Photo Credit: NHL.com
Chuck Fletcher held his annual trade deadline presser, and it’s easy to see why some Flyers fans are confused or remain confused for that matter. He danced around the term “Rebuild”, and now their plan becomes clearer that this is indeed a rebuild on the fly.
Some fans don’t want to hear this, but this team will not be gutted from the top-down. That is what a good rebuild does, but it takes longer to pull off. It appears that the Flyers don’t have the patience for that, and would rather rebuild on the fly using draft capital to get younger. This also means acquiring prospects like an Owen Tippett (Project) with the hopes of them resurrecting their careers. This means those fans that want the Flyers to tank for Connor Bedard, it will not happen unless the Flyers lose, but not intentionally.
“We’re selling. We have been pretty clear about all year. Some of these injuries have afforded a runway for the young players. A few days ago we had the seventh youngest roster in the NHL. We have developed a Flyer identity of being a harder team to play against.” – Chuck Fletcher
Although, the Flyers are in a selling mode, this is where it gets dicey and confusing. Fletcher specifically indicated that they are not looking to sell Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett, or Noah Cates, rather he wants to see who the next two prospects would be next season of one of these three established NHL’ers. Yes you read that properly, Fletcher believes that the three aforementioned players above are now established NHL’ers.
Furthermore, he stated that he has had talks with Dave Scott, and everyone understands where the team is at, “We all recognize where we are at,” Fletcher said. “We are not making the playoffs. I can throw numbers all day, point percentage basis. We are the fifth most improved team. Clearly, that’s nice, but that is not good enough.”
“We are not making the playoffs.” – Chuck Fletcher
It appears that they have a clear path with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, to which they are prioritizing them to make the playoffs, while hoping they advance to the Calder Cup. Fletcher says they have four recalls following the trade deadline, and they will be careful on how they utilize those recalls. To make things more clearer this depends on how many players he is able to sell by the time the trade deadline commences on Friday. For instance, if both Nick Seeler and Justin Braun are traded, then obviously one of Ronnie Attard, Adam Ginning, or Egor Zamula would be recalled for the rest of the season. Fletcher specifically named these three defensemen, so to me that is the depth chart right now.
“The biggest thing or one of the biggest things is that Lehigh team. We want to get them in the playoffs. That’s why Ers is down there.” – John Tortorella
Tortorella said winning a Calder Cup could do wonders for development, so he fully supports the AHL. It appears that Fletcher and Tortorella are on the same page with where the organization stands at this point. Fletcher added the Flyers want to get younger, and obtain prospects/draft capital/prospect reclamation projects to better the team. It makes me wonder if the Flyers would look to trade for Alexis Lafrenière from the New York Rangers in the offseason. The Flyers took on Owen Tippett, to which Fletcher did speak highly of Morgan Frost, Owen Tippett, and Noah Cates. This is just a food for thought.
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What happens next is anyone’s guess, but keep an eye on two teams: the Vegas Golden Knights and the Calgary Flames for the services of James van Riemsdyk.
Fletcher has been the GM for 5 years. The Flyers have missed the playoffs 3 years in a row. The team is at the salary cap max. The Phantoms have not made the playoffs since Fletcher took over even though 70% of the teams in the AHL make the playoffs. The Rangers just acquired Patrick Kane. And they think so low of the Flyers that they aren’t even starting him tonight. The Wells Fargo Center is going to be 60% Rangers fans on a nationally broadcasted game.
And the Flyers announce they are focusing on winning the Stanley Cup.
Heads would be rolling if Snider was still in charge.
I meant to say Calder Cup!
This team just has me so annoyed. I miss the Flyers.