Who Would You Rather Have at the Deadline as GM?

Who Would You Rather Have at the Deadline as GM?


  • Total voters
    66
  • Poll closed .

FlyerEra2010

Registered User
May 20, 2010
1,653
847
Lakeville, MN
Just for today? Probably Hextall.

But I voted Fletcher because Dave Hakstol will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life and Ron Hextall did that to me.

I also don't hate Fletcher after a few months because he didn't turn this disaster of a season completely around with brilliant trades fleecing the entire rest of the league. My expectations are quite a bit lower than some, I guess. I actually really like the way he's cut dead weight with the forwards and think the lines might just end up looking pretty nifty going into next season. The defense is another story so far but I'm willing to give him the offseason to remedy that. I'm cautiously optimistic he'll get the job done, but we shall see.
 

dats81

Registered User
Jan 22, 2011
5,656
1,582
Carinthia, AUT
Frankly, I don't see much if any difference.

Hextall would have shipped off Simmonds as well and I could very well see him take back Hartman as the core piece.
Elliot would never have been in question since Hextall loved that guy but Talbot would probably not have been brought here.
Anything else...? Maybe Hexy flips Raffl for a 5th rounder but that doesn't make much of a difference.
 

baudib1

Registered User
Apr 12, 2016
8,136
11,633
Las Vegas
The impression I got of Fletcher from that Athletic "behind the scenes" round table is that he's really into finding guys he can work with and coming to agreements that can help both teams.

Also he said he felt he owed it to the players to get back an NHL player in the deal.

Strikes me as too nice a guy. I want a cold-blooded killer who will rip off a hapless nitwit like half the GMs in the league are.
 

Ghosts Beer

I saw Goody Fletcher with the Devil!
Feb 10, 2014
22,590
16,402
I saw enough of Hextall’s lousy professional talent evaluation over 4.5 years & the type of boring, slow, but workmanlike players he overrated.

Bellemare, Vandevelde, Schultz, Umberger, Weise, Boyd Gordon, Filppula, Manning. I think he waited too long holding Streit & Simmonds into their last seasons.

Not to mention he bungled the goaltending situation by re-signing & relying on glass Neuvirth.

Also, his controlling personality was really off-putting.

Some are complaining that Fletcher didn’t dump Raffl or Elliott for a late pick, but Hextall didn’t dump Manning last year either & we know for a fact there was an offer from Edmonton.

Fletcher has repeatedly mentioned team speed, something Hextall never did, & which has been a huge team flaw. Also he has pretty quickly weeded out a bunch of Hextall trash, called up Carter Hart, & added a player with an abrasive, in-your-face style, which Hextall’s rosters were short on.

So my answer is Fletcher.
 

ArchAngel55

Registered User
Nov 16, 2008
1,084
543
Philadelphia, Pa
Actually, no, it doesn't. The topic title and OP doesn't say anything about making trades. Just says who would you rather have as GM for today. Regardless of whether it being the deadline or not, I'm not sure Hextall would even have traded Simmonds with how he approached this season and that was the one trade that needed to happen. So I voted Fletcher.
I am the OP. What do you think a GM does on deadline day? He makes trades. Also it is known that Hextall and Simmonds' agent were far apart on making a deal.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelp...ontract-extension-general-manager-ron-hextall
 

Hiesenberg

Registered User
Jul 2, 2013
15,576
1,875
I chose Fletcher because he didn't extend old useless players like Hextall did most of the time.
 

Outlaw Samurai

FROST WARNING in effect
Jun 24, 2018
3,374
5,896
Ottawa
Just for today? Probably Hextall.

But I voted Fletcher because Dave Hakstol will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life and Ron Hextall did that to me.

I also don't hate Fletcher after a few months because he didn't turn this disaster of a season completely around with brilliant trades fleecing the entire rest of the league. My expectations are quite a bit lower than some, I guess. I actually really like the way he's cut dead weight with the forwards and think the lines might just end up looking pretty nifty going into next season. The defense is another story so far but I'm willing to give him the offseason to remedy that. I'm cautiously optimistic he'll get the job done, but we shall see.

Me too bro. I fully acknowledge and appreciate his patience and drafting positives but I will eternally hate Hextall for inflicting that f***ing POS turd on us for 4 years!! :confused: :madfire: :loony::facepalm:
 

Outlaw Samurai

FROST WARNING in effect
Jun 24, 2018
3,374
5,896
Ottawa
Declined the vote. Felt dirty selecting either. Gun to head? Hex as he was a stubborn, arrogant man which helps at negotiating (Fletch is too nice I fear).
 
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prototypical4thliner

Registered User
Jan 12, 2017
3,989
5,971
Sulfuric acid enema is my choice. If I’m gonna be in this much pain, I’ll do it to myself.

I think for the deadline I’d go fletcher though. He knew he had to move Simmonds and I think the market there was determined for him. He was already negotiating from a place of weakness.

I’m extremely leery of how he drafts though, since hextall was so adept at it.
 

BringBackHakstol

Registered User
Oct 25, 2005
20,408
11,052
Philadelphia
Well outside of firing Hakstol which was an obvious move in a regime change situation, Fletcher has not made a single good move yet. His best moves are neutral at best

Hextall for all his (legitimate) flaws made a lot of nice trades for this team.

Hextall easy.
 

Rebels57

Former Flyers fan
Sponsor
Sep 28, 2014
76,383
122,700
Pretty easily Hextall. I'd also rather have him on Draft day.

He can kick rocks the rest of the year, though.
 

Johnk0728

Registered User
Dec 28, 2016
1,236
582
Hextall straddled the line because he totally could. Let's say he went full rebuild: How much longer would that have taken? Even longer than this did, right?

