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The Flyers have lost six straight, and now have lost 29 straight games total, to include one 10 game losing streak, a 13-game losing streak, and a six game losing streak. This is just a dark Flyers season, so without further delay here are the answers to your questions.
Minnesota Wild’s performance on the ice has nothing to do with Chuck Fletcher now being the General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers.
is there a chance that Fletcher isn’t the General Manager starting next season for the Flyers? Absolutely, but it’s highly unlikely. If Fletcher wasn’t going to be the GM next season, then I firmly believe he would have been terminated by now especially with the trade deadline around the corner.
This is a very important trade deadline for the orange and black, and probably the most important one in recent memory. The Flyers retooled last offseason, and now they will retool again. Dave Scott and Fletcher believe they do not have to enter a full rebuild, rather add top-end pieces in order to compete. Well it all starts at the trade deadline with adding draft capital, NHL ready players, and prospects.
Martin Jones, Claude Giroux, Justin Braun, Derick Brassard (If healthy). The Flyers remain committed to re-signing Rasmus Ristolainen, and I believe that they will strike a deal and announce the signing the day of the trade deadline.
Cam Atkinson is a great player to build around. He has been one heck of an addition to this club, and one of the best additions by Chuck Fletcher in general.
Atkinson does a little bit of everything, and does it well. He provides great leadership and tutelage for the youth, and if the Flyers are playing bad he will say it. That’s exactly what you want in your locker room.
Tyson Foerster has one heck of a shot and release. He will fire from anywhere, and it’s a darn shame that he had that particular injury earlier in the year.
At the moment I do not see any top-end first line pairing prospect at least offensively, asides from Foerster and the only reason I give him that nod is because I think he will score a ton of goals so he could earn a promotion.
The Flyers have good complimentary pieces (2nd line-4th line), such as, Samu Tuomaala, Zayde Wisdom, Tanner Laczynski, Wade Allison, Elliot Desnoyers, Jay O’Brien, and Bobby Brink, but no generational talent, nor top-end talent stockpiled.
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Now the defensive side of the puck looks promising with Cam York, as York will quarterback the power play in the future. I firmly believe he can play a top-pairing role if necessary in the future. Egor Zamula has the billing to at least play a middle pairing role, as well as, Wyatte Wylie whom can play both left and right-handed positions. This gives the Flyers versatility, and he can produce points rapidly.
Do not sleep on some promising netminders like Ivan Fedotov, who will be able to play a backup role to Carter Hart next season if Fletcher is able to sign him, as well as, Felix Sandström and Samuel Ersson. Kirill Ustimenko isn’t too shabby either, and the goaltending position appears to be a strength of the Flyers farm system. That is one area that former General Manager (GM) Ron Hextall appeared to nail during his tenure as Flyers GM.
This is a hard question to answer due to all the re-injuries this season. I will say hockey players are some of the toughest athletes throughout the sports world. A lot of them play through a number of injuries, and this year is no different for the Flyers.
What is intriguing are the re-injuries to Derick Brassard most notably. He is one player why Chuck Fletcher should look into the medical staff in the offseason. Kevin Hayes just wants to play, and has rushed through his injury as to be expected. However, Brassard plays in one game and then is out for two to three weeks if they’re lucky. He was recently been placed on injured reserve before Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, and if course played against the Washington Capitals.
This has been an all to common theme this season for Brassard, so the medical staff should no longer listen to him in my opinion. Brassard has lost that trust, so it will be interesting to see if some chips fall in the offseason in regards to the medical staff.
Zack MacEwen, Morgan Frost, and Felix Sandström will all definitely re-sign, as will Gerry Mayhew. The Flyers like Nick Seeler, so he most likely will earn a contract too.
Rasmus Ristolainen will re-sign after playing hardball with the Flyers. His agent is doing his job, but at the end of the day Rasmus likes Philadelphia and gets along well with the guys. I’m 60/40 in favor of him re-signing for $5.5-6 million for three-four years.
