Philadelphia Flyers: Ron Hextall Made Correct Move With Prospects

For the second year in a row Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall decided to take a patient approach with his prospects by sending former first round picks Samuel Morin, Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny back to their respective junior teams or AHL affiliate.

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And for the second year in a row, Hextall did the right thing.

The Flyers have a history of rushing some prospects all the way back from Dainus Zubrus to Justin Williams to Luca Sbisa. Of course, some of those players turned out to have excellent careers while others never reached the potential that was envisioned for them.

First-round pick Travis Konecny was sent back to his junior team, the Ottawa 67’s, by Ron Hextall, despite a strong training camp from the 18-year-old. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

But Hextall won’t have Flyers fans concerned over that with the current group of prospects. Instead of rushing them into the big leagues, the former Flyers netminder and his executives are allowing the top prospects to develop at their own pace in a league more suitable for them.

But there are always critics and some Flyers fans are upset that Hextall decided to send the promising youngsters back, especially with Konecny, who had a strong two exhibition games and drew comparisons to Tampa Bay Lightning star Travis Johnson:

"“He’s fast. He’s turning one way, turning the other way. I don’t know him that much, but on that one shift, I was just kind of watching him, mesmerized by what he was doing. Nobody could catch up. Kind of like (Tyler) Johnson in Tampa. He reminds me of him a little bit.”-Vincent Lecavalier, FOXSports.com"

There are two things to keep in mind when dealing with issues like these this season: 1) It’s just preseason and 2) The Flyers aren’t cup contenders and these young players won’t make them one.

Preseason is a time for obscure players to shine. Former Flyer Jon Sim led the preseason in scoring before the 2005-06 season, then went on to score 14 points in 39 games before being traded for a sixth-round pick.

Is Travis Konecny a Jon Sim? No, not in any way, but it’s an example on how preseason hockey, playing against NHL bubble players, AHLers and Junior hopefuls trying to make a name for themselves isn’t the same as a regular season game.

Flyers fans should be excited about Konecny and the other prospects, but two exhibition games and a strong week of training camp shouldn’t indicate if an 18 year old is ready for the big leagues or not.

The other reason is the Flyers are not a top-echelon team. Right now, they’re a playoff bubble team, so rushing a prospect to be on a team that may struggle a bit is not worth it.

None of the prospects will make Philly into a playoff contender and if the team and the player struggles it may mess with the prospect’s confidence. Instead the 18 to 19 year old could be playing in juniors having a career year and working toward a promising career in the NHL.

Shayne Gostisbehere, Robert Hagg, Scott Laughton and Nick Cousins are the only top prospects left at the Flyers camp. Chances are Gostisbehere and Hagg will be sent back soon, while Laughton and/or Cousins, who are both older prospects, could crack the lineup.

But if they don’t, they’ll be sent back to the AHL and Hextall will have made another correct move.

Next: Prospect Round-up for 9/24

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