Photo Credit: Abiagael Filon
The Flyers are in the mist of their offseason, and they have a lot of work to do. Chuck Fletcher and his front office will be very busy, and rightfully so. They have endured two disappointing seasons in a row, to which now the Flyers just want to make the playoffs. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
Here is what a trade could look like for the Flyers to move up to the second overall pick, currently held by the New Jersey Devils:
Devils receive: Travis Konecny or Joel Farabee/Fourth overall pick in 2023
Flyers receive: Second overall pick
These type of trades do not happen for a reason, and it’s due to the cost to move up.
Here is what a trade could look like if the Flyers moved back, so I will make a hypothetical with a team (Buffalo Sabres are slated to pick 9th overall):
Buffalo receives: Fifth overall pick (David Jiricek or Joakim Kemell)
Flyers receive: An NHL ready player (Top 6 ceiling) like Dylan Cozens or Viktor Olofsson, 5th round pick in 2023 0r 2024
Again these type of moves do not transpire very often with picks within the top 10 due to the price a team has to pay to move up for an unknown player essentially.
Ryan Ellis seems very happy. He finally has a proper diagnosis and a plan moving forward, so let’s hope this is a sign of good things to come, “Like I said, we have a plan,” Ryan Ellis said at exit interviews. “Everyone’s very happy and comfortable with the plan and I’m excited to be ready for training camp. It’s going to be a long summer, trying to get through it all, but I’m excited.”
Ellis continued, “It’s honestly been the hardest year of my life. Can’t say I’ve been through anything harder. Coming to a new team, this year is probably the most excited I’ve been for hockey. New team, new city, new fans, new building, you name it. Everything was new and exciting. Our team had unbelievable upside to it all.”
According to Fletcher from exit interviews, he stated he should know more about Ryan Ellis’s health in July. Let’s assume he comes to training camp 100%, and finally healthy. My guess is he plays in 67 games next season on the top pairing with Ivan Provorov.
There has been an organizational shift with remaining competitive and obviously making playoffs. Unfortunately, the Flyers goal is no longer to win the Stanley Cup, rather just appease everyone and make the playoffs. On the surface this doesn’t make sense as the overall goal is to win the Stanley Cup for some teams. However, the Flyers are no where near Stanley Cup contention, so the reality is they have no other choice but to just hope to make the playoffs.
Not only have they suffered two very disappointing seasons, they are also in a very tough division. One has to think which teams will the Flyers jump in the division to make the playoffs next season? I really don’t see them surpassing anyone in the Metropolitan Division next season to make the playoffs: the New York Islanders will be better, the New York Rangers will be there, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be there, the Washington Capitals will be there, the Carolina Hurricanes will be there, realistically Chuck Fletcher is right. It’s hard to envision the Flyers surpassing one of these said teams to make the playoffs. Let’s not forget the New Jersey Devils will be better as well, and they have a possibility of adding another young sniper in Juraj Slafkovský with the second overall pick in 2022.
The Flyers just endured one of the worst seasons historically, so it’s hard to envision them having a successful season next season. They have no other choice but to just want to compete and make the playoffs, it’s hard to envision them as Stanley Cup contenders. This is why some fans are calling for a full rebuild, as opposed to this “Aggressive Retool”, to which it could set the Flyers back another two or three years anyways.
Fletcher said to the media and fans alike at his season ending press conference that they need to get back to being the “2019-20 team.” Unfortunately, the Flyers have placed themselves in this position, so it started with the 2020-21 team. It’s easy to continue blaming the coaching staff, but after enduring two terrible seasons in a row, it’s time for the players to take some responsibility for the lack of success. This organization is about the hire their fifth coach in six seasons, that’s embarrassing in its own right.
“This season was a tough season and I have mentioned that before,” Fletcher said at the season ending presser. “There are certainly a lot of areas we need to improve upon as a team. You go back to that ‘19-20 season where we played really well and played the right way. Prior to the pause, we were one of the best teams in the league. The process was good and the results were good. We were clicking and clearly the last two seasons for various reasons, we just haven’t been able to get back to that level. Certainly, that is our goal.”
Circling back to your question, this organizational shift with the overall goal of just making the playoffs started to transpire in the 2020-21 season. The City of Philadelphia is a proud hockey city, hopefully the front office can jump start the passion and fire that Flyers fans have once again with a good offseason.
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.
The Stanley Cup stopped being the goal and making the playoffs became the goal once comcast got involved.