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With the Holiday’s & Chuck’s Imminent Dismissal now upon us, here are some Objectives his Successor must look to Achieve.
With the team in the midst of their third straight losing season, the Flyers’ General Manager (GM) Chuck Fletcher’s dismissal seems imminent. What is sad, though, is despite how bad of a job Fletcher has done during his tenure here in Philadelphia, Dave Scott, who holds the title of Chairman & CEO of Comcast Spectacor as well as the self-appointed title of “Governor” over the Flyers will likely, not outright fire his beloved Chuck, but rather “promote” him to the title of “Senior Advisor” a job the aging 67-year-old Paul Holmgren currently holds.
Now Chuck’s firing/possible promotion should mean the team will go out and look to fill Chuck’s impending vacancy with a proven young initiative thinker like Chris MacFarland, the Colorado Avalanche’s assistant general manager, Eric Tulsky, the Carolina Hurricanes Ast. GM who is an analytics genius and holds a master’s degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. Or perhaps even the highly decorated Brooks Bandits head coach and general manager Ryan Papaioannou, who discovered and developed both Cale Makar and the NCAA’s current point leader Ryan McAllister to name a few. However, that search is likely not even to begin because the Flyers have already been grooming their next man up for some time now, and that, of course, is former Flyer, Danny Briere.
The Grooming Process
It all started with a not so gently push from the team’s “Alternate Governor”/ President and CEO of Spectacor Sports and Entertainment, Valerie Camillo. She suggested that Danny go back to school and get a degree. So Briere decided to attend and graduate from the prestigious Wharton School of Finance. To further this push, upon Danny finishing school, he was gifted the job of running another Comcast-owned team, the ECHL’s Maine Mariners, for a couple of years. Then when the powers at be thought he was good and ready to assist with the big club, ownership created his current job with the Flyers: Special Assistant to the General Manager so he could be under the tutelage of the floundering Chuck Fletcher.
So, seeing that the plans are already in place for not if, but when Chuck Fletcher is relieved from his current duties, let’s focus on what Danny should be assessing the minute he moves into Chuck’s old office.
Tradeable Assets:
With the season nearing the halfway point and the team currently seated in the 7th spot in the Metropolitan Division, Danny (or whomever the new gm may be) should be thinking about his tradeable assets, especially since this draft is projected to be one of the best in quite some time. Who should they look to be getting rid of, you may be asking? Of course, the popular name floating about the rumor mill right now is Kevin Hayes, whose chances of being traded are being quantified as we speak because of his current disagreement with his head coach John Tortorella. While most feel Hayes would bring a decent return, I think the possibility of finding another gm who is willing and or able to take on his $7,142,857 in salary (which he gets paid until the end of the 2025-2026 season) during the middle of the season is a bit of a pipedream, primarily, because Kevin holds a modified no-movement clause.
Instead, a player who is more likely to get moved by the end of the year would be James van Riemsdyk a 33-year-old impending free agent who was the Flyers’ top goal scorer last year and currently has 12 points in 13 games played this season. While James is no longer the competitor he once was when playing for the Maple Leafs, he is still an effective net-front presence who could help any contenders power play unit. Plus, Philadelphia could easily retain half his salary for the rest of this season in exchange for a potential 1st or 2nd round draft pick.
Another tradeable asset is their 23-year-old impending restricted free Morgan Frost, who, despite playing in 109 NHL games over four seasons, has only begun to show a smidgen of what the Flyers thought he would be. In my opinion, his career 0.119 goals per game average, along with his 0.321 points per game average, does not warrant the team turning down an offer full of future assets. And yes, I know he has scored a goal in each of the last two games, but remember, the Flyers are playing against teams’ backups most nights now. For example, against the Rangers, Frost did not score on Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin. He scored on 37-year-old Jaroslav Halak. Against Columbus, he was not facing starter Elvis Merzlik; he scored on prospect Danil Tarasov.
Moving up in Draft:
Another thing Chuck’s successor should look to do once they are named the tenth general manager in team history is to move up in the draft. The Flyers do not possess a second-round pick in this upcoming draft or the following year. However, they hold two third-rounders and two fourth-round picks this summer. When paired together in a draft day trade proposal, Philadelphia could acquire another first or second-round pick. Something this struggling starless franchise so desperately needs. Think about it. This current roster is not set to win now. Still, they could be considered a contender sooner rather than later if they manage to pick up a couple more high-end prospects with any combination of players like Will Smith, Calum Ritchie, Brayden Yager, Andrew Cristall, Riley Heidt, or Cameron Allen from this year’s draft to go along with their 5th overall pick from last season Cutter Gauthier.
