What could have been, if the Flyers’ Former GM Ron Hextall had only listened

Photo Credit: Len Redkoles

Philadelphia’s horrid play as of late prompted the franchise’s most notable player of all time- Bob Clarke- recently to come out and basically blame the team’s former general manager Ron Hextall for everything that is wrong with team currently. That’s got this writer thinking: just how much truth was in this statement made by this Flyers legend. Was he right? Or was he just trying to take the spotlight off the team’s current general manager Chuck Fletcher (who should already be starting to post his resume on zip recruiter given that his team’s ongoing losing streak is now up to twelve straight games, and the team consequently finds themselves in last place in the Metropolitan Division).

Well, previously it had been made public upon his firing that Hextall was a bit of a control freak during his time here as general manager (GM). It was to the point where he did not allow his players’ kids in the locker room before or after a game or practice. He also was said to even try to govern what the players ate for their pregame meals. In fact, towards the end of his era it was said that Hexy became so closed off and untrusting of everyone in the Flyers’ organization that he wouldn’t even keep his bosses in the loop as far as his intentions for the team. Secluding himself away with only his then-Assistant General Manager Chris Pryor, they listened to no one and tried to keep everything close to the vest. This, and the fact that Hextall refused to fire then-Head Coach Dave Hakstol after receiving word from the executives that it was time to do so, ultimately lead his demise. 

As a result, after referring back to this, there just may be some truth to Clarke’s statements of Hextall refusing to listen to the team scouts who were all in agreement a couple of times concerning who to select and then Ron chose someone else. The best mentioned was in 2017 when Hextall selected the already injury prone Nolan Patrick second overall instead of selecting defenseman Cale Makar who was then taken by the Colorado Avalanche with the fourth selection. 

After hearing this I decided to take a look back just were else during his tenure with Philly this so-called “draft guru” may have made similar mistakes. Now, with that being said, this is just for fun. It’s easy to look back as far as eight years ago now and say the team should have drafted this guy when they are now a proven talent. It’s not always that easy when said player/players are promising- but still unpolished- prospects. But keeping that in mind, let’s take a look back at some players who Ron should have drafted instead, and what could have been.

No place better to start than the beginning, where Ron Hextall’s first pick made as the Flyers’ GM back in 2014 was to choose defenseman Travis Sanheim with the 17^th overall selection. This choice on the surface doesn’t appear to be that bad considering the now 25-year-old Sanheim to date has played in 295 career games with the Flyers. It does sting a little when you realize the Boston Bruins got David Pastrnak that same year with the 25^th pick. Pastrnak, who is now infamously known in Philadelphia as a Flyers killer, has even managed to turn it up a notch against the Flyers recently: Between this season and last David has racked up ten goals and six assists, for sixteen points in just nine regular season games against the Flyers. He already has career highs of 48 goals and 95 points in the 2019-2020 season which not only helped him to make his second all-star team but allowed him to share the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy (given to the player who had the most goals that season) with the great Alex Ovechkin that year. 

Then, in 2015 with the 7^th overall pick, Hextall selected Ivan Provorov. A good pick for sure considering he’s been the team’s number one defenseman for years now and continues to log a ton of minutes for the orange and black, but he’s a -9 on the year and holds a career plus/minus rating of zero or even. It leaves one to wonder: With Provorov coming from such a deep draft would it have been better to select defenseman Zach Werenski who was taken 8^th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets, winger Mikko Rantanen who was taken 10^th overall by the Colorado Avalanche, or center Matthew Barzal who was taken 16^th overall by the New York Islanders?  I don’t know, but a player of Mikko’s talents sure would have been nice to acquire. Could you imagine a 6’4 215 pound winger who loves nothing more than to shoot the puck but at the same time can set up teammates just as well? This season Rantanen already has 22 goals and 27 assists totaling 49 points. 

