March 03, 2015
So, Philadelphia, how many lumps would you like with your sports diet this week ... this month ... this season ... or this year? Because that’s what it’s all about right now, taking your lumps.
And that includes the Philadelphia Flyers, who didn’t exactly run up a white flag at the trade deadline, but for the first time in many years they took off the late-season war paint.
Whether you are a fan of the Flyers, Eagles, Phillies and/or (certainly) the Sixers – you’ve either been asked to grin and bear it, or not grin at all, all the while gnashing your teeth in place of planning that first victory roll through the city since 2008.
The teams can’t all be lumped into the same barrel. After all, none are governed by the same ownerships or philosophies – and it’s interesting to see how each has decided to handle the shortcomings.
The most curious case study of all is that of first-year general manager Ron Hextall and the Flyers. Blessed with a loyal fan base that has not seen a Stanley Cup in Philadelphia since Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded a startup company called Microsoft, the Flyers have actually hit the re-set button.
Basically, Hextall and the Flyers acknowledged they are in no position to run with the big dogs, so they set up the future.
It is a startling concept for a franchise that has a well-earned reputation of being one of the NHL teams that ALWAYS goes into a season with the hope of winning it all -- but never seems to get it done. If it hasn’t been bad goaltending, it’s been the specter of meeting a super team at its mightiest in the playoffs.
Well, this has been a take-your-lumps season for the Flyers. If you needed any further proof of that, all you had to do was check out the strategy at the trade deadline when the Flyers traded away two veteran defensemen – Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn.
Mind you, this is a team still in the hunt for a playoff spot. In past years, there would have been a strong push to pick up players at the deadline. The result would have been a connect-the-dots quick exit from the playoffs. It might have been in a heartbreaking seven games, but there was no way the team as structured would make a deep run.
But this time the Flyers didn’t try to fool themselves into believing they were just a piece or two away at the trade deadline.
Instead, they had no problem letting the Blackhawks dream about another Stanley Cup, trading Timonen to Chicago for a second-round pick in June, and another high pick next season.
It was a whole lot of value for a player who will retire after this season, just as the Flyers got a whole lot of value on Monday when they ended their trade deadline maneuvers by getting a first-round pick and a player from Tampa Bay in the Coburn deal.
When all was done, Hextall was set up for this years’ draft with at least two first-round picks, a second, and two third-rounders. Basically, Hextall and the Flyers acknowledged they are in no position to run with the big dogs, so they set up the future.
Still licking their wounds from a disastrous decision charted by management to sign Ilya Bryzgalov, the Flyers are picking up the pieces of that broken dream. The good news is that there are many pieces, starting with three prized young defensive prospects in their system.
It has been a long time since the Flyers have developed their own defensemen, going back to 1990 with Chris Therien. The usual method has always been to go out and sign a big name or get him through trade, a methodology that dates way back to Mark Howe, and on through Eric Desjardins and Chris Pronger.
They tried again in 2012 when they signed Shea Weber to an offer sheet that was subsequently matched by Nashville, and suddenly in this era of the salary cap, the Flyers saw that they could not simply beat other teams over the head witb their bigger wallet.
On the bright side, Hextall was not exactly left an empty cupboard in terms of prospects, and there is a good chance that they have at least one elite future star among Shayne Gostisbehere, Sam Morin, and Travis Sanheim. In addition to that, Hextall has gone about accumulating the bundle of draft picks in recent trades, so there is hope for the future.
You should also note that Hextall is coming from a learning experience in the front office of the Los Angeles Kings, a team that has built two recent Stanley Cup champions largely through the draft. Check out their current roster in LA and you will find a team built with at least 10 players they selected between round two and four in the draft, in addition to key first-round picks.
So, at least for now, most Flyers fans are on board with the transition. And at least for right now, they like that the needle is pointing upward, and are happy to see a blueprint for the future.
In theory, it all looks and sounds good.
However, taking lumps this regular season is a far different sensation than taking hits for several seasons, and Hextall should know that a long-term plan for Flyers fans is one year out of the playoffs ... maybe two – before the howling becomes loud and non-stop.
