FLETCHER

[CoachX]

So, here we are. The season is about to start back up, and the Flyers are dangerous, deadly, and in the discussion as cup winners. Given that any team can get hot, and that Hart plays better away from Philly, I for one, am bursting with enthusiam.

 

Given all this, what is everyone's take on Fletcher, now that we have some results to base an opinion on? There is a good write up in philly.com about how he took Hexy's work and built on it, specifically signing Hayes and Nisky/Braun

 

As long as they don't get too carried with NAK (cough-cough), they should be in good shape for this run

[Podein25]

12 minutes ago, CoachX said:

I for one, am bursting with enthusiasm.

 

That's a very un-Philly vibe. Not sure it suits you.

 

13 minutes ago, CoachX said:

what is everyone's take on Fletcher

 

Ask me in 6 weeks

 

The Hayes signing has been great from a hockey perspective. He's made Cooter more dangerous and gets him away from having to always play all the hard minutes against the other team's top pivot. It will look less great as he ages and the money and term limit our options. 

 

The Niskanen trade looks to have been an absolute stroke of genius. Or luck. 

[AJgoal]

Still hard to say. The Hayes signing could look great if they win the Cup in the next few years, or bad if they don't and it causes cap issues down the line. With a stagnant cap, that's still a concern. As @Podein25 said, though, it's hard to argue with the on-ice result so far. That said, the health issues for Patrick and Lindblom seriously impacted what they're going to have to spend this offseason to keep them, and they might have been in cap trouble already had they not cropped up.

 

I was critical of the Niskanen move, but it seems to have worked out well. He rebounded quite well this season, and helped Provorov elevate his game. They did run up against some in-season cap issues though, where that retained money on Gudas might have been useful.

 

The Braun trade is fairly meh to me, Braun's been fine, but I think you could have done the same with a couple of the low-priced FAs out there.

 

One nice thing about Fletcher is that he hasn't taken too long to address his own mistakes. Like his signing Stewart, it didn't take too long to get rid of him. He was very willing to rotate LV guys in and out until he found the right fits.

 

I still don't like the Simmonds move, even though Hartman netted us Pitlick, who has been useful on the 4th line. Fletcher had offers with better draft capital on the table by his own admission, but went for the package with a player in it because he wanted a player back.

 

I also have to say that the culture around the team seems improved, and that's reflective of Fletcher, and can't be dismissed. Part of that has to do with the coach - AV has been excellent, but it all starts at the top. He deserves credit for that.

[mojo1917]

@CoachX

 

in the short term I think Fletcher has been very good.

I liked the Niskanen trade when it happened, I thought from day 1 we were getting the better player and the retained salary was a short termed deal. The other thing about it was Fletcher did the Caps a solid which can maybe be cashed in later when we need a solid. After Holmgren pulled the Shea Weber offer sheet, I think other GMs weren't willing to "work with us" as readily, Hextall wasn't really very active in the trade and Free agent market but I think he paid a price for Homer's earth scorching denouement. The Niskanen trade was savvy and signaled a new approach from the organization.

Like everyone else today the Hayes signing looks great !

In 4 years maybe not so much. In 2 years maybe it jams us up trying to sign a guy we really want to sign. 

I have enjoyed what Hayesy has brought to the team, he has definitely made the team better, @AJgoaland @Podein25 described it so nicely I'm not going to waste anyone else's time.

I think Fletcher's deals at this year's trade deadline were good also. He made the team deeper without giving up a valued prospect. I think Grant has been a pleasant surprise and Thompson is a pro who can be counted on to play safe minutes. 

 

I hope he continues to keep the Flyers scouting intact, I think they find better options than the scouts in Minnesota found for him, and so long as he keeps them around he'll have better options to choose from.

 

I've been a fan of Fletcher's work so far, he's benefited from Hextall's work for certain but he has also improved the team without wrecking what was in place. 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by mojo1917

[AJgoal]

1 hour ago, mojo1917 said:

The other thing about it was Fletcher did the Caps a solid which can maybe be cashed in later when we need a solid. After Holmgren pulled the Shea Weber offer sheet, I think other GMs weren't willing to "work with us" as readily, Hextall wasn't really very active in the trade and Free agent market but I think he paid a price for Homer's earth scorching denouement.

 

I disagree with this here. Hextall wan't a buyer in trades given the team circumstances, but off the top of my head he shipped out Grossman and Pronger's contract for a pick and Gagner; Lecavalier and Schenn for Weal and a pick; Hartnell for Umberger; Coburn for a first and Gudas; Timonen for two seconds; Schenn for two firsts and Lehterrible... There are some great moves in there, which doesn't really point to teams not wanting to work with him.

