Date Published: 11-4-2022
Photo Credit: Our very own Jamey Baskow
The Flyers are a surprising 5-3-2 right now, despite being decimated at the Forward position yet again this season. They are without the services of Cam Atkinson, where he went from possibly playing in the pre-season, to possibly playing in the home opener, then to day-to-day, and we are nearly a month and a half into the season already and he has yet to suit up for one game. In addition to Atkinson, Sean Couturier just had back surgery in Dallas, Texas and he will be out for approximately 3 to 4 months, which is practically the entire season. Coupled with the likes of James van Riemsdyk being sidelined 4-6 weeks while he recovers from finger surgery, Bobby Brink being injured, and Patrick Brown having offseason back surgery. This is really turning into a mess with injuries just like the 2020-21 and 2021-22 season’s.
Now it’s the time for Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher to act, as his job might be on the line to do so. I’m not saying act by utilizing the waiver wire that the Flyers have used for the past few seasons, well I might add, but actually acquiring a goal scorer. There are no more excuses, the Flyers have the cap space to pull off such a move, and new Flyers head coach John Tortorella is begging for it especially when he says, “We need to dig deep and score by committee.” How often have Flyers fans heard Tortorella say within the past few weeks that the Flyers need to score by “Committee”?….quite often.
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Going back into time Fletcher should have inked a versatile Center Dylan Strome to a deal. At the very least he could have been a goal scorer at the 3C position, especially with knowing that Couturier suffered a setback of some sort in the Summer. Unfortunately, the Flyers too often have relied on injured bodies to return to full health for the past few seasons, and this is happening to key players for the overall success of the team. Now it’s time for Fletcher to be proactive, and not wait until the last minute to make a move that isn’t there, or a move where he gets into a bidding war with other teams.
It’s time for Fletcher to go after one of the likes of Patrick Kane (UFA at years end), possibly a young Tyler Bertuzzi (UFA at years end), Dylan Larkin (UFA at years end), or Bo Horvat (UFA at years end).
There are some intriguing names that are mentioned, and all may not be publicly available. However, the Detroit Red Wings may not be able to sign every player, to include some of their youth. In addition, the Vancouver Canucks might be in the same situation as the Red Wings, so why not call about Horvat’s services. There are reasons why these players haven’t been re-signed yet, and it could quite possibly be that the players want to hold out until they actually become a free agent for more money, or the teams want to hold out on one of these aforementioned players for more trade chip purposes. Unfortunately, Fletcher’s hand is in the time of essence right now.
It’s time for Fletcher to be proactive. This team is in dire need of goal scoring, and I’m not talking about it from a youth perspective of calling up a young prospect from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms that more than likely isn’t ready. Unfortunately, they need them right now as their season may be influx here. Give Tortorella something to work with, more talent, he’s crying for help. The Flyers have approximately $2.8 million in cap space, without Couturier being moved to LTIR, so there are no cap constraint excuses for not obtaining an impactful player now.
There are absolutely no excuses, none. The season may be hanging in the balance here. It’s time to act, NOW.
The best thing fletcher can do is quit or retire and take the rest of this trash front office with him.