Photo Credit: Zack Hill
On March, 30, 2020, the Flyers (89 Points) currently sit one point out of first place in the Metropolitan Division with the Washington Capitals (90 Points). Unbelievable right!!! Then boom, this Coronavirus appears to have taken some jingle from Flyers fans. Don’t let it happen folks, as the greatest sport on Earth plans to reconvene at some point.
Thanks to former General Manager Ron Hextall and the current General Manager Chuck Fletcher this is all being made possible. The Flyers are finally a contender, and let’s just see how this pans out when the season (Hopefully) reconvenes.
The drafting guru in Hextall, and his scouting staff did a phenomenal job in putting a successful stamp on the Flyers current roster throughout the course of the season. This young orange and black team is littered with “Hextall” prospects up and down this roster (To include undrafted free agents) like Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom, Joel Farabee, Travis Konecny, NAK, Philippe Myers, Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov, and Carter Hart. Moreover, Mark Friedman, Morgan Frost, Alex Lyon, Connor Bunnaman, Mikhail Vorobyev, Carsen Twarynski, and David Kase have all seen time with the big club this season, at some point or another.
This young Flyers team and farm system is being built for the long haul, and both Hextall and Fletcher have made their imprints. Just take a look at “Hextall’s” Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Reading Royals teams with the likes of Wyatte Wylie, Wade Allison, Tanner Laczynski, Matthew Strome, Felix Sandstrom, Kirill Ustimenko, Alex Lyon, Isaac Ratcliffe, Pascal Laberge, Maksim Sushko, Twarynski, Frost, Friedman, and Kase. Not mentioned are some pretty solid prospects who will be joining the Phantoms in the future, such as, Yegor Zamula, Jay O’Brien, Olle Lycksell, Noah Cates, David Bernhardt (Hopefully), Linus Hogberg (Hopefully), Adam Ginning, Ivan Fedotov, Samuel Ersson, and Wyatt Kalynuk.
Fletcher added young talent from this past draft, as well, with the likes of Cam York, Bobby Brink, Mason Millman, Roddy Ross, Yegor Serdyuk, and Bryce Brodzinski. It’s good to see Fletcher leaving off, where Hextall began. Fletcher added some key parts to this Flyers team this past off-season, and this simply has elevated this club from a pretender, to a contender this season. However, the additions of Kevin Hayes, Justin Braun, Matt Niskanen, Tyler Pitlick, Derek Grant (Trade Deadline), Nate Thompson (Trade Deadline), and re-signing Brian Elliott have done wonders for this club.
The neat thing about Fletcher is he is not afraid to pull the trigger, and the right trigger for that matter. Every single one of his additions this past off-season, and the trade deadline have worked out thus far. Each player, to include Thompson (PK skills), have played an integral part (At one time or another) to the overall success of this team.
Together Hextall and Fletcher have and will continue to build a contender. To the fans of Philadelphia, you will see multiple Stanley Cup Championships here in the future, as Fletcher will continue to add the right pieces. It’s time to believe in this team, and the time starts now.
Thank you Jamey! You are the first writer to give Ron Hextall the credit he deserves for all the outstanding young players he signed and drafted. Those players are now blossoming for the Flyers. (Had the Flyers goaltending not been a disaster last year, Hextall would still be the GM). Nice article.
PS. Did you mentionWyatt Kalynuk?
Gregg,
Thanks a lot for the kind response. This was a good one to write, and Hextall kicked butt during his tenure here with Philadelphia. I did mention that seventh round stud in Kalynuk. I hope you and your family stay safe