Rebuild Or Retool: How Should The Flyers Proceed

Photo Credit: Katelynn Reiss

What to do? What to do? What to do? These thoughts have to be going through General Manager of the Flyers Chuck Fletcher’s mind night after night for the past month. Moreover, I’m pretty certain every Flyers fan and their mother is thinking the same thing now. The season has a feeling of “It’s all over duh-duh-duh-da-da-da. It’s all over”.

The Flyers have to keep their game simple and stop forcing the puck. They have to get off to faster starts, and it’s a must for a bounce back season. Yes, coming back from the pandemic was tough, and everyone knew it wasn’t going to be easy, however, every team was faced with the same situation. The Flyers have to start taking care of the puck better, and they need more puck possession time. They are turning the puck over at a high rate, thus limiting puck possession time. It appears they are always chasing the game.

Inconsistent/Slow Starts

Once again one thing that we have learned is that the Flyers have remained an inconsistent hockey team, regardless of injuries or players out in Covid Protocol. Some nights they started out great, and other times not so much. Let me ask you this question, how many more coaches have to be fired to get off the better starts? It is appalling that the Flyers year in and year out cannot get off to good starts consistently, and that to me is the biggest problem with the Flyers team the past few years. They cannot continue to play behind the eight ball, they are just not good enough to continue coming back against top-tier teams. The Flyers are now 2-15-2 after allowing the first goal of the game.

Just imagine if the Flyers haven’t received good Goaltending from Carter Hart or Martin Jones. I can only fathom how bad the Flyers would be right now as they sit 13-15-7. It’s mind-boggling that year after year for the past eight seasons or so this very topic has to be discussed. How do the Flyers get off to faster starts? Why are they ill prepared to start the games? Who knows, right? The Flyers were 8-3 when they scored the first goal in the playoffs in 2020 go figure.

For the last four to five years, maybe longer, the Flyers notoriously have come out flat, and behind the 8-ball in a lot of games. It appears they lack the urgency, and they play uninspired hockey for about two periods or so. This has resulted in them fighting for their playoff lives as their season is now on life support and they have only played 35 games thus far, however they are down by five points to the Boston Bruins for the last playoff spot, to make matters worse the Bruins have four games in hand, as well. Something has to give to fix the problem, and almost every player should be expendable at the trade deadline to start fixing this problem, minus the likes of Joel Farabee, Carter Hart, and Ivan Provorov.

Power Play

What more needs to be written about the inconsistencies with the man advantage. The Flyers cycle the puck well at times, but other times not so much. Just shoot the puck and keep it simple.

Teams are sensing the extra pass, thus picking off the pass and clearing the puck out of the zone with no problem. The Flyers Power Play has simply not been good enough, and it is an area of concern as they sit with the 26th ranked PP with a 16.2% success rate. This is a bit of improvement under interim head coach Mike Yeo as they sat with the 31st ranked power play before he took over, but nonetheless it still has to improve to make this team a more consistent one. 

At the end of the season last year Chuck Fletcher stated, “You also have to be careful, it’s a small sample size. It’s obviously a critical sample size. We really could have used some power play goals. Then again, you go back certain times this year, you can find ten, fifteen games, where we were clicking. Why that is? That’ll be one of the questions we have to answer and certainly we’ll look hard at.”

Will

The Flyers appear lifeless at times, especially when things go South. Yes, they have overcome some deficits at times, but this won’t happen every night. This is just unacceptable for a team that was looking to bounce back from a horrid 2020-21 season.

They just sit back and take these defeats with showing little heart at times. Asides from Zack MacEwen, no one has taken matters into their own ends trying to inspire the team. This has to change, and it starts with the locker room. I believe this is on the players, not Mike Yeo, as both he and Cam Atkinson said in their post game pressers last week that some players had to “Dig deeper”.

