The Flyers are an incongruent Franchise.

[Jtown]

What mode are the flyers in? Are we a playoff team? Are we in a rebuilding mode? Are we competing now? Are we a young team with eyes on the future?

Those are all loaded questions , because the truth of the mattter is this, no one can answer those questions with any kind of certainty.

The Flyers lack any kind of identity on the ice and within the organization. I'll explain why. The reason why this season has been dissappointing , is because of all the talent we have on our roster. We believe that we should be doing better but the truth of the matter is we are playing to our talent. If we had a roster like the sabres or coyotes we could live with our record but this team is too talented in our mind to win.

But if we are a win now team, why did we trade schenn, sign elliott and play 2 rookies on defense. The truth of the matter is this, we have a very talented first line and 2 promising yound dmen and that is it. EVeryone else on this team is not worthy of being on a win now roster.

This would not be a problem except that our talented first line is made up of two very talented , well compensated, older guys. That does not jive with the rest of the roster.

The best teams are those who have congruency. You either are in win now mode, or you are in a full rebuild. The flyers are neither and hence this disaster of a season form the fans point of view. There is never going to be another DRW where you have 20 years of being a stanley cup title contender. That is just a standard that is so idiotic to choose but that is what we are going for. You can't not say we are in rebuild mode until we trade giroux , simmer, and voracek. So we want the best of both worlds. WE want to keep our top guys and develop prospects at the same time. Prospects who BTW the are struggling mightily.

hextall has to trade simmonds at the least, and try to find a way to get even worst. It's just a shame there are no generational prospects in this years draft.

Best case scenario is we trade simmer for some great pieces and finish with a top 3 draft pick.

Worst case keep the roster and finish 7-12

this is how i view our season at this point.

Click to read more...

 

[flyershockey]

Your vocabulary is blowing me away right now.

 

[BillDineen]

I think they are in full rebuild, but literally believe having vets like Weise and Lehtera are net positives short and long term which is baffling. Hextall sees then younger trend in the NHL and drafting well has forced them to be younger, but I am not convinced he truly believes in going young. He believes young players have to earn it beyond any other team's standard and is paranoid of "ruining" someone because he played with Kerry Huffman. Hextall also sees the trend of smaller, skilled guys (even 4th line) and the said successful drafting has given them that, but he still views "heavy" players as useful for some reason. Hextall wants to replicate LA and Chi because it worked, but is still hesitant to risk anything. Relying on the draft and vets is "safe". That is why he has a "safe" coach.

 

[Tripod]

There is no reason to trade anyone off our top line when we have no replacement for them AND they are signed long term so can be past of the rebuild. The Leafs rebuilt all while keeping Kadri, JVR and Bozak. Have a few vets around to help the kids is important. If not, you get what the Oilers had before getting McDavid...kids getting minutes they can't handle.

I am much more comfortable in ten rebuild knowing Lindblom, Patrick and Konecny ONLY need to be 2nd line players within the next 4-5 years. Then every other prospect ONLY needs to be a 3rd liner.

Of course over time, some will surpass those levels and push down others. And long term, we will need that to happen.

Simmonds is expendable. His current contract doesn't fit our timeline and his next contract is an unnecessary risk. After trading Schenn for futures, trading Simmonds should happen too. To only do one would be dumb.

We ARE rebuilding. Trading Schenn was a clear sign of that. Signing Elliott was a sign of that. Taking on cap dumps are a sign of that. Not sure how people can't see that. Rebuilding DOES NOT mean you have to trade every single vet. Hextall just isn't finished yet.

Hard to know how the book ends when the last 2 chapters are not written yet.

 

[Rebels57]

Im gonna leave this one alone.

 

[Beef Invictus]

I believe we are in Suffering Mode. That is a certainty. The rest, I don't f***ing know.

 

[Striiker]

To answer the question: rebuilding.



That was easy.

 

[Lindberg]

I'm just really confused to why Hakstol is still here.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

I believe we are in create a new thread repeating the same things mode

 

[Crescent Street]

If we are rebuilding then we need someone who can lead the rebuild and create a team identity at the very least. Someone who doesn’t make idiotic decisions night after night putting this team behind the eight ball over and over. I keep googling Dave Hakstol fired every morning but I just keep seeing images of that same stupid face.

How any player in that locker room can look that guy in the eye and say yeah coach I’m with you is beyond me. Why hasn’t GIROUX gone to Hextall yet and said something needs to be done.

I am finished watching this team for this season until I see a change in leadership. There are probably 25 other teams who you can find enjoyment in watching than this pile of garbage we try and root for game after game.

Hextall needs to make a change for the sake of this fan base. But something tells me his ego is getting in the way and doesn’t want to look like a moron in front of ownership admitting he made a disastrous mistake. Sitting idly could set this franchise back several more years and destroy any chance of the kids maturing into the players we drafted them to be.

 

[bennysflyers16]

I'm just really confused to why Hakstol is still here.

He only fits the tanking mode.