It most definitely is NOT the expectation to have Holmgren's wasteland cleaned up in the 4+ years (not 5, but splitting hairs) when he left such a just nightmare behind...and Hexy did it while STILL being at least a somewhat competitive team. That's rare.

Draft picks ALWAYS fall on the GM ultimately (unless there's some goofy coach/GM role that sometimes exists like in the NFL)- they were Hextall's picks and that can't be taken from him; I'm not buying that argument for a second.

I'd almost call his pro scouting as an incomplete, but I'll be generous and call it not-good. The coach thing I already said was his big issue, so we don't need to beat that to death.

You're right -- Hextall only revitalized the franchise and set us up for the next 10 years but no biggie. He was clearly awful because he got Weise's contract wrong (which EVERYONE agreed was a good signing initially, in the NHL or fans on this board) and because he signed Elliot (which was a terrific signing considering the market -- people still refuse to understand that). Those moves really ruined this franchise and outweigh all of his positive stuff.

Revitalized the franchise? The Arena was empty while he was the GM this year. They had the worst record in the NHL. Are you kidding me? Hasktol would still be the coach.
 

BrindamoursNose

Registered User
Oct 14, 2008
20,032
14,090
Revitalized the franchise? The Arena was empty while he was the GM this year. They had the worst record in the NHL. Are you kidding me? Hasktol would still be the coach.

Pre-Hextall: future of the team was barren. Loaded with bad contracts and no prospect depth.
Post-Hextall: future of team is full of talent with tons of cap space for the first time since what, 2007?

I don't see how there is an argument against Hextall's work for rebooting this franchise while still keeping cornerstones like Jake, Coots and Giroux through it all.
 

Qyburn

Registered User
Apr 2, 2012
5,425
1,200
Allentown
The majority of GMs have a set of minor pluses and minor minuses.

Hexy had a lot of major positives and major negatives.

The conservative slow building from the ground up was such a massive departure for the culture of the franchise historically that it will never not be underrated. Biggest negative is of course his undying affinity for Hak. That one is legitimately one of the most bizarre things in all of sports.
 
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BrindamoursNose

Registered User
Oct 14, 2008
20,032
14,090
The majority of GMs have a set of minor pluses and minor minuses.

Hexy had a lot of major positives and major negatives.

The conservative slow building from the ground up was such a massive departure for the culture of the franchise historically that it will never not be underrated. Biggest negative is of course his undying affinity for Hak. That one is legitimately one of the most bizarre things in all of sports.

As possibly Hexy's biggest fan (I'm a huge fan of slow-builds, but I know that isn't a Philly fan's forte), that will always be the massive negative (not firing Hak). I think for what his plan was, he was terrific...except when he didn't finally cut ties with Hak.

But boy could he fleece people in trades.
 

Ghosts Beer

I saw Goody Fletcher with the Devil!
Feb 10, 2014
22,590
16,402
For as much as fans hated Weise, Umberger, the “wonder twins” of VV & PEB, Manning, Schultz, Filppula, recalling AMac, Hagg over Morin, Lehtera on the NHL roster, Hakstol, Lappy, the goaltending situation, Ginning, etc. it amazes me how many of these same fans remain rather staunch Hextall supporters.
 

Foggy14

Registered User
Sep 13, 2017
1,902
5,735
Too soon for me to tell.

I liked Hexy's style more, but that's not too important.

Fletch has been pretty gracious in his comments toward Hexy because he knows Hexy set him up nicely in terms of prospects, picks and cap space.

Fletch partially addressed Hexy's biggest blind spot with the firing of Hakstol, so he gets points there. But he hasn't finished that job, so I can't really assess the full coaching picture until he's hired a permanent head coach.

Another area that's a work in progress is pro scouting. Under Hexy, we brought in some pros who really weren't compatible with the fast "new" NHL game. Fletch has started to address that, which is good.

Bottom line, Fletch's priorities and critical tasks are different from those Hexy faced when he came back to the Flyers. Basically, Fletch needs to build off the good things Hexy did, address the weaknesses, and use assets to propel the team to the next level (a playoff contender). If he can do that, both Fletch and Hexy can end up looking good in the final analysis.
 
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Qyburn

Registered User
Apr 2, 2012
5,425
1,200
Allentown
For as much as fans hated Weise, Umberger, the “wonder twins” of VV & PEB, Manning, Schultz, Filppula, recalling AMac, Hagg over Morin, Lehtera on the NHL roster, Hakstol, Lappy, the goaltending situation, Ginning, etc. it amazes me how many of these same fans remain rather staunch Hextall supporters.
I know that you're saying: look at the big picture and add it all up as one, but some of those could only be criticized if we lived in a world with no money and no agents.
 

BrindamoursNose

Registered User
Oct 14, 2008
20,032
14,090
For as much as fans hated Weise, Umberger, the “wonder twins” of VV & PEB, Manning, Schultz, Filppula, recalling AMac, Hagg over Morin, Lehtera on the NHL roster, Hakstol, Lappy, the goaltending situation, Ginning, etc. it amazes me how many of these same fans remain rather staunch Hextall supporters.

Well I'll tell you my answer to this:

I saw most of that as inconsequential stuff. The team was what it was considering its cap and sitting those guys would've probably meant very little if they were replaced with anyone else in the system/someone we could afford. Weise ended up as a bad contract, but nearly everyone thought it was a good-to-great signing when it happen; we all were bamboozled it seems.

The only really bad thing was not firing Hak. Everything else wasn't very workable considering his situation he inherited. He gets blamed for goaltending, but I think he did a decent job considering Elliot was arguably the best value goaltender signed that offseason and he drafted Carter Hart for the future. Neuvy should've gone, but he's a backup ultimately and wasn't signed as a starter.
 

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