was pretty telling what the players thought of the hextall regime that he would waive it to go to Columbus.
- bradster

That trade looks as stupid today as it did back then.

Well this is where we disagree. He is not a solid top 4 guy to me. I fully expect the GM to overpay if he resigns him. Part of me cant wait to be honest.

You do not win or contend with RR being a key member of your D unit imo.
- hello it's me 2050

I don't agree. But I do think you need a strong top 3 to deploy him effectively as the 4.

Hexy -- whom I like, respect and do not believe should be thrown under the bus -- had strengths and weaknesses as a GM. He also is three years removed.

That being said, Hexy didn't do as well at cap management as some say he did.

The Hartnell-for-Umberger trade really saved almost nothing on the cap for two years, and while Hartnell still had two 20-goal and 50-60 point seasons left in him, RJ was no longer effective and ended up being bought out, spreading the remaining cap residuals over two years. That one didn't work out.

Dale Weise at four years for a $2.35M cap hit didn't work out, on or off the ice.

The Andrew MacDonald contract was a) the first major contract negotiated by Hexy (still the assistant GM at the time officially but already chosen behind the scenes as next GM, and empowered to be the one to negotiate it), and b) MacDonald's open-market value that offseason. Detroit, for one, was prepared to offer almost an identical contract if MacDonald had made it to UFA status. Yes, Holmgren was on board with it and still the GM, but Hexy and Homer were in lockstep on this particular deal. Can't blame one and absolve the other.

It was Hexy who negotiated Jakub Voracek's monster extension. But keep in mind that Voracek had just been in the Art Ross Trophy race (leading it, in fact, for several weeks around midseason) leading up to it. Timing matters a lot on contracts. Also, while Voracek may not have been among the absolute elites of the NHL over the bulk of his Flyers years, he was still a good player.

Hexy's timetable to emerge from the "farm system restock" phase to trying to accelerate the push from being a bubble playoff team to a Cup contender had 2018-19 as the key year to take that step. The team was coming off a 98-point season and had blown a big Game 6 lead against Pittsburgh with a Game 7 within reach. The decision to sign JVR was Hexy's. It made sense at the time -- JVR was coming off his career-best year in Toronto, had been a Flyer before, the team needed a goal-scoring winger and it cost no assets to bring him in. The signing in and of itself hasn't been a disaster, but it hasn't really ever worked out as hoped.

Hexy's biggest mistake that offseason, though, was banking on Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth to get healthy. The result was the goalie carousel of 2018-19, and it really hastened the end of both Hexy and Hak.

Draft-wise, I don't want to rehash Patrick in 2017 or the 2014 Draft. In 2014, let us not forget that Hexy was prepared to make a push for the top overall pick and taking Ekblad and it was Florida who got cold feet. As for Sanheim vs Pastrnak, well, there were reasons at the time why Pastrnak was still on the board until 11 spots after the Flyers took Sanheim. There's nothing wrong with drafting a defenseman with all the tools that Sanheim had, nor has it been an unsuccesful pick. He's been a double rather than a home run. It happens.

As far as overruling scouts goes, that's a GMs prerogative. In 2011, the Flyers' scouts' consensus leaned toward Jonas Brodin. Paul Holmgren, having just traded Mike Richards and Jeff Carter for the 8th overall pick, said at the final predraft meeting "We need to rethink this." The scouts weighed in again. This time, they elevated Couturier a spot or two and, lo and behold, Homer picked Couturier.

No one has ever second-guessed it because it worked out fine (although Brodin has been a very good defenseman for Minnesota, albeit not a big point producer). Really, though, it wasn't all that different than Hexy leapfrogging the consensus that Heiskanen/Makar were better available prospects at No. 2 than they consensus felt Patrick would be. And there was plenty of justification for taking Patrick. That one just didn't work out. The biggest difference was, with Couturier, the scouts weighed in again (albeit with some arm-twisting) and got on board whereas the Patrick pick was apparently Hexy/Sarge going with Ron's gut feeling on the pick.

That's all back-story, however. There's a different decision-making chain now, a different GM and a mixed track record so far (jury is still out on the 2019 to 2021 drafts, so I'm referring only to NHL-level moves). Cap-wise, Chuck has been bold and spent to the cap ceiling, but Ron would likely have done the same by 2019-20 himself. Maybe not on the same players. Who knows?

What matters now is what the next steps will be. I am a believer in "judge by what they do, not by what they say".
- bmeltzer

Bill, thanks for posting this long explanation, full of little details, but are you saying that Dave Scott has no say whatsoever, implicitly or explicitly, in the hockey trajectory of the Flyers? If so, that defies logic.

