Danny Briere’s first offseason at the helm of the Flyers has come and gone, and the overall direction of the Philadelphia Flyers doesn’t appear to be any more clear than it was before he went to work. Ideally, he could’ve jump started a rebuild and streamlined the process with some smart, calculated moves… but that’s not exactly what happened. Instead, he took a few trades on the chin and, for one reason or another, refused to make some others. With all of his moves in mind, here are some lingering questions after the Flyers’ offseason.
Number 5: How Much Power Does Torts Hold?
A few weeks ago, we pondered this question in its own piece, but it is still seemingly a major question moving forward. Tortorella, part of the “triumvirate of leadership” along with Danny Briere and Keith Jones, clearly had a massive impact with the roster decisions that were both made and not made. Hayes and DeAngelo were removed and Laczynski and Allison have been sufficiently boxed out of the main roster. That’s the four top players that were in his doghouse last season. They tried and failed to move Sanheim, and brought in Cal Petersen to potentially replace Felix Sandstrom, who Torts clearly didn’t trust. Meanwhile Laughton and Konecny were kept despite the fact they were the two biggest trade chips remaining. Maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it’s a bad thing, but John Tortorella is clearly the man in charge in Philly.
Number 4: What the Hathaway?
Most teams build from the blue line out, or around a nucleus of highly-skilled forwards. The Flyers, always on the cutting edge of innovation, have opted to build around a Bullies-era fourth line instead. Nic Deslauriers signed a four-year contract last season, and they doubled down on that by signing Garnet Hathaway to a two-year deal this summer.
Deslauriers was fine last season. Both he and Hathaway are among the better fourth liners in the league today. There’s a time and a place for players like them, but the Flyers are not even close to being there yet. Hathaway and Deslauriers combined for 205 penalty minutes last season. So the last dinosaurs that get off to watching players punch each other in the head every night and develop CTE in real time will be pleased. Probably not the ideal market to pander to in 2023, but it’s the Flyers’ way after all.
Number 3: Marc Staal Stalling the Defense?
If you’re an NHL GM and you’ve got too many random bodies on your blue line to begin with, what’s the proper solution? If your answer was sign even more random bodies for your defense, you may be Danny Briere!
The Flyers signed 36-year-old Marc Staal in free agency for reasons that aren’t quite clear. Even Briere admitted they signed him because of his past connections with Tortorella and not necessarily for his play itself, which is not exactly Norris-caliber these days.
Staal’s presence makes six one-way contracts in total, but that’s not including Nick Seeler, who was a staple last season, prospects Emil Andrae, Ronnie Attard and depth guys like Victor Mete and Adam Ginning, who could all reasonably be in the battle to earn a roster spot out of camp.
It’s a case of too many bodies and willingly throwing their prospects into disarray with the main roster congestion. Staal is a player who isn’t going to win a spot on merit. He’s going to be gifted a spot as Tortorella’s buddy. It means the youth get pushed to the sides to favor a 36-year-old defenseman who is more than likely worse than all the kids. Fans have been making excuses for the move, but there’s a good chance nobody will be happy in December when he’s playing every night and they’re begging for him to be taken out of the lineup.
Number 2: Why Keep TK & Laughton?
Does leadership matter if there’s no youth to bestow it on? The ultimate duality of their existence on the Flyers’ roster. Believe Plato said something similar once.
The Flyers opted to keep veteran forwards Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton despite significant rumored interest in the players from across the league. Now why did they keep their two most valuable trade chips during a rebuild? Well… who knows. But the likely reason is Tortorella feels as though their leadership skill on and off the ice are too critical to part with.
Their lingering presence highlights the entire backwards nature of the Flyers’ attempted rebuild in the first place. Both players were coming off career years and should’ve been sold high for assets. But they weren’t. It’s very Hextallian to keep the old guard main roster pillars in place during a supposed rebuild. Will Briere’s failures to capitalize on their value come back to bite him in the ass if one or both players take a step back and get dealt for pennies on the dollar next year? It’s possible, and at this point, likely probable.
Number 1: What Happens to Hart?
The lingering 2018 Team Canada investigation could conclude before or during the 2023-24 season, and the Flyers’ starting goaltender Carter Hart could be apart of the group of guilty players. Given it’s unclear as to what the punishments and consequences for their crimes are, but if he’s named in the case (and it’s still an “if” just in case his lawyers are reading this) he may be removed from the team, and potentially the sport forever. The guilty need to pay for their actions, and the Flyers need to brace themselves for whatever comes next. Losing their 25-year-old franchise goaltender is not going to be an easy pill to swallow if it comes to be, and hopefully they’ve got a plan up their sleeve just in case.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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