A Flyers fan letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

How are you? How are the reindeer? I hope you had a good year.

I’ve had a great year. The Phillies went to the World Series. The Eagles are doing well too. Everything else is going fine.

So, I believe I’ve been a good boy this year and I have some requests for Christmas, dear sir. Now, to show you how good I am, these presents aren’t for me but are for my favorite hockey team, the Philadelphia Flyers. I want to help all my fellow Flyers fans have a Merry Christmas too. I’m using all of my Christmas wishes on them. Here is my Christmas wish list in no particular order.

Flyers: Salary Cap Help

My team is crushed by the salary cap. I know the team has some good players. I know some good players will become free agents this year (more on this later). But can you help us? I know that Commissioner Gary Bettman said that the salary cap raise could be higher than expected, but we need a lot of help.

Flyers: Good Free Agents

Santa, I know that good teams build from within. That’s how you build a long, winning franchise. And we used to do that (more on this later). But a good free agent signing can be a spark that this team needs. Maybe a David Pasternak or Bo Horvat. What about Nathan McKinnon or Max Pacioretty,? Maybe an old vet who’s won the cup, like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, or Vladimir Tarasenko could come in on a nice deal. We don’t need to break the bank. We can find some lower-tier guys too, but Santa, we could use some help.

Flyers: Some Great Draft Picks

We’ve had some unlucky picks as of late. Some picks, like Sam Morin or Nolan Patrick, just couldn’t stay healthy.  Other guys seem good but aren’t quite NHL-ready yet.

Santa, I remember back in the 2000s, the Flyers had a lot of great draft picks. Players like Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, and James Van Riemsdyk all made significant contributions to the Flyers for years to come. We need some players like that. We also need good role players who can play strong supporting roles. Please help our scouts find great players that will return us to our rightful spot atop the Metropolitan Division.

Flyers: Health

Santa, this team has been absolutely savaged and ravaged by injuries for two years running. I don’t know since this team committed to making the Hockey Gods angry, but can you intercede for us? I feel we don’t have an honest feeling about how good this team is because of all the injuries. It’s not fair to the coaching staff, team, or even us fans. So, if you can help everyone get healthy and stay healthy, please work your magic.

Flyers: Golden Sticks

Somewhere in that sack of yours is a rack filled with golden sticks that can turn this team into an offensive juggernaut. We’ve seen it at times this season with Travis Konecny and Kevin Hayes. Some players get on a hot streak and then…*poof* gone.

So, pull out these magic sticks and give them to our guys so they can find the back of the net over and over and over again. Give them the confidence to believe that every shot is a scoring shot.

Thanks, Santa.  I appreciate it. And I know if we can get all of these things, we will have a happier New Year!

PS. If you can somehow rescue Ivan Fedotov from wherever he is held up in Russia while you are flying by, that would be super awesome!