 

[BillDineen]

He only fits the tanking mode.

Maybe Hextall has been sneak-tanking. He hired the dumbest coach his son ever played for. Patrick meant they might be too good and he traded Schenn. Maybe it is all a master plan.

 

[daynus]

Rebuilding obviously. Not doing as well as expected so far this year but whatever. 2 years away from a team that can go multiple rounds in the playoffs. But in the mean time and in between time, that’s it another edition of a top ten pick.

 

[deadhead]

We've been rebuilding since the day Hextall arrived.
He's dumped numerous veterans, added multiple draft picks, cleared out the salary cap.
Now he didn't go full tank, but only G, Couts, Voracek, Simmonds, Raffl, and MacDonald are left from the 2013-14 team.

This is a mediocre team playing below it's talent level in terms of W/L, but at that level in terms of metrics.
But the veterans that everyone hates are just placeholders, like the veterans before them.
Hextall hasn't spent one draft pick adding players to the current roster in 4 years, or sign a major FA. That says it all.

He traded Schenn because he was in love with Frost, a 26 year old center with good NHL scoring skills, average speed and average hockey IQ for a 18 year old center with exceptional speed, good raw skills and off the chart hockey IQ. And another 1st rd pick in a deep draft.

I don't know if he has any attachment to Voracek, Ghost, Hagg, Morin - they're Holmgren's players, they stay to the extent they fit Hextall's vision of the future of this team. Or if someone makes an offer he can't refuse.
The handwriting is on the wall for Simmonds.

 

[Crescent Street]

How did the purposeful tanking work out for Edmonton? They only destroyed RNH, Eberle and Hall at times, got a generational talent but a culture of crap.

 

[TCTC]

There is no reason to trade anyone off our top line when we have no replacement for them AND they are signed long term so can be past of the rebuild. The Leafs rebuilt all while keeping Kadri, JVR and Bozak. Have a few vets around to help the kids is important. If not, you get what the Oilers had before getting McDavid...kids getting minutes they can't handle.

The difference is, Giroux and Voracek aren't just some vets, they're absolute key players. The Leafs just drafted their key players. They're in a much more comfortable position in their rebuild. They have all the time in the world. We need prime Giroux and prime Voracek because we have no one to replace them.

 

[Rebels57]

The Flyers are not contending in 2 years with this coach..and possibly with this GM.

 

[JojoTheWhale]

I’m not going to touch the rest of it, but the idea of being all-in on contending or rebuilding largely disappeared in a roughly flat hard cap world. You need talented players on ELCs and second contracts or you won’t be deep enough to survive 100+ games.

The model is no longer going all-in, it’s identifying who isn’t part of your core and moving them when they become too expensive and still have value. I don’t see anyone criticizing Yzerman for trading Drouin for a 19 year old Defenseman anymore.

 

[Embiid]

I’m not going to touch the rest of it, but the idea of being all-in on contending or rebuilding largely disappeared in a roughly flat hard cap world. You need talented players on ELCs and second contracts or you won’t be deep enough to survive 100+ games.

The model is no longer going all-in, it’s identifying who isn’t part of your core and moving them when they become too expensive and still have value. I don’t see anyone criticizing Yzerman for trading Drouin for a 19 year old Defenseman anymore.

Agree...back in the late 80's Clarke sat on his core a bit too long....traded Poulin and Propp for questionable returns as a result. It was a contributer to 5 years of no playoffs until Lindros.

 

[Embiid]

I don't see a clear path with the Flyers as I did with the Sixers despite getting heat from some for sticking with the process while they were winning 10 games a season. I agree with Hextall's philosophy of being measured and patient but it seems to be offset by other decisions that yeah seem incongruent. I am starting to think he is an overthinker quite frankly. The Hakstol political support is an unnecessary doubling down on what is turning out to be a very fundamentally flawed decision despite the initial logic and best of intentions. He may be becoming too smart and obstinate for his own and that of the team's good ..

 

[Lotusflower]

To answer the question: rebuilding.

And Before that we called it retooling. Sounds like regression to me.

 

[hatcher]

They do not have

I’m not going to touch the rest of it, but the idea of being all-in on contending or rebuilding largely disappeared in a roughly flat hard cap world. You need talented players on ELCs and second contracts or you won’t be deep enough to survive 100+ games.

The model is no longer going all-in, it’s identifying who isn’t part of your core and moving them when they become too expensive and still have value. I don’t see anyone criticizing Yzerman for trading Drouin for a 19 year old Defenseman anymore.

You can change some players though. 2nd and a 3rd for that young skilled player from carolina and Bickell for some size that plays like it would help this team.That type of trade. Don't need all the picks and he owes to G and V,Simmonds and coots to get some help but thats too late now.

 

[flyershockey]

Uh, Bryan Bickell retired 8 months ago.

 

[hatcher]

Most of the top prospects we have are injury prone too. Morin now,Myers,Rubtsov all get hurt lately.

 

[hatcher]

patrick too. we arent in that great a shape with youth either.