Dave Scott is a highly, highly successful businessman and who was brought out of retirement by arguably the most powerful man in Philadelphia to run a sports empire in North America which is largely marketing and arena revenue based.

Notice when he piped in yesterday - to clarify how long the rebuild/retool would take (not long at all, he said emphatically). To me, that's like a restaurant owner rushing in to put commercial guardrails on the dreams of the chef.

An analysis of the hockey strategy of the Flyers cannot be done without factoring in what role this influence plays. If there is no role, and Hextall believed he coud truly contend in 4 years after picking middle of the round, he is/was a moron.

Bill just broke down the Hartnell move at great length. According to Bill it was not just a cap move. I’m gonna go w Bill.
- Joe Nardone

The very fact that Hextall traded who even the most casual of fan knew was easily the better player. Plus the fact of the difference in term. As well as the fact that Hartnell, as easily predicted was bought out and was still on Columbus cap until this season. Easily points out factually that the move was predominantly a cap move. I'm sure there were some other factors but if the cap issue was not present, I doubt that Hextall would've moved him due to those far secondary issues.

It was also mentioned at the time that Hexy didn't appreciate Hartsy being a wisecracking dumbass too, so it was definitely part of the trade calculus.
- Tomahawk

I'm sure but take away the cap implications. Does Hextall make that trade based on that? Doubtful.

Gudas is easily the better player over Ristolainen. It's becoming more and more comical every day that Fletcher gave up what he did for Ristolainen. The fact that he want's to re-sign him further proves the incompetence.
- MJL

Doubling down on stupid is just the Flyers way.

And Gudas would have been perfect with Sanheim, York, Zamula, whoever. Forsling's really blossomed with him.

The Hextall defending is really getting old, the guy sucked, it’s in the past, can we just leave it at that?
- ClaudeFather

What gets old is the hyperbole and inaccuracies. He didn't suck. Give a fair and accurate analysis. Can you leave it at that?

I think that Duchene trade turned into Makar didn't it. That doesn't happen very often. I wouldnt say you can count on repeating that kind of scenario
- bradster

Not saying exactly but I think you can follow the blueprint.

I don't agree. But I do think you need a strong top 3 to deploy him effectively as the 4.
- bmeltzer

Risto is for sure a player built for the playoffs. Playoff hockey is totally different than regular season hockey. One of the reasons Montreal did so well last year.

This is an example of what Hexy needed to learn as a GM. It’s not about building a team w 20 of the same player.
- Joe Nardone

This comment makes zero sense.

Q: Did you bring injured players back too soon? Are you investigating your medical staff? It looks bad on the outside.

CF Answer: Um, you know, there's been a little bit of bad luck, I guess.

All Chuckles has to do is get a rabbit's foot, pick a 4 leaf clover, and throw a penny in a wishing well and that problem is solved.


This guy couldn't be a bigger clown if he worked for Ringling Brothers.
- PLindbergh31

What does right now have to do with Chuck Fletcher? We should be focusing on Ron Hextall and his mistakes.

I know it’s early for some of these guys but as of yet none are hitting their ceiling. Since most top of the roster skaters spend little to no time in the AHL (you wrote a multi part series on it years ago before the cap was even in place I think), the development excuse is a canard. The vast majority of top 6 forwards and top 4 defensemen are being developed outside of the team. There is something wrong with the amateur scouting that they can’t recognize special talent and it’s killing this organization. Giroux was drafted in 2006. There’s a big problem that the best flyers players were drafted when Holmgren was either assistant GM or GM. Are there any changes coming to the amateur scouts?
- psuhockey

I think they made some change over the years. But Fletcher pointed out yesterday that he loves his scouting staff for what it’s worth.

That trade looks as stupid today as it did back then.
- landros 2

It was a good trade to me. Not only did he shed salary, that move single-handedly probably improved our drafting position 5 places for a span of 3 years each.

I think they made some change over the years. But Fletcher pointed out yesterday that he loves his scouting staff for what it’s worth.
- landros 2

Which isn’t much

Risto is for sure a player built for the playoffs. Playoff hockey is totally different than regular season hockey. One of the reasons Montreal did so well last year.
- bradster

Which isn’t much
- SuperSchennBros

Not disagreeing.

Risto is for sure a player built for the playoffs. Playoff hockey is totally different than regular season hockey. One of the reasons Montreal did so well last year.
- bradster

Funny, my feeling is exactly the opposite. He is built for putting on a show for the regular season. His severe tactical shortcomings makes him too high a risk for contending teams.

I hope we get to find out who is right soon.