My friend met Dave Hakstol in Stockholm

[Hiesenberg]

I think he is right. Dave Scott fired a really good gm out of impatience. Fletcher hasn't done anything yet, but gone are the days of slick trades, good drafting, and great contract negotiating. How awesome does that schenn deal look now? How great to the myers and zemula signings look now? Everything we have to be excited about with this franchise is due to hexy.

You have absolutely no idea what Fletcher can/can't do yet.

Hextall had serious flaws. Hextall appears to be a great Assistant GM. He was really bad at making a good NHL team

 

[deadhead]

Hakstol was hired to preside over a rebuild, if Hextall had been clear that it was a rebuild, that he was building around future goalies (Hart, Sandstrom, et al) and that the scrubs were the price of a rebuild (notice even this year we replace Weise and Lehtera with Varone and Vorobyev, not exactly a huge upgrade, even Fletcher hasn't promoted Myers or Friedman, and so on), the fans would have been more patient.

But Hextall probably wasn't allowed to mention the dirty word b/c of a front office headed by Holmgren with marching orders from Scott - so fans were lead to expect a competitive team when history tells you it takes 6-7 years or so to rebuild a franchise from the bottom up.

Yes, they had a half dozen good young players, B Schenn was traded for value and L Schenn was dumped, we're down to Giroux, Couts, Voracek and Simmonds from the 2014-15 Flyers. The players in the pipeline, Ghost, Laughton, Hagg, Morin, Stolarz [Cousins, Leier, Manning] weren't enough to rebuild an AHL team.

So they still managed to make the playoffs twice in four years, and may squeeze in this year, despite rebuilding the team with young talent. Flyers have 6 players from that 2014-15 team left, (the big four plus Raffl and MacDonald), and 4 prospects from before Hextall on the current team.

 

[Hiesenberg]

Hextall was an asset hoarding, dictator.

He could've moved on from bad contract like Lehtera/Filpula. He signed Manning/VDV/Bellemare. He extended Neuvirth.

There was an option to pivot and adjust from his Master Plan. He didn't, he was a arrogant in the way he approached it.

 

[magnumpi]

Hakstol was hired to preside over a rebuild, if Hextall had been clear that it was a rebuild, that he was building around future goalies (Hart, Sandstrom, et al) and that the scrubs were the price of a rebuild (notice even this year we replace Weise and Lehtera with Varone and Vorobyev, not exactly a huge upgrade, even Fletcher hasn't promoted Myers or Friedman, and so on), the fans would have been more patient.

But Hextall probably wasn't allowed to mention the dirty word b/c of a front office headed by Holmgren with marching orders from Scott - so fans were lead to expect a competitive team when history tells you it takes 6-7 years or so to rebuild a franchise from the bottom up.

Yes, they had a half dozen good young players, B Schenn was traded for value and L Schenn was dumped, we're down to Giroux, Couts, Voracek and Simmonds from the 2014-15 Flyers. The players in the pipeline, Ghost, Laughton, Hagg, Morin, Stolarz [Cousins, Leier, Manning] weren't enough to rebuild an AHL team.

So they still managed to make the playoffs twice in four years, and may squeeze in this year, despite rebuilding the team with young talent. Flyers have 6 players from that 2014-15 team left, (the big four plus Raffl and MacDonald), and 4 prospects from before Hextall on the current team.

I'm in accord with elements of this post.

However, I believe Hakstol was terrible with the young players.

And there was too much loyalty to scrub veterans at the expense of the youth.

 

[Jtown]

You have absolutely no idea what Fletcher can/can't do yet.

Hextall had serious flaws. Hextall appears to be a great Assistant GM. He was really bad at making a good NHL team

we have 9 years of history to know exactly what fletcher is and isn't capable of.

 

[Hiesenberg]

we have 9 years of history to know exactly what fletcher is and isn't capable of.

And we have 5 for Hextall, but people seem to think he'll magically become a great GM after this stint.