The Flyers’ third round pick that same year was goaltender Felix Sandström at #70 but just two picks later center Anthony Cirelli was taken by the Tampa Bay Lightning. While Cirelli may not be a name that is as well known as others previously mentioned or that will be mentioned later in this article, he, unlike most of the others, already has two Stanley Cup rings on his hand at only 24 years of age. As far as what Anthony brings to the table, well, he plays a sound defensive game where he currently holds a career plus 74 rating and remains a major component in the Lightnings’ success. 

Continuing with the same draft year: Hextall managed to miss out on yet another colossal young talent in the fifth round. He chose to select David Kase 128^th overall instead of Kirill Kaprizov who Chuck Fletcher (at the time was the Minnesota Wild’s GM) was able to draft 135^th overall. Kaprizov exploded on the scene last season for the Wild after terrorizing the KHL for the past six seasons. In playing in 55 games in his rookie year he was able to net 27 goals and 24 assists for 51 points, and he is well on his way to surpassing all those numbers this season as well. Where is Kase now you may be asking? Well, after struggling to make it past the American Hockey League level for a number of years, when given the chance to play with the Flyers in just one game last season Kase showed that he was still less-than-stellar. So Kase now finds himself back playing in the Czech Republic. 

Still analyzing Hextall’s 2015 draft blunders we now take a look at the 6^th round where Ron selected forward Cooper Marody with the 158^th pick- a player who was later dealt for a third-round pick which the Flyers received from the Edmonton Oilers. After, Cooper was finished with the NCAA and decided to move on from the University of Michigan. After three seasons he still finds himself the majority of the time in the AHL. This is as opposed to the Calgary Flames winger Andrew Mangiapane who was drafted 166^th that same year, who is already in his fifth season in the NHL and leads the Flames in goals this season with 18 so far. 

Moving on to Hextall’s 2016 draft class we’ll look past his first round pick German Rubtsov who has proven to be a dud, and instead move on to his second round pick Pascal Laberge who was taken 36^th overall that year. This two-way player was supposed to be a hardworking, goal-scoring threat when scouted out of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) where he excelled playing for the Victoriaville Tigers but never seemed to develop when playing for the Phantoms of the AHL. Therefore, he now can be found playing for the Maine Mariners of the East Coast Hockey League where he has been excelling once the Flyers failed to re-sign him. Hextall and the Flyers could have had the explosive forward Alex DeBrincat who was taken by the Chicago Blackhawks just three picks later at #39. DeBrincat has been playing in the NHL for the Blackhawks for five years now and has career highs of 41 goals and 76 points, both stemming from the 2018-2019 campaign. This diminutive forward has proven his success is not to be a one-time thing. Even with these past few years being shortened due to COVID and this season not being over yet, Alex still has managed to score an average of 28.6 goals a season and 52.4 points per year. Not too shabby for a guy who is able to destroy his adversaries despite only standing 5’7 huh? 

Lastly, we take a look at the most notable draft-day gaffe: 2017’s number two overall pick Nolan Patrick. Before even being drafted, this once-thought-to-be-elite prospect’s medical record was chocked full of past injuries. Still, even knowing this, Hextall chose to select Patrick despite all his scouts not only pleading against it but being in agreement for him to select another player. The player who the Flyers’ scouting department was pining over at the time was defenseman Cale Makar who the Colorado Avalanche were ecstatic to see fall to them at 4^th overall. Makar, who won a Hobey Baker Award (for being the top U.S. collegiate player) as well as a Calder Trophy (for being the top rookie in the NHL), sure would have been nice to have playing on the right side of the first defensive pairing here in Philly. Especially since this 23-year-old defenseman currently is performing at over a point-per-game pace (where he has 39 points in just 36 games played) is a plus 22 on the season, and has his team currently sitting first in the Central Division. 

Now, again, it’s easy for us to sit here and play “couch cushion GM” years removed from Hextall making these picks and say he should have drafted this guy or that guy now that they are thriving in the NHL. Perhaps though, if Hexy would have listened a little more to his staff members who are paid to evaluate draft prospects, the Flyers would have been lucky enough to land one if not more of these great players and thus may not be in such a unfathomable hole that seems too deep to crawl out of. 

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