On Wednesday, January 26, 2022, at 11 am ET, Chuck Fletcher will have a press conference in which he will give a state of the team address. What could he possibly say?
First of all, let’s look at what he could say about the state of the team. They suck. The Flyers had two 10+ game losing streaks in 42 games (22/42 games have been during 10+ game losing streaks). Chuck Fletcher could potentially be talking in the midst of a 13 game losing streak on Wednesday morning. How can he say anything besides that the team sucks, and is not where he, or anyone else, thought they would be at this point.
Second, Chuck needs to tell the fans what direction the Flyers are going in. Chuck had a pretty clear message this past summer that he believed in this team and went out to get pieces to bolster this squad. He had a valiant effort, but it didn’t pan out. I believe he will tell us that they are going to go into a rebuild, much like how the New York Rangers did a few years ago. The Flyers are the 6th worst in the league, 1 point above Buffalo (who has a game in hand). These next two drafts are huge. Top-end talent is amazing, and even some of the other projected first round prospects are good too. If there was ever a time to go for high picks, it is now.
Finally, I believe he will mention that there should be expectations that players on expiring deals will be dealt at the trade deadline for picks and futures, probably trying to say “Giroux will probably be gone” without actually saying it. Other guys likely being traded will be Rasmus Ristolainen, Martin Jones, possibly even Keith Yandle and Derick Brassard.
By Noah Caplan (@Phlyers24)
photo creds: inquirer.com
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