The Flyers loss against Ottawa shows that Ron Hextall wasn't only problem

There’s no doubt that the Philadelphia Flyers have been a bad hockey team this season and though the organization has relieved Ron Hextall of his duties as General Manager, more changes need to be done.

The Flyers dropped Tuesday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators 4-3 after a disastrous third period collapse. It was the team’s first game since Ron Hextall was fired and although the move to let him go was the correct one, the frustrating loss proved that there is a lot more that has to be done to this team.

I think it’s a safe bet to say that Dave Hakstol will not be the coach much longer, but based off of Flyers president Paul Holmgren’s comments, that won’t happen until the team hires a new general manager who will ultimately have the final say. Hakstol has been a mess since taking over as the Flyers head coach. The team has never been consistently good and while division rivals like the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins have won Stanley Cups, the Flyers have struggled to even make the playoffs let alone compete in them.

When a team isn’t winning, no matter how poor players are playing, it has to come back on the coach and because the Flyers aren’t playing well, Dave Hakstol’s time should be coming to an end.

Then there is a question of talent on this team. The players just simply haven’t been good enough with guys like Jake Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Shayne Gostisbehere, and more just disappearing. Voracek’s comments after Tuesday night’s loss were extremely concerning, saying that the team “kind of got scared” following the Senators’ second goal. My only question here is, how is a professional hockey team scared at home playing against one of the worst teams in the NHL?

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If they really were scared, then the problem runs even deeper than talent. The problem could be that the coach just isn’t a leader and hasn’t prepared the team for moments like what they faced against Ottawa. Nonetheless, the morale of this team is poor right now and the chemistry just doesn’t seem to be there and that comes back on the coach. A trade isn’t necessarily out of the question, but it isn’t going to solve all of the team’s problems. I think they are stuck with what they got right now and a coaching change may be the only option at the moment.

If they do want to be active in the trade market, I certainly think the Flyers will be sellers more than they are buyers. Guys like Simmonds and Voracek could help a team who is close to being a Stanley Cup contender take that extra step, but it will take another team inquiring along with those guys performing better for a trade to happen.

However, if the Flyers feel as though they want to make a trade for someone, they have the assets. In addition to the draft picks they have, the Flyers have a lot of young talent on the team as well as in the AHL and elsewhere who could be used to acquire a player. If the Flyers do plan on making a trade, the biggest need for this team is a goaltender. The Flyers have now gone through five goalies this season, and after placing Cal Pickard on waivers, the position gets even more cloudy as it looks like they’ll probably go forward with Anthony Stolarz.

Again, I think the team stays where they’re at and will only make a trade if another team comes to them. That’s not to say they won’t switch around the roster, but this season is pretty much a lost cause already and the Flyers may be better off waiting until the offseason to engage in trade talks. Besides, the goalie market doesn’t appear to be too great right now.

The most important thing for the Flyers right now is finding a new head coach. Something just seems off with this team right now because there have been times in the past where they have played well and won games, but the inconsistencies and the current state of the team tell me that the coach is the problem.

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The next step for the Flyers is finding a GM, which they’ve made clear and actually may be close to completing. After that, the new GM should bring with him a new head coach and move on from Hakstol. That is how you find out if the talent on the team is the problem or if it was the coaching. I’ll admit that I have no idea what this team is planning to do. As fans, we’ll just have to sit back and hope they make the right choices.

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