Assess the Goaltending Situation:
If there is one particular position that has plagued the Flyers franchise over the years, it would be goaltending. Since Ron Hextall played his last game for Philadelphia in 1999, the team has had an unfathomable 29 different goalies start a game for them. Still, despite Hextall drafting the highly coveted Carter Hart back in 2016. The team still has questions and concerns about who they have standing guard in the blue paint. While Hart is still well-liked in Philadelphia, his career numbers leave a lot to be desired. Defend him all you want, but Carter is now in his fifth year in the NHL. At what point is he going to have a breakout season? Sure, he has shown glimpses at times, but he has yet to put together a solid FULL SEASON of work. To date, he has played in 171 regular season games. He has just three career shutouts to his credit and only 72 wins. Folks that means he has only won 42% of his starts! Shocked? You shouldn’t be, considering his career averages are a 2.94 goals against and a .906 save percentage. Hell, in what was considered to be his best season, he only won 24 games. Those kinds of numbers will get you fired if you’re a backup, let alone if you are now considered the face of the franchise.
What about the guys in the system? Felix Sandstrom is a year older than Hart and has only managed to win one game in the NHL! That’s with him playing in 14 games thus far, and if you do the math, that equates to him winning a laughable 7% of the games he has played in.
Ivan Fedotov would have been an impressive addition this season, but his future is still unknown after being forced into military service in Siberia after signing with the Flyers.
The Troy Grosenick signing was a joke. He currently holds a 3.93 goals-against average while only managing to play in three games for the Phantoms this season, and we won’t even mention Samuel Ersson or Alexei Kolosov, who are struggling in their respected leagues just to maintain a .500 record.
Therefore, this team’s next general manager must take a long, hard look at this position moving forward and ask himself. If Hart continues to struggle and no goaltending prospect steps up to take his place. At what point should we cut our losses with him? And if the new gm isn’t willing to do so, he must ask himself, is it worth being forced to resign Carter after next season just because we have no one better in the system?
If the rumors are true and Chuck is on his way out, seemingly leaving this team in shambles. These previously stated issues are the first of many objectives whatever poor sap that ownership can con into taking the job of general manager of the Flyers should look to achieve. For if they don’t, they will no doubt have a short tenure on South Broad Street.
Prospect Watch: Calvin Vachon
If you have glanced at an NHL Mock Draft lately, you would have seen that this upcoming draft looks to be chalked full of offensive talents, especially down the center of the ice. However, what you won’t find is a lot of quality goaltenders on those lists. That doesn’t mean that they’re not out there, though. Merely that they have just fell victim to NHL clubs narrowing their parameters when searching for their next goaltender of the future. Those parameters in question are that of a goalie’s height. Over the years, the league as a whole has developed the thought process of “the taller a goalie is, the better he must be.” Hence why the league’s average height of an NHL goalie today has climbed to 6’3, compared to that of a forward or defenseman playing in this league that has a mean of just 6’1.
Now, while I understand the game is a lot different than it used to be, I don’t believe a goalie’s height should define his career’s ceiling! Plenty of great goaltenders from the past were of diminutive stature. Take Hockey Hall of Famer Rogie Vachon for insistence. He was able to win a Vezina Trophy and raise the Stanley Cup on three separate occasions with Montreal despite him only standing at only 5’8, and that’s before he ever went on to don the purple and gold in LA, where he became thought of as one of the premier netminders of his time.
For these reasons mentioned above, I think Rogie’s grandson Calvin, who is a 6’0 tall draft-eligible goaltender, has not yet received the acclaim and/or respect he thus deserves. Calvin is a classically trained goaltender who, (like his grandfather) is aggressive in the net, challenging the shooter on every play by coming out well past the top of the crease to cut off the shooter’s angles. On top of that, Calvin follows the puck very well, and when he has to drop to the ice, he tends to keep his hands high to cover the top of the net.
Now, I already know what you’re thinking, but I assure you while being born with a famous surname may have helped to get Calvin some early media exposure while he was playing for the Los Angeles Jr Kings in his early teens. It has been this young guardian of the blue paints’ skill set that has gotten him to the point of possibly being drafted by an NHL team this summer. For example, Vachon has been on this path of greatest for some time. At just 13 years of age, Calvin posted an unheard-of 0.59 goals-against-average (G.A.A.) over 57 games played that season.
If we transition our focus to the current season, we can see that not much has changed. So much so that Calvin got the chance to represent Team USA in this year’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup and is now playing his third season up in Minnesota for the Shattuck St. Mary’s 18U Preparatory High School team (a club that has such alums as Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, and Zach Parise, just to name a few) where he has played in parts of 14 games this season and currently holds an 11-0-0 record on the year with four of those wins coming by way of a shutout. All of which while averaging a 1.86 G.A.A. and a .932 save percentage.
