Philadelphia Flyers Waving White Flag This Season

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There are certain NHL destinations where a full-blown roster rebuild is never going to be tolerated very well and the Philadelphia Flyers have got to be one of those spots.

But it’s still the direction that the Flyers are plummeting into amidst a franchise-worst 13 game losing streak that’s seen the Broad Street Bullies drop like a stone in the Metro Division. Certainly, the Philly fans are making their discontent heard loud and clear and Flyers media folks are running out of excuses for the team.

While it doesn’t look like the Flyers are going to completely blow it up, they are also going to look much differently moving forward from the team people have been used to over the last decade.

Team captain and longtime Flyers stalwart Claude Giroux is likely to be moved ahead of the NHL trade deadline despite still being Philly’s leading scorer at 34 years old. He’s been mentioned in trade rumors with teams like the Boston Bruins as a rental acquisition and there’s no doubt he’ll be looking to go to a legit Cup contender this spring.

Ryan Ellis (lower body) and Sean Couturier may get season-ending surgeries sooner rather than later to start the healing process for next season as well, as it’s obvious the Flyers don’t have much to play for the rest of this year. 32-year-old James van Riemsdyk may be bought out of the final year of his contract next season in order to give Philly even more cap space to wheel and deal in an offseason that’s going to be paramount for them.

Defenseman Keith Yandle’s iron man record may go down as the biggest highlight in a season where things have gone wrong most of the season, and where the blame game has already started with Flyers legend Bobby Clarke raking previous GM Ron Hextall over the coals a couple of weeks ago.

Flyers ownership is optimistic the Flyers can snap right back in the mix next season with a roster that still boasts established returning young players if no big moves are made, but it feels to this humble hockey writer like it might take a little longer than that given the dire need for a young start player or two to the mix.

This is where Nolan Patrick turning into a bust as the No. 2 overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft has truly hurt the Flyers in their attempt at ongoing competitiveness. Where would they be with a Cale Makar, or an Elias Pettersson, or even a Nick Suzuki or a Robert Thomas instead as a young start helping to lead the way?

“I don’t think there’s any question we need more top-end talent. Claude Giroux is our best offensive hockey player, he’s 34 years old, he was drafted 16 years ago. We have some good young players. And some of those young players, their career arc is still going to play out,” said Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher. “But we do need more top-end talent, there’s no question. We’ve tried to address that a bit the last few years, adding some players with some skill sets that we need. We just have to continue to chip away at that. But I do believe there’s a group of players here that can be part of a winning core. But we definitely need to add more pieces and that will be the focus going forward.

“Bottoming out? I don’t think that’s what we feel we need to do. I do believe we have good pieces. Realistically, players like Couturier and Ellis are going to come back at some point. When they come back, we’re a significantly better hockey team. But we need to take advantage of the opportunities that we do have in the draft. We have to look at trades and you can always supplement your roster through free agency. Look, we need more top-end talent, and the draft is the easiest way [to do that]. But we’re not going to trade all 20 players on our team and try to get 15 picks every year. I don’t think that’s the right approach.”

That all seems fairly obvious especially with a young core group like 21-year-old Joel Farabee, 24-year-old Travis Konecny, 25-year-old Ivan Provorov and 23-year-old Carter Hart as a young nucleus destined to stay together with veterans like Sean Couturier, Kevin Hayes and Ryan Ellis playing veteran supporting roles. It’s certainly a decent place to start and has emboldened Flyers ownership to believe that things could improve dramatically within a season or two, particularly if there’s a top draft pick coming up that pans out a lot better than Patrick developed over the last five years.

“I don’t really see this as being a 3, 4, 5 year rebuild at all. I don’t think Chuck does, either. We have a pretty good core, I think it really starts with a healthy Coots and (Kevin) Hayes, (Joel) Farabee, we’d love to have Ellis back,” said Comcast Spectacor Flyers Chairman Dave Scott. “We’ve got a core group to build on. I think as we look at the reality of it, two, three pieces we’d be great. Maybe a little more.

“But the core is good. We’ve just got to get healthy. Our job is to make sure Chuck’s got all the resources he needs to make this a success, and he does. I can tell you, everything’s on the table. We’re looking at the front office, we’re looking at the coaching staff which we have been. Our players, investment. Whatever we need to do to improve this team. But I don’t see it being a 3, 4, 5 year thing. We should get this thing right [and] we should be in it next year.”

Certainly, the coaching staff will be revisited with Mike Yeo currently in the interim job and the newly added John Torchetti on his staff, and there will undoubtedly be bigger chances to come.

But the overall message in Philadelphia is unmistakable: Fundamental improvements are coming for a Flyers hockey club scraping rock bottom this season in a hockey market where mediocrity isn’t acceptable for an exacting Philly fan base known to toss batteries at JD Drew and even boo Santa Claus on occasion.

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