From going Wild to getting Flyer, can Fletcher lead Flyers to the promised land?
The trade deadline has come and gone once again. This was Fletcher’s fifth trade deadline as the Flyers General Manager. While he has completely changed the roster and core from what it was when he first got here, it hasn’t changed the way this team has played.
It does take some time to recreate a roster for it to become a successful one and we can see the ground work he laid out for the current Minnesota Wild team. If Fletcher can recreate here what he did there, then this team will be able to compete and contend for the cup for a long time.
While this season hasn’t exactly gone the way anybody from the top of the organization to the guy selling beer in the stands thought it would go, it happens. This team at one point had 10 NHL injuries alongside 18 AHL injuries. The prospects we were meant to see and the big guns we were supposed to have go off for bounce back years just didn’t get that chance.
Chuck Fletcher overall wants to bring a cup to Philly and is doing things the fan base aren’t fans of, but that isn’t quite a bad thing. The Flyers have been on the cusp of mediocrity for years under Hextall because of the rebuild hidden behind the one and off first round exits in the playoffs.
The biggest telling sign to me that Chuck Fletcher is taking full control over this roster and doing things the right way was by letting Gerry Mayhew get picked up on waivers. While Mayhew played hard, he is a 29 year old AHL journeyman. There is a reason he wasn’t in the NHL and it will possibly rear its ugly head in Anaheim.
Moving Justin Braun for a third rounder was a no brainer. While Braun has been one of best and most under rated defenseman on this roster, it is time to get younger and time to let Cam York get his playing time as a top pairing guy. Especially with the rumors of St. Louis being interested in Provorov and different stories coming out about how he has been in the locker room, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fletcher listens to calls when the season ends and could potentially move Provorov for a top end scorer.
Derick Brassard has been a player who has been brought in when a team was going to make a cup run usually. He has been a great depth guy in his career and played some really solid hockey here in Philly. Age catches up to us all eventually and the way he plays the game at 34 will cause injuries and he was just another casualty of the injury bug biting everyone in the Flyers rocker room. Moving him a for fourth round pick just adds more draft capital for this team to package for some talent in the offseason.
I think Chuck Fletcher has done what no other GM has been willing to do here in Philadelphia in a long time. Move pieces to get pieces. Hextall was attempting to rebuild this roster while being able to compete night in and night out, but he was unwilling to move any talent to get talent and to sign talent. His biggest signing has been JVR and we all know how that experiment has been going since he came back. Unless someone will take a 33-year-old making 7M a season, we will most likely have to deal with his lazy style of play for one more season.
Chuck Fletcher has easily outdone Hextall and will continue to do so. Since he got here, he has acquired Kevin Hayes, Matt Niskanen, Derek Grant, Ryan Ellis, Cam Atkinson, Rasmus Ristolainen, Keith Yandle, Justin Braun, Martin Jones, Derick Brassard, Nate Thompson, Ryan Hartman, Tyler Pitlick, Owen Tippett, Zack MacEwen, Nick Seeler, and Patrick Brown. While not all of these players stayed or worked out, he is constantly trying to improve the roster overall.
Players who have been moved or claimed off of waivers since he got here (players already here when he got here) have been Shayne Gostisbehere, Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Phil Myers, Nolan Patrick, Robert Hagg, Connor Bunnaman, German Rubtsov, Radko Gudas, Michael Raffl, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
The draft has been good to Fletcher, especially while he was in Minnesota. He hit on guys like Kahkonen, Kaprizov and Greenway, three big pieces for the Wild. So who has Fletcher added since coming here? Now I will still put the prospects down even if their injured, but they are noteworthy. Cam York, Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, Zayde Wisdom, Elliot Desnoyers are all either having good seasons in their respective leagues, or were injured. This previous draft is still a little too soon to judge but overall, those five players have been good for their clubs and can hopefully all develop into something good.
Overall, Fletcher has a vision for what he wants this team to become and he is putting a lot of trust back into his young players. He tried this last season and it did not go well, but I think the roster that is constructed now is better than last season. Missing Couturier and Ellis doesn’t help them, but it does open doors for young guys to step up not only on the ice but in the locker room.
In his presser today, Fletcher said some interesting things and I personally liked what I heard. Yeo went to both Farabee and Konency and told them this is their time to step up and show what they have and can be. Konecny especially stepped up yesterday and you can see him leading. Konecny and Farabee both ended yesterday with two assists and Kevin Hayes had two goals.
Not every night can one line carry, but that was not the case like we were seeing for most of the season. It was a full team effort. Each line worked hard and they brought it to the Islanders even after being down a goal early. They fought back and worked hard and they just kept going. It was one of the best efforts we saw all season.
This style of play that we saw is what Fletcher wants. He is constructing a team that will be lead by young budding stars with speed, skill and high-IQ’s. Tippett showed all three of those yesterday, getting time playing with Oskar Lindblom and Morgan Frost. It was a young line with a ton of energy and skill. While they made some mistakes, overall the line played really well and it gave Frost some ice time with some other skilled players outside of Giroux and Konecny.
Scott Laughton and Nate Thompson will both be returning soon to give the Flyers a bit of a boost to help build something for next season but as Fletcher said, this is the kid’s time to play. I highly expect seeing Zamula up here and to play some defense over Connauton and Seeler. We may also see Ratcliffe back up for a couple games. Allison and some other potential players who can make the team at training camp or preseason may also see time if possible.
This offseason will be extremely crucial. This can make or break Fletcher’s time here. He needs to hire a head coach who can take the Flyers to the next level and they need to get some top end talent, whether that is bringing Claude Giroux back and some other players, or going a whole different way with just rebuilding this core with trades and bringing in top notch talent. I still believe this roster rebuild is far from over and I am curious to see how this is all going to shake out.
Chuck Fletcher is taking a lot of heat unfairly. I believe he is doing the right things. It takes time to build a solid roster and a good team that can compete for a four to five year window and that is the way we are heading. Fletcher has completely changed course and will bring in the young talent needed to push this roster over the top. The main goals outside of player personal are two things.
First, examine the Flyers medical staff and consider changing them. Mid season is not ideal to change a medical staff around but Fletcher needs to look thoroughly at what is there. The Flyers have had a bad injury bug this season and it was not something complex. It was the same injuries that the players were already dealing with.
Second, get a head coach. There are head coaches available, but who would fit a system you want this team to play? The dump and chase is dead and it is time to carry and break out with effective passes. Entering through the neutral zone has also been a big issue. A coach who is a generalist and all around good coach that doesn’t specialize in any special aspect would work well if you can bring in those specialists on your staff.
This is a crucial point in the Flyers crossroad and Chuck Fletcher is leading the way. We need to trust him and give him a chance. We have overvalued so much garbage in Philadelphia and Chuck Fletcher doesn’t. Fletcher will bring in talent this offseason that will only help this team.
So let this squad get healthy, let the kids battle for roster spots and potentially bring the captain home or name Sean Couturier the next captain. Chuck Fletcher, all eyes are on you.