Have I always agreed with Yeo’s lineup decisions…no, especially with his usage of Kevin Hayes. However, this team is too darn talented to be this bad. The Flyers have switched coaches time and time again, it’s time for the players to take responsibility for once.

Kevin Hayes

Speaking of Kevin Hayes, he has been unnoticeable at times, and that should be expected this season. I warned Flyers fans before the season began in the Summer time not to expect much from Hayes this season. It had little to do with his brothers recent tragedy, but the Flyers have had experience with abdominal procedures in the past. Each player that has come back from an abdominal procedure for the Flyers in the past (Claude Giroux, Shayne Gostisbehere, Brian Elliott), did not perform well that particular season, and Kevin Hayes is no different.

Hayes knows he has to be better, and he will tell just that. However, he is also playing OUT OF position as he should be the 3C on a team like the Flyers when they are completely healthy. Each time he moves up the lineup I cringe, that’s just what he is a 3C.

Carter Hart

Carter Hart entered the 2021-22 season looking to recapture his great 2019-20 season. He also entered this 2019-20 season. He also entered this season with the chip on the shoulder, and that has become apparent. He is performing at a high level, and the disappointment that this season has turned out to be is not on his shoulders.

So what everyone is seeing from a young 23-year-old is a composed goaltender primarily between the pipes. For those that watch the Flyers nightly, they understand that there are no goaltending issues for the Flyers, however, those that do not watch the Flyers nightly and stat watch would think that there is a goaltending problem…nope, nope, nope not this time.

“Carter’s a very good young goaltender and he performed really well in the playoffs,” Fletcher said last year, “He performed well all year. I think at the beginning of the year, he struggled a little bit on the road, which I think is more of a fluke. Do I think there will be regression next year? No. He’ll probably have a more normal record on the road. He’s always played really well on the road at every level. If you look at what he’s been able to do, it’s a tough league for young players, never mind young goaltenders. He showed the ability to win games. He showed the ability to bounce back after tough performances, which you’re always looking for. Everybody is going to have tough nights from time to time. His ability to turn the page very quickly was impressive. Carter’s going to be a big part of it, as are a lot of our other young players. I think on the whole, you look back.”

What should Fletcher do?

Fletcher should approach this trade deadline with next year in mind. Any player that has an expiring contract could be moved by the deadline. Yes, it is unlikely that a trade will happen this month, but the Flyers should ask Giroux to waive his no movement clause. That should include a list of teams to be traded to. It’s a shame it’s come to that, as Giroux is one of the best players to lace his skates up for this organization, but this is about the future for the Flyers, a season in which it’s highly unlikely they make the playoffs.

The Flyers need a rebuild on the fly to get out of mediocrity. This season has the makings for a 2020-21 season, if not worse. In addition, this team as constructed is not a bad one, but it’s not a good one either. I would actually build around a veteran in Cam Atkinson, who wears his heart on his sleeve.The Flyers should be able to get a first round pick and much much more for Giroux. Draft capital, an NHL ready player, and maybe a prospect, should be what Fletcher is after for the services of Giroux.

I would listen to offers for Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and Travis Sanheim as could all net good returns. James van Riemsdyk could be moved if the Flyers eat salary, which they should. Rasmus Ristolainen has an expiring contract, so he is a no-brainer to move at the deadline.

Unfortunately, the Flyers could be stuck with the Hayes contract, however, Scott Laughton would be a hot commodity, and should be moved with the right deal. The Flyers do have Elliot Desnoyers in the pipeline, who could replace Laughton in a year or two.

One prospect that would be exempt from moving is Cam York. I’m only putting one prospect on this list, and it is York. Morgan Frost remains inconsistent, and I’m not saying he’s not going to be a good player, as I think he will be. However, if the right trade becomes available and that team wants Frost, I’m trading Frost without hesitation.

This team is far better than how they are currently playing. Hopefully the Flyers right the ship and somehow find a way to make the playoffs, if not a major shake-up shall ensue in the offseason.

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