But sadly, because Calvin is not 6’6, he is only being projected to go in the 7th round of this year’s draft. This reminds me of a 6’0 goaltender in Devon Levi, who was a 7th-round draft choice from the 2020 entry draft that I said would prove to be one of the best goaltenders coming out that season. Ergo Levi being named both a Hobey Baker Award Finalist and receiving the honor of being named the Mike Richter Award recipient (award given to the top collegiate goaltender) last year in just his first year competing in the NCAA.
So, I guess what I’m saying is if you’re an NHL team this off-season that is in the market for a goaltending prospect, don’t follow the league norm and pass up the chance to select this excellent young goaltender with an exceptional NHL pedigree just because he is a little shorter than you would like. Because if you do, he is bound to make you regret it!
Back up Options for the Flyers in case; they can’t land Bedard or Fantilli
Photo Credit: @Kelowna_Rockets/Twitter
With the Philadelphia Flyers in the midst of their third consecutive losing season, it would appear as though the orange and black will be drafting once again from within the Draft Lottery. However, this may not be such a bad thing, considering this year’s draft class is stacked with high-end talent.
Now the real prizes of this draft are, of course, Connor Bedard of the Western Hockey Leagues (WHL), Regina Pats, and Adam Fantilli of the Michigan Wolverines of the NCAA. Both of these players will no doubt make a significant impact on their respected clubs the moment they step on the ice in their new teams’ sweaters, but what if the Flyers aren’t one of those lucky teams who get to call out one of these two players’ names come draft day?
Well, I’m here to tell you there are other prospects in this draft class who I think will develop into top-line talent as well, but for Philadelphia to make the most out of their pick, they will have to ensure they do more than just take a “good player.” They will need to find a new face of their franchise, someone who not only will be a real threat to score every time they touch the ice but who every fan in the tri-state area will be willing to go out and spend a couple of hundred dollars on a jersey with their name on it as well.
Brayden Yager
Now, that may be a tall order to ask of the Flyers GM (whoever that may be, come draft day), but it’s a task they should indeed try to ascertain. For example, one player who could grow to fit that need over time from this draft class is Brayden Yager of the WHL’s Moosejaw Warriors. Brayden has one of the most incredible shots in this draft class. He is what they call a finisher, a pure sniper whom every one of his teammates out on the ice looks to in key situations. Last season in the WHL, Brayden scored an impressive 34 goals and 25 assists for 59 points in 63 games played in his inaugural campaign, winning him the honor of being named the CHL’s Rookie of the Year, but somehow, he was still overshadowed by his teammate Jagger Firkus who the Seattle Kraken took in the 2nd round of last years draft. This year though, he and Firkus are being viewed as equals as Yager has managed to light the lamp 16 times and assisted on 18 others totaling 34 points in 28 games played thus far. Folks, that averages out to 1.21 points per game.
Calum Ritchie
My next suggestion comes from a position of need for the Flyers, which is down the middle of the ice. Calum Ritchie is a 6’2, 187-pound center who currently plays for the Ontario Hockey Leagues (OHL) Oshawa Generals. Simply put, Ritchie possesses all the intangibles it takes to be great. Sure, his clean shot and rapid release are nice, but what really makes him stand out from the crowd, in this writer’s opinion, is his on-ice vision which allows Calum to skate through the opposition while making a no-look pass to an awaiting teammate at the mouth of the goal with ease. So far this season, Ritchie has been able to score eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points in 24 games played. I got to tell you, if the Flyers were to end up with this kid, I would not be mad because not only could Calum be trusted to produce offensively, but he would also be sure to make everyone else who plays with him better as well.
Andrew Cristall
If I had to pick one impact player out of this draft that I think the Flyers would benefit most from drafting after Bedard and Fantilli were both off the board, it would have to be Andrew Cristall. This explosive winger who plays for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL has had me memorized all season long. Why, you may be asking? Well, Andrew plays the game with so much charisma that you just can’t wait to see what he does next. Whether he’s celebrating after scoring an impossible goal, passing the puck right to the tape of an awaiting teammates stick for an assist, or stick handling through the other team’s defense like a warm knife through butter, Cristall manages to appear as though he is performing these acts with little to no effort at all. This season Andrew has been able to score at a rate of 1.87 points per game, posting 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points in just 24 games played! With those numbers only being bested by Connor Bedard himself this season in the WHL.
While other draft experts in the coming weeks and months may begin to suggest other prospects that the Flyers should take, based on that player being viewed as the next best available talent according to where the team ends up selecting. Remember, these are my suggestions based on who I think would help to address the Flyers most immediate needs moving forward. Which of these players would you like to see playing on South Broad Street in the near future?