But I see Fletcher is already painted in his decisions.

 

[Hiesenberg]

My point is saying we were impatient when we haven't won a playoff series in, what's going to be 8 years (correct?), is insulting.

 

[Jtown]

And we have 5 for Hextall, but people seem to think he'll magically become a great GM after this stint.

But I see Fletcher is already painted in his decisions.

Do you really want to compare the 5 years of hextall to the 9 of fletcher? Its not even close. Look at the amount of talent hextall was able to add in that time compared to fletcher. The wild are in serious rough shape going forward. They are not good, they are the oldest team in the league, they have no prospect pool, and they have no capspace. This is the condition our current GM left them in.

HExtall on the other hand left us with the best prospect pool in hockey, a roster with a lot of great young talent on great contracts and with capspace.

 

[Hiesenberg]

Do you really want to compare the 5 years of hextall to the 9 of fletcher? Its not even close. Look at the amount of talent hextall was able to add in that time compared to fletcher. The wild are in serious rough shape going forward. They are not good, they are the oldest team in the league, they have no prospect pool, and they have no capspace. This is the condition our current GM left them in.

HExtall on the other hand left us with the best prospect pool in hockey, a roster with a lot of great young talent on great contracts and with capspace.

Hextall was a great Assistant GM.

While Hextall was here, I watched many really bad teams play on the ice at Wells Fargo so much so that fans stopped showing up.

I'm not going to credit him for building a good NHL team because he never did.

 

[Jtown]

Hextall was a great Assistant GM.

While Hextall was here, I watched many really bad teams play on the ice at Wells Fargo so much so that fans stopped showing up.

I'm not going to credit him for building a good NHL team because he never did.

oh no fans not showing up to wells fargo. How does that impact you and I? He never had a chance to because he thought he had more time. Flyers, and flyers fans have still not adjusted to the Post Cap Era in which going 8 years without a playoff series win is not something one should be shocked by. If you want sustained long term success you have to do what Hextall was willing to do.

 

[deadhead]

My point is saying we were impatient when we haven't won a playoff series in, what's going to be 8 years (correct?), is insulting.

Though the one to blame for that is Snider and Holmgren, not Hextall and Hakstol.
Holmgren put together an old team and busted the cap, Hextall had to clean up the mess he left behind.

 

[Curufinwe]

Hextall was an asset hoarding, dictator.

He could've moved on from bad contract like Lehtera/Filpula. He signed Manning/VDV/Bellemare. He extended Neuvirth.

There was an option to pivot and adjust from his Master Plan. He didn't, he was a arrogant in the way he approached it.

No comparison between Lehtera and Filppula. Or VDV and Bellemare for that matter. The latter guys are still playing in the NHL on good teams after leaving the Flyers. Lehtera will be following VDV to Europe.

 

[bennysflyers16]

Do you really want to compare the 5 years of hextall to the 9 of fletcher? Its not even close. Look at the amount of talent hextall was able to add in that time compared to fletcher. The wild are in serious rough shape going forward. They are not good, they are the oldest team in the league, they have no prospect pool, and they have no capspace. This is the condition our current GM left them in.

HExtall on the other hand left us with the best prospect pool in hockey, a roster with a lot of great young talent on great contracts and with capspace.

2 completely diff situations tho, you can't compare. Alot of GMS could do what Hexy did if they had the time he was given.

 

[bennysflyers16]

Though the one to blame for that is Snider and Holmgren, not Hextall and Hakstol.
Holmgren put together an old team and busted the cap, Hextall had to clean up the mess he left behind.

Hextall assembled a team full of bottom 6 garbage, league worse coaches and historically bad goaltending.

 

[Jtown]

2 completely diff situations tho, you can't compare. Alot of GMS could do what Hexy did if they had the time he was given.

I don't think so. The Schenn trade was a unexpected left turn that you don't see from many gm's. 30 teams could've signed myers, 31 teams couldv've signed zamula. Name me two other more intriguing undrafted free agents that have signed with teams during that same period? Is it just a coincidence that hextall signed both?

