Flyers General Manager Chuck Fletcher and Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr spoke to the media yesterday, and here are five takeaways from the conference call:
1 In regards to your first round pick, would you consider trading that pick if you can include it in a package deal for a big time scorer?
Fletcher: “That’s pretty hypothetical. Obviously you will consider moving anything if the trade makes sense. Certainly this year, and Brent can probably speak to it later on, it’s a pretty good first round. We should have the ability to draft a pretty talented player with that pick. I think we’re going in with the mindset that we are using the pick, but obviously when you talk to teams, if there’s something that we can do that would make our team better that would make sense, we’ll look at that.”
Both Fletcher and Flahr said they would rely heavily on their scouts for this draft. This is in large part due to the lack of film/tape due to the pandemic. What could happen are a large number of European players being selected throughout the draft, even in some cases earlier than expected, as some European leagues are currently playing at the moment (KHL, Czech League’s, and SHL for instance).
Fletcher did state that they would take the best player available at 23, and if a few players were still on the board that they liked in the first round, then they might even move back possibly (Like the 2019 NHL Draft with Cam York).
2. Do you foresee older first-year pros like Sandin, Allison, or Laczynski competing for a NHL job this upcoming season?
Flahr: “First of all, Laczynski and Allison like you said, and Sandin, they’re older players. They’re physically more mature than typically players that are coming out of junior that are 19, 20 years old. Their mindset coming to camp is to make the team. Whether they’re ready for that, it’s up to them and their performance. At the same time, we expect them to help and challenge the internal competition. In reality I would say, I would assume that each of them are going to play games this year. Hopefully one of them grabs it and makes the best of their opportunity.”
We at flyersnittygritty.com have been saying that there would not be a major splash via free agency or a blockbuster trade. Fletcher and Flahr are patient and believe heavily with what former General Manager Ron Hextall did previously. Building through the draft seems like the best and most realistic course, look at the newly crowned Stanley Cup Champions the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning fir the most part built that team through the draft.
Laczynski WILL make the team out of training camp. This young man is a sleeper in the system, as us too darn talented not to push and win a job outright.
3. How concerned are you about the AHL and the ECHL and also, about the players possibly losing a year of development?
Fletcher: “I think it’s the whole industry, even the European leagues. The KHL is playing, but having frequent issues. Other leagues that talked about playing and they may or may not even start. We don’t know about juniors, junior hockey, college hockey, American League and even the NHL. It’s certainly a year where it’s going to be tough to predict how it’s going to play out. I certainly think there’s going to be fewer games played this year everywhere. It appears there’s certainly a later start. There’s certainly going to be some question on how best to develop players if we’re not able to get them regular game action. That’s something we talk about and something we’re going to have to deal with down the road.”
This is a growing concern. There are rumors that the NHL is looking at a hybrid bubble at least to start the 2020-21 season, even so much so that TSN’s Frank Seravalli wrote an article on it. If the NHL does in fact go down this route this could have a trickle down effect to the development league’s such as the AHL/ECHL/FPHL. They could all cancel their seasons, as they rely on spectators in order to turn a profit.
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4. In regards to Nolan Patrick, are both sides looking for a one-year deal? And in regards to UFA’s, are there any UFA’s on the team that you would like to sign?
Fletcher: “With respect to the first question, I generally don’t comment on contract negotiations until they are finished. Our focus with Nolan for the most part is making sure we’re all doing our best to get him healthy. He continues to feel better and better. I continue to feel optimistic that he will be a player for us next season. We’ll get to all the other issues at the right time.”
“I’ve had preliminary conversations with the all the agents for the UFAs on our team. What I’ve kind of indicated to all of them is that I wanted to speak to every team in the league at the end of the season. I wanted to get a sense where our RFAs, what the market will be for them in terms how much of a cost for us to re-sign them. I wanted to give our staff a couple weeks to decompress before we got into our players. We’re still going through the process. It’s been a real busy few weeks here. Starting to get a feel for what’s available in the market in terms of trades. Starting to get a feel for what RFA’s are looking for. Over the next week, we’ll start to address our own UFAs and see if there’s a fit. We’ve had some preliminary conversations with the agents. More importantly with this stage of the offseason, we’ve been doing a lot of due diligence and a lot of homework to assess what we really need to do.”
Fletcher speaks very highly of Nolan Patrick, and believes he will play next season for the FLYERS. When? No one knows, as Patrick has not been cleared for contact. The Flyers will have to evaluate him at training camp when it begins as early as November-December. This is encouraging that Fletcher speaks highly of Patrick, and is optimistic for his return to play.
5. Can you comment on what you saw from Shayne Gostisbehere in this organization and moving forward?
Fletcher: “I think it’s pretty well documented and I think Shayne spoke to this at the end of year, I don’t think he felt right for a lot for the year physically. He took the time to correct an issue he had, a lower-body issue that he had. I think when he came back into the bubble, he was skating better than he had all season. He had a pop back in his skating stride. He was able to, I thought, cut quicker, turn quicker. He had a little bit more explosiveness, which for Shayne, is critical to his game. I think it was a frustrating season and I don’t think physically he was at the level he wanted to be at until the end. Shayne’s 27 years old. There’s not many 27 year olds that’s been in the league that have had 60 point seasons. Obviously he hasn’t been at that level for a couple of seasons. I know physically he feels this is the best he’s been in a couple of years. I know he’s looking forward to showing everybody he can get back to the player he was a few seasons ago.”
Shayne Gostisbehere will be dangled for a trade throughout the entire offseason. I find it hard to believe that he will return to the Flyers next season. Teams that strike out on obtaining the rights to Torey Krug of the Boston Bruins may come calling eventually. I just have the feeling that Ghost may be moved as early as the draft.
JVR giroux vorechek to Ottawa for their second pick they need to get to cap floor
Patrick ghost 2first round picks to jets for laine