The Flyers are currently 13-10-2. At the time of this writing they are sitting in third place of the Metro division. They just took both games of a home-and-home series against their cross-state rivals. The Flyers goaltending has been really strong so far this season and in those two games against the Penguins both Hart and Ersson were exceptional. There are those who would argue that this is exactly the opposite of what the Flyers should be doing right now.
Everybody’s got an opinion, and I’ll give you mine in a bit, but here’s the question. As a Flyers Fan is it ok to be happy right now? There are those who would argue that all of these accomplishments are a detriment to the future of the team. The reasoning is that the Flyers are in the early stages of a rebuild and the lower they are in the standings the better off they are. The worst teams get the best picks. There is also a fear that the organization is going to stop making subtractions too soon. That they’re not going to cut deep enough and settle once again for a slightly different flavor of mediocrity.
Last year’s roster featured many veteran players who are no longer with the team. Kevin Hayes, Tony DeAngelo, James van Riemsdyk, Ivan Provorov, Zack MacEwen, Patrick Brown, Kieffer Bellows, Brendan Lemieux, and Justin Braun have all parted ways with the team. Braun retired but the others were technically available. The Flyers were ready to move on. You also have a 2nd year coach, new GM, new president, and new CEO along with other organizational changes. All that being said you still have those who hold the opinion that more demo needs to be done.
The Great Divide
Where do you stop subtracting? This is where the argument can get heated. There are players currently on the roster who some Flyers Fans consider as being part of the future. Still others see the same players as highly valuable trade bait. Both scenarios are arguable. Here are a few names that are sure to spark the hot point of that debate. Players like Carter Hart, Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, and Joel Farabee to name a few. Travis Sanheim would be on that list as well before his contract locked him in. All of these relatively young players could fit easily into either category depending on your point of view. They are either too good to let go or too valuable to keep.
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We are looking at a rebuild that has the Flyers not being where they are headed for a few years. Either Hart or Konecny could probably get the team a pretty good haul in return right now. The argument isn’t how much that would hurt the team currently, which it would. The argument is are these guys young enough and valuable enough to be part of the core that you are building around? These particular players are on the cusp. They are just coming into their prime, not too young, not too old. All the hard work has already been put into them and it’s already paying off for the team. Not every prospect pans out.
So the argument can be made that bits of sweet success like we saw this week will make it too tempting to hang on to some of these valuable trade assets. And that is a valid point in the big picture, I guess. I can totally imagine three years from now saying “can you imagine this team if we still had Carter Hart in the net?”
So… Is it ok for Flyers Fans to be happy when things are going well?
In my humble opinion… Of course it is, have at it. Rome wasn’t built in a day. This rebuild is going to take as long as it takes. It’s not going to happen overnight. There will be huge amounts of down time between trades and drafts and there’s a lot of hockey to be played in between. And hockey is awesome.
Short term John Tortorella is hell bent on winning hockey games no matter who he has on his team. If that is true in the short term, why wouldn’t it be the case in the long term as well. In the big picture he is looking to have the best combination of players on his with to win hockey games with. I don’t believe he’s willing to settle for a mediocre final product. He did not come here to lose. It is not in his nature.
The feeling and mood in the building for that second Penguins game was electric. Ice hockey is a very exciting sport and that game had all the right elements. If you’re a Flyers Fan and you couldn’t enjoy Coots scoring the game winning goal in overtime then you are thinking too much. You’re cheating yourself out of the joy of the sport. We all want the future to be bright. We all know this isn’t the finished product. But sometimes you just gotta be in the here and now. Happiness can be hard to come by in this world. If you’re watching the greatest game on earth and your favorite team is having a killer night don’t just like it, love it!
You have to trust that an organization that wants to win every game also wants to put together the best team it possibly can. If no game is too small to fight for then no trophy is too big to shoot for.
It’s hockey season, enjoy it.