[flyercanuck]

 As mentioned, short term he has done well.

 

 I was extremely vocal about him blowing up what took Hextall years to build for a quick shot at victory but so far he hasn't done that. His trades have looked good in the small sample that we have...there's still 6 more years after this one remaining on his Hayes contract, so I'm not so sure we're going to like it then as much as we do now. I wasn't thrilled when he took York over Caufield/Newhook/Krebs but time will tell on that and it certainly wasn't a horrible choice.

 

 Compared to what I thought he was going to do, he's been damn good.

[AJgoal]

1 minute ago, flyercanuck said:

 As mentioned, short term he has done well.

 

 I was extremely vocal about him blowing up what took Hextall years to build for a quick shot at victory but so far he hasn't done that. His trades have looked good in the small sample that we have...there's still 6 more years after this one remaining on his Hayes contract, so I'm not so sure we're going to like it then as much as we do now. I wasn't thrilled when he took York over Caufield/Newhook/Krebs but time will tell on that and it certainly wasn't a horrible choice.

 

 Compared to what I thought he was going to do, he's been damn good.

 

I'm in the same boat. I was afraid that the "bias for action" mandate would have resulted in some early moves that didn't happen. That's resulted in some of those youngsters having positive impacts on the team.

[mojo1917]

2 hours ago, AJgoal said:

 

I disagree with this here. Hextall wan't a buyer in trades given the team circumstances, but off the top of my head he shipped out Grossman and Pronger's contract for a pick and Gagner; Lecavalier and Schenn for Weal and a pick; Hartnell for Umberger; Coburn for a first and Gudas; Timonen for two seconds; Schenn for two firsts and Lehterrible... There are some great moves in there, which doesn't really point to teams not wanting to work with him.

Good points, Hextall did make some very savvy trades that I did not appreciate 

Essentially moves designed to escape from salary cap hell, I hated the Umberger deal but understand why it needed to be done. Still many of those moves weren't making the Flyers contenders, in anyone's short term thinking.

The Schenn trade would have been better if Hexy just bought an 8ball to go with the 2 first rd picks - Hi yo!

 

[CoachX]

In addition to bringing in Hayes and Nisky, I also liked how he brought back 3 picks at the draft. So far, none of the moves have cost the team, and the right formula might be what is on the ice

 

To climb aboard the beaten, dead horse, I know Hayes might be dead weight later. But if he wins one cup during his time here, I dont care what it costs

[Howie58]

There's a sense of optimism that hasn't been present for a long time.  Our summer discussion for the past seven or eight years has been "we are one year away from being elite...or one year away from being a year away."  Our performance this year suggested we are entering elite status, if not there.  That said, I think eight years without a playoff series win will leave us very disappointed.  So, I may hold off judgement until the end of the playoffs.  All in, the talent level on this team is probably the best in a decade or more. That reflects talent acquired by Hextall and Fletcher.  Now we need results on the ice during the playoffs.  

[OccamsRazor]

1 hour ago, Howie58 said:

So, I may hold off judgement until the end of the playoffs. 

 

Cautiously optimistic!!!!

 

[Podein25]

14 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Cautiously optimistic!!!!

 

 

Reported

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Fletcher has done a good job. Remember, he was under the gun in Minnesota by the new owner. Fletcher was basically forced to signing Suter and Parise to those ridiculously bloated contacts and the Martin Hanzal deal was basically an owner directive to Fletcher to make a trade or else. Owner incompetence messed things up in Minnesota. 

 

I don't think Fletcher will get the gun pointed at his head in Philadelphia and it's in part to who's surrounding him. I don't think the Dave Scott is going to try to bully Clarke and Holmgren into forcing Fletcher into bad deals. As well, Fletcher has an incredible scouting department at his finger tips, so there's less cause to make drastic deals. I think there's going to be obvious tweaks going forward (Braun is probably gone after this year and the next player to be worked into a spot will be Friedman and you can bet he'll try to get out from underneath the JvU -> James van Useless contract), but he doesn't need to make wholesale changes.

[RonJeremy]

For the first time EVER, we actually have a skilled and balanced defense on all three pairs and very good 7th dman, whether it’s Ghost or Haag. We used to run guys like Timonen ,Desjardans and Howe into the ground and rely on three or four Dmen at best and our third pair in the past was horrendous.

 

We actually have one of the best goalies instead of one of the worst as in the past 30 years.

 

We have four lines that are rolling and playing well even though we lost 2 good young forwards  in Patrick and Lindblom for most of the season. In the past we never had enough depth to overcome injuries.

 

Plus we have a bunch of AHL guys who also have the skill to step in and play well. When the hell did we ever have this depth before and so many good young players.