A once beloved player in Samuel Morin will become a free agent. Morin just hasn’t had any luck with injuries in his NHL career, and it’s a shame the Flyers will allow him to walk. However, after all this is a business.
Keith Yandle and Kevin Connauton will walk too. The Flyers have Cam York, Egor Zamula, and Wyatte Wylie waiting in the wings.
Claude Giroux, Justin Braun, and Derick Brassard will get moved by the trade deadline, thus giving the Flyers draft capital and some immediate NHL ready players.
It’s tough right now, but at the end of the day you will miss them in the Summer time. I can guarantee it.
Let’s hope by the trade deadline
You love the Flyers and always. It’s really tough right now, but in the Summer when they are gone you will miss it….guaranteed.
It’s tough right now, but at the end of the day you will miss them in the Summer time. I can guarantee it.
Jim McCrossin is the Head of Medicine for the Flyers, so he has the final say. McCrossin has done a really good job until this season with all the re-injuries. I will say hockey players are some of the toughest athletes throughout the sports world. A lot of them play through a number of injuries, and this year is no different for the Flyers.
Maybe they are listening to the players too much this season, not really sure. What I will say is Kevin Hayes and Derick Brassard want to play, so if they are near 100% why wouldn’t they play. Hayes’s injury is a bit different, as abdominal/core areas are very tough to judge when the right time is to come back. It appears the Flyers have no luck with core injuries: Brian Elliott, Nolan Patrick, Claude Giroux, and Shayne Gostisbehere. That is why write article after article in the offseason with not expecting much from Hayes. Giroux, Elliott, Gostisbehere, and Patrick all suffered and most had re-injuries before it was 100%.
Derick Brassard and Ryan Ellis are a bit different with unknown lower body injuries. This is a tough pill to swallow for this medical staff.
At the end of the day, no one gets a pass this season to include the medical staff, so Chuck Fletcher should look into this department in the offseason, as to what the heck happened, but I will say McCrossin has done excellent work throughout his Flyers tenure.
Bruce Boudreau would have been one heck of an addition to this club. The Flyers were not swift enough to hire a coach like Boudreau, and in hindsight I wish they did. The writing was on the wall for an Alain Vigneault termination.
At the moment, there are two replacements for Mike Yeo on my radar: Rick Tocchet and John Tortorella. I would actually give the nod to Tortorella, as he is exactly what this team could use. A no non-sense coach that commands the most from his players.
All Fletcher has to do is ask Cam Atkinson what some of his thoughts are on Tortorella, as Cam use to play for Tortorella. Of course, let’s see who becomes after the season ends.
If you would like to see your questions submitted in our weekly mailbag. Just submit your question on our Twitter page @flyersknitty using #Flyersmail, or @JameyBaskow. Thanks to all the fans for another great mailbag, and Let’s go Flyers.
If this is the path taken, we are in for a long decade of losing. Signing risto at all let alone over 5m for term would be the worst move to make. This also means sanhiem is gone for cap. Cf making these trades is a major mistake as he has won very few of his lifetime as a gm. Hiring either tocchet or torts is another just god aweful move and stinks like old school flyers. Signing anyone from this current team on the 3rd and 4th lines does not help either. And you don’t build around an aging player Atkinson.
So ‘why we lose… what’s the answer if you don’t wanna make any trades, sign anybody or hire a proven coach like torts??
As per the medical team: This is the first season in a long time the team decided to go without utilizing their team chiropractor (who is also the chiropractor for the Eagles) with the mindset that one of the DO’s on staff can “do what they do”. Anyone who knows and understands what chiropractic is truly about, knows differently. Chiropractic’s basis is on prevention not waiting until something is “broken” then try to fix it. Injuries happen in hockey, it’s a high speed contact sport, but the rate at which they occurred, how long they have lingered and the amount and quickness of re-injury this season, you cannot believe not having a true chiropractor on staff this season isn’t directly related. Look around the world of sports, every top sports team and/or athlete has their own team or private chiropractor. Philadelphia needs to wake up to the times and do everything it can do get back on top. The greatest ability a professional hockey player can have is availability.