Fansided

Chuck Fletcher’s Offseason Failure Continues To Plague Flyers

By Brandon Sommermann |
ST. PAUL, MN - JUNE 9: General manager Chuck Fletcher of the Minnesota Wild smiles during an interview following a press conference announcing the addition of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to the team on June 9, 2012 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - JUNE 9: General manager Chuck Fletcher of the Minnesota Wild smiles during an interview following a press conference announcing the addition of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to the team on June 9, 2012 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images)

When Philadelphia Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher acquired defenseman Matt Niskanen from the Washington Capitals in the 2019 offseason, he was taking a chance. A chance that Niskanen would return to his steady form after a down 2018-2019 season.

That chance paid off big time as Matt Niskanen returned to form and then some.

“We have a very strong leadership corps, to begin with, but bringing in Matt Niskanen, I think elevated everybody,” Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher said. “Just the respect from his teammates, and the coaches and all of us towards Matt is high level.”

More from Broad Street Buzz

However, now 25-games into what would have been his second season in Philadelphia, that “elevation” brought by Niskanen is proving to be GM Chuck Fletcher’s biggest offseason failure.

After the Flyers were eliminated from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Matt Niskanen made a decision that shocked GM Chuck Fletcher.

“He called me the day after our last game; told me that he was going to retire,” Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher said. “It caught me off-guard absolutely. I completely respect that. He’s earned that right. We’ll just move forward from here. We wish him nothing but the best.”

When the Flyers acquired Matt Niskanen, Fletcher thought he was getting a top-pair partner for Ivan Provorov for at least two seasons. Unfortunately, after another long season, one filled with delays & over three months away from his family, Niskanen decided to retire.

Just one year removed from finding Ivan Provorov a much-needed partner, Chuck Fletcher was back to square one. Something that put Fletcher in a predicament on what to do next.

Fletcher had two options… Find another partner for Ivan Provorov via trade/signing or trust that someone in his young group already here would step up.

Instead of choosing to find a replacement for Matt Niskanen, Chuck Fletcher decided to wait & see what he had. Signing low-risk high reward free agent defenseman Erik Gustafsson. While also putting forth his full confidence in the defensemen already here.

“There wasn’t a defenseman, in our opinion, in the marketplace that was anywhere near as complete the player as Matt Niskanen with the obvious exception of [Alex] Pietrangelo,” Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher said. “Whoever we were going to bring in was not going to fill the same role or have the same stylistic fit that Matt did.”

More from Analysis

That view & ensuring decision/decisions to not try harder at replacing Matt Niskanen is proving to be a costly one for the Flyers.

Through the first 25-games to start the 2020-2021 season, Chuck Fletcher’s decision to not replace Matt Niskanen’s void is one of the biggest reasons for their struggles. Something that is being proven on a nightly basis.

“Obviously, we haven’t found, in my estimation, the Nisky that was playing with Provy back there,” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said. “We’ve tried different people; need somebody to step up and play in that role.”

The Flyers team defense, which was led by “Steady Eddy” (Matt Niskanen’s nickname) in 2020, has been one of the worst in the NHL. Niskanen’s reliability, as well as his leadership, is a void that Chuck Fletcher didn’t believe would be an issue.

Instead of realizing how much Matt Niskanen actually meant to the Flyers defense as a whole, Chuck Fletcher focused on the impact he thought Niskanen had already on the young group. Which is proving to be his biggest offseason failure.

Chuck Fletcher failing to replace Matt Niskanen is proving to be the wrong decision night after night. Game after game. Mistake after mistake. Turnover after turnover.

While all the problems the Flyers have this season aren’t all because of Matt Niskanen’s void. One has to think, if Chuck Fletcher did replace Niskanen, most of these mistakes would be neutralized by better team defense.

Home / Analysis