If a lot of GM's could do what hextall has done, name me one other team that was able to add more talent in a 5 year draft period than us since 2000?

 

[bennysflyers16]

I don't think so. The Schenn trade was a unexpected left turn that you don't see from many gm's. 30 teams could've signed myers, 31 teams couldv've signed zamula. Name me two other more intriguing undrafted free agents that have signed with teams during that same period? Is it just a coincidence that hextall signed both?

If a lot of GM's could do what hextall has done, name me one other team that was able to add more talent in a 5 year draft period than us since 2000?

Chevy, when the unsigned guys are top NHL players, then we can talk.

Hexy did alot good, he also did alot horrible.

 

[deadhead]

Hextall did little that was horrible, he deliberately kept bad players to conserve assets, uh, that's what you do in a rebuild.
He couldn't afford real free agents and didn't want to trade (wanted to add) draft picks when he has the worst talent pipeline in the NHL.
He managed to obtain 8 1st rd picks in 5 years while making the playoffs twice - find me another GM who can pull that off!

 

[Jtown]

Chevy

2011-2016

scheifele, trouba, morrissey, ehlers, conner, laine / Staley - 6 years

Sanheim, provorov, konecny, farabee, Patrick, Frost - 5 years


Comparible. But whereas Chevy has had years to see his top guys grow, Hexy hasn't. Guys like Job, rubstov, ratcliffe, allison, myers , may swing this in Hexy's favor tremendously.



Obrien/ rubstov are To be Determined imo.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Hextall was a mediocre GM. Hakstol is a moron. Glad both of them are gone.

 

[Johnk0728]

I think he is right. Dave Scott fired a really good gm out of impatience. Fletcher hasn't done anything yet, but gone are the days of slick trades, good drafting, and great contract negotiating. How awesome does that schenn deal look now? How great to the myers and zemula signings look now? Everything we have to be excited about with this franchise is due to hexy.

If Hextall is still the GM; Haskstol is still the coach. God knows who is the goalie cause Hart is still in the AHL. Weise and Lehtera are not only still on the roster but are playing every night. Lindblom is getting scratched. Sanheim is playing less minutes than MacDonald. Hextall drafted some good players but he could not handle how to field an NHL roster and coaching staff.

 

[Johnk0728]

we have 9 years of history to know exactly what fletcher is and isn't capable of.

I know that Hextall is capable of hiring Hakstol.

 

[CSKA1974]

Not a fan of Hak as a coach (do not know him from other aspects), but a few observations:

1. No disrespect to the OP, but we have two pages of reaction to the private conversation that may or may not have happened. We do not know in which contest the statement was uttered (if it truly was).
2. Having lived in Philly are for 25 years, I agree with posters that Philadelphia is inpatient. It's of course. a generalization that is not entirely true. But if you read beat writers, listen to WIP, go to the Flyers' FB, you would agree with it.

I am glad he is gone, but he was not (if indeed he said so) entirely wrong.

 

[Flyerfan4life]

Hextall assembled a team full of bottom 6 garbage, league worse coaches and historically bad goaltending.

clearly not givem enuf time..


hahaha... yea right... get the f*** outa here...

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

I mean pretty much the only fanbases in sports that aren’t impatient are the non-existent ones. Ultimately it comes with the territory. Organizations don’t lower ticket prices & all that based on the product so they’re not adjusting based on expectations either.

 

[Beef Invictus]

I think he is right. Dave Scott fired a really good gm out of impatience. Fletcher hasn't done anything yet, but gone are the days of slick trades, good drafting, and great contract negotiating. How awesome does that schenn deal look now? How great to the myers and zemula signings look now? Everything we have to be excited about with this franchise is due to hexy.

Hextall forced his own firing with a disastrous 2018 offseason that he refused to correct on any level.


Almost 300 games is incredible patience in the NHL. Hakstol is pathetic.