Photo Credit: Jose Moreno/Philadelphia Inquirer
Flyers’ general manager (GM) Chuck Fletcher is showing this offseason that he is able to identify the problems surrounding his team, but the question still remains: Can he execute a plan in order to fix those problems? After what most would consider to be a botched off season last year when Chuck failed to find a replacement for Matt Niskanen, not to mention not bringing in any other pieces to improve upon his team, fans in and around the tri-state area were left skeptical at best about his abilities to get the job done!
During the ‘20- ‘21 season’s end exit interviews, Chuck alluded to a multitude of upgrades and changes he would look to make this off season. One of his top priorities was to somehow acquire a top-pairing right-hand-shot defenseman and another being to upgrade the team’s goaltending since they finished among the league’s worst in goals against average and save percentage this past season.
Although no real mention has been reported yet on the pursuit of a goalie, Fletcher has once again been linked to trade talks with many teams this off season about acquiring a defenseman. The rumor that has gained the most media attention is that of the Seth Jones Saga in which the Columbus Blue Jackets’ star defenseman has told his team that he will not look to re-sign with them after this coming season when his contract is set to expire. But, once again, Chuck’s inability to sell his product and close a deal that could bring a much-needed piece to Broad Street is in question after talks with Columbus seemed to stall after Jones has made it known that he would not be willing to sign an extension with the Flyers right away.
Meanwhile, other teams like the Chicago Blackhawks- who are actively involved in trying to acquire Seth Jones in a trade as well- are somehow pulling off the moves necessary in order to convince this star defenseman to not only want to get traded to them but re-sign there long term. How did Chicago do this? Well, they somehow convinced the Edmonton Oilers to agree to take their now-elderly 37-year-old (3-time cup winning) defenseman Duncan Keith (whose play is declining) along with his inflated salary of $5.5 million for the next two seasons in exchange for Seth Jones’ younger brother, 24-year-old defenseman Caleb Jones, and a 3rd round pick. Ingenious right? Even if the Blackhawks don’t manage to pull off a trade for Seth Jones, they just relieved themselves of some major salary in this flat cap area so they could then go after one of the top free agent defenders on the market: Dougie Hamilton, David Savard, Adam Larsson, or Alec Martinez.
This is just one more instance in which Fletcher has proven that, although he has good intentions for the Flyers moving forward, he still is managing to come up short of achieving his goals. I don’t know about you, but with his continued inability to make such a move come to fruition it does not leave this writer with high hopes for his ability to trade Jakub Voracek and his $8.25 million cap hit if Seattle does not make him their selection. Will Chuck be able to silence the crowd and bring in that big piece that will turn this team around? Time will tell, but if he does not and proceeds to once again just sign back the same team he had last season, look for Fletcher to be in the unemployment line real soon.
