Flyers season, where the Hell did it go wrong?

yave1964 · March 1, 2022

Lots of pundits were convinced that the Flyers would be in the thick of things this year, instead they are buried in the standings at 16-24-10 dead last in the Metropolitan.

The question is how?

As an outsider looking in, here is what I would say are the top ten reasons the season went off the rails.

10: CARTER HART WAS GOOD BUT NOT GREAT AND MARTIN JONES IS MARTIN JONES How much of the goaltending you can blame on the defense is debatable but truth is Hart actually has had a very decent year with his goals against dropping from 3.67 to 2.90 this year which is very significant. Jones had the exact same season that he had for the past four in San Jose. Ok backup but didnt bring anything much to the table.

9. RISTO, YANDLE AND ELLIS WERE A MASSIVE FAILURE The trio was brought in to add veteran depth to the blueline, Yandle is minus 31 and looks old, like really old, like ancient. Elllis cannot stay on the ice after teasing with 5 points in 4 games, and Risto, for the overpay that they gave Buffalo looks ordinary and will possibly walk at years end. Oh and to make room for these guys they let Ghost go who is having a damn fine year in Arizona.

8 THE CENTER POSITION WAS DECIMATED BY INJURIES Couturier couldnt stay on the ice and is gone for the year, Kevin Hayes followed up a surprisingly solid year with an injury ravaged year and looks glacially slow when he is out there. Giroux has been forced into a role that at 33 he can no longer filll.

7 TOO MANY NON NHL PLAYERS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ROSTER. Look, I like feel good stories like the Hamburgler getting his first NHL win in four years in Montreal or some guy coming out of nowhere to earn an NHL job, this isnt that. The bottom line is Seeler is 28 with his 3rd organization and cannot play, Mayhew is 29 and before this year had 7 games worth of late season callup action, Macewen is 25 and has played 50 games with 1 goal and is awful in every aspect as a 4th liner excepting the occasional fight. Willman at 26 is seeing his first NHL action and has done nothing to show why. Nate Thompson at 36 used to be tenacious 4th liner now he is a broken down cowboy who will retire at years end or go to Europe. Patrick Brown at 29 is getting his first crack at a full year in the NHL and nobody knows why. Connauton is 31 and his last NHL goal was over three years ago. 26 NHL games this year without a single point.

The problem isnt any one of these, it is EVERY one of these. None are NHLers, within two years every one of these guys will be gone from the NHL for keeps and will not be missed. Seeler, Mayhew, MacEwen, Willman, Thompson, Brown, Connauton are not only poor quality, none bring anything to the table and when the players above them have to lug these slugs around, their game suffers as well.

6. VIGNEAULT COULDNT FIGURE IT OUT, YEO COULDNT BUY A CLUE Vigneault has been around forever and a day and has been a decent coach making the playoffs much more often than not and usually having somewhat deep runs, he couldnt get the buttons to push this year and was gone for it. Yeo in two other stops has proven to be hopeless and will likely be gone and quickly forgotten at seasons end.

5. THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, JUST ALRIGHT. Lots of kids are getting their more or less first action and are doing okay but not pushing the envelope. Farabee has been good and shows promise but has 19 points in 34 games which is okay but dont move the needle. Frost hasnt embarrassed himself but hasnt shown a ton either. Same with Ratcliffe. Same with York. Same with Cates. Same with Bunnaman. Wade Allison went into the season with big dreams that were derailed by injuries and has played 1 game. All of these kids likely have a top nine future with the team but for this year havent done enough to offset the other injuries and disfunction of a lot of the vets.

4. VETERANS GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS JVR looks like he is just playing for a paycheck, Braun, Hell I dont watch every Flyer game religiously but I dont know If I have noticed Braun this year other than when he is digging the puck out of the net from a goal where someone blew past him. The team seems to be old slow and complcent and the kids arent quite ready to push them aside.

3.INJURIES Look, I dont like it when teams blame injuries but the Flyers had their share, Hayes, Couts and Ellis could have made a difference, Allison looked like top six late last year and instead has had a lost year. So three top six forwards including two who control the dot and your number one defender who came over to escape the shadow of Roman Josi and who couldnt stay on the ice.Those four if they had solid years could have been enough to have kept them fighting for a bottom tier playoff spot. Maybe anyway. Seriously, Couts with 60 points and killing it at both ends of the ice, Hayes with 50 andin spite of being so damn slow always seeming to wind up in the right spot, Ryan Ellis with a chip on his shoulder looking early on as if he were going to score 50 points from the point before being decimated. Allison looking so damn good late last year not even an afterthought. Again, not much on blaming injuries but it is relevant.

2. PROMISING KIDS TURNED INTO ORDINARY VETERANS. Look, Provorov could play for me any day but he is a good player who looks to have peaked at that level, a 2 or 3 on the back end. Konecny is a middle six winger,the upside he once showed just isnt there, he is middle six, good but nothing more. Sanheim has finally broken through but as a good 2 or 3, maybe a 4 on the back end forced to punch above his head because of injuries. Lindblom is what he is. In other words, while all of the above can play, none is as good as early promise once showed.

1. CHUCK FLETCHER DID AN AWFUL JOB OF PUTTING A TEAM TOGETHER

Lets take a look at the moves he made

RISTO from the Sabres for Hagg, a first and a second, with Risto an UFA at years end. Really.

ELLIS from the Preds for Myers and Patrick. Okay, this one isnt him so much as the unfortunate imjuries.

ATKINSON for Jake in a deal with the CBJ. Ok, this wasnt bad Jake is an assist machine in Columbus and Atkinson is having a solid year in Philly. Close to a wash, maybe a slight edge to Philly

MARTIN JONES signed as an UFA. Everyone knows he cannot play except apparently Fletcher

YANDLE he reminds me of Mike Greens last few years stumbling around in Detroit. That is not a compliment.

BRASSARD brought in for veteran depth. Hasnt been an NHL player in at least three years. He just cannot play anymore.

NATE THOMPSON brought in, he is 30 percent worse than Brassard.

So a good one (atkinson) a what might have been (Ellis) a waaayyyyy overpay that might set the team back for years and the plyer might walk anyway (Risto) and a bunch of wht the Hell was he thinking.

So looking at it clinically, not sure where all the promise was. I suppose of the three centers were all on their game, Ellis balanced out the defnese, Provorov took another step, the goaltending improved, Konecny found another gear, JVR and Braun decided to play again, it mighta been different. If a couple of the kids broke out in a big way instead of struggling like most rookies do it woulda helped. But this team now looks too old and slow on one side of the ledger and too young and green on the other. It is poorly built and with Fletcher in charge I doubt that will change soon.