Fletcher's May Presser

[radoran]

https://www.nhl.com/flyers/news/fletcher-presser-5-takeaways--philadelphia-flyers/c-333739020?fbclid=IwAR2ahutJnRHo5UTWcOKvWYgF8sLQ3oQGfrs4X8yhlMQNe4BxagTkFd8DDOs

 

Quote

"We are going to get together [on Wednesday], our hockey operations group. The first thing we are going to do is put together an ideal candidate profile. We are going to go through a very thorough discussion on what we are trying to achieve and what we are looking at."

 

Didn't they just, you know, hire a head coach like, three years ago?

 

Quote

"We were defending all the time and that is something we have to look at. We were not exiting D-zone well enough. There are certainly things we have to look at in terms of our structure and our details. We didn't have the puck enough and when you defend all the time, bad things happen," Fletcher said.

"Specialty teams were clearly a big issue. At the time we made the coaching change, I believe our PK was tenth or eleventh in the league, so we started well. I think the PK and our goaltending were major reasons why we were hanging around a playoff spot until early December. As the season went on, the PK fell apart and we couldn't keep the puck out of our net."

 

I suspect this is around the time when the team just decided that it was too difficult and they didn't want to work hard because they were losing.

 

Quote

"A critical part of what we do going forward, whether it is for short-term or long-term success, will be to integrate more youth into our team."

 

#salarycap

 

Quote

In the bigger picture, Fletcher acknowledged that he is concerned by the rate at which Flyers players who dealt with injuries in 2021-22 too often ended up getting reinjured and had to exit the lineup for a second, often lengthier stint. That is an area the GM said he plans to address .
 
"I am going to sit down with our doctors, strength staff, and strength and conditioning coach in the next couple weeks. Just a lot of questions: what we do well, not doing well, is there something we need to do more of, and things we can do from an injury prevention standpoint," Fletcher said. 

 

Maybe get an electric zamboni?

 

Quote

Fletcher was asked to be more expansive on his mid-season pledge of "an aggressive retool" and whether he still thought such a strategy was doable.

"It is being aggressive in all phases. Certainly, part of it is we need to get younger; we have to get more talented. We have to get faster. We have to aggressively look at trades, free agency and can we add a couple players to supplement what we have here and make this team better. Another element will obviously be the return to health of certain players.... This is slightly different circumstances, but this offseason could be a lot like the offseason in 2019. If you look at that year, we traded back in the first round, got an extra pick, traded picks for players, and acquired picks at the deadlines. You are constantly doing what you can to improve your team. That is what I guess I call a retool," Fletcher said.

Quote

"We do have good pieces. In terms of patience, I don't think we are asking anyone to give us five, seven, ten years here. I do believe we have the ability to be much more competitive quickly. The moves we make this summer will determine how quickly. We will have another top pick this year. Again, a pretty good influx of young talent coming in. I think there are reasons to be optimistic and yet there are still challenges we still face," Fletcher said.

 

So, two years away from being two years away?

 

[OccamsRazor]

52 minutes ago, radoran said:

Quote

We are going to go through a very thorough discussion on what we are trying to achieve and what we are looking at."

 

 

Uh WIN A DAMN STANELY CUP!

 

Discussion over....

[pilldoc]

https://theathletic.com/3291472/2022/05/03/flyers-chuck-fletcher-offseason-plan/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983&redirected=1

 

So, to summarize Fletcher’s planned aggressive retool:

• Make adds similar to 2019 without depleting the farm system or high-end draft picks;
• Hire the right coach;
• Trust that the incoming prospects will solve the team’s depth issues;
• Get Couturier and Ellis back;
• Bank on one or more of Hart, Konecny, Sanheim or Farabee taking a sizable step forward into high-end status;
• Trust that the organizational adjustments made over the past two years will bear fruit as intended.

Based on Fletcher’s comments Tuesday, that’s the big offseason plan.

 

Problem No. 1? Ellis’ status. Much of Fletcher’s strategy to fix the defense hinges on Ellis making his return from his “multi-layered” pelvic issue.

 

The Ellis uncertainty links up with Problem No. 2: the continued lack of high-end talent. With Ellis’ return still up in the air and Claude Giroux gone (and unlikely to return this offseason in free agency), the Flyers have only one stone-cold lineup lock who can make a case for top-end status — Couturier, who is coming off back surgery. The Flyers need more, especially if they have designs on fixing their power play, which is in desperate need of an offensive weapon that penalty kills can’t afford to ignore for even a second.

 

But Problem No. 3 really is the big one, and it’s both more nebulous than the other two, yet painfully straightforward at the same time: It’s difficult to take on faith that key problems can be solved when this organization — or Fletcher himself — has failed to solve them in the past.

 

Fletcher has already hired one head coach in Philadelphia, and that worked for a year until it began to fall apart.

[flyercanuck]

Fletcher...He brings in almost 30 Hayes and Risto, over 30 Ellis/Yandle/Atkinson/Thompson etc and then realizes the team needs to get younger. What's next...he realizes the team needs faster players than Hayes and Thompson, smarter players than Hayes and Risto? 

 

 It doesn't take a Harvard grad to know not to be signing slow old and or stupid to long term contracts 

[Fizz]

Fletcher has been repeating the same spiel all year. Yet is is still giving out long term contracts to marginal players and overpaying them to boot.

No way in hell this team will be competitive in the next three years.

Yes they are that bad with little talent in the pipeline.

Remember a couple high end youngsters won't make this team magically good.

Fletcher got fleeced on the Ellis no two ways about that, so I sure don't trust him with a goalie out rebuild.

 

[radoran]

3 hours ago, pilldoc said:

Claude Giroux gone (and unlikely to return this offseason in free agency),

 

I'm still in the "more likely than not" camp.

 

Doubly so if Florida wins.

[CoachX]

18 hours ago, pilldoc said:

Problem No. 1? Ellis’ status. Much of Fletcher’s strategy to fix the defense hinges on Ellis making his return from his “multi-layered” pelvic issue

I had this as a kid. Stretchin Gretchin, the neighborhood ho, was having a buy one get sale, and I used a whole box of condoms

[GratefulFlyers]

15 hours ago, Fizz said:

Remember a couple high end youngsters won't make this team magically good.

 

And that's assuming the Flyers actually have a "couple high end youngsters." Frost and the rest are not game breakers. I have some hope left for Farabee, that he can be a deadly scorer esp on the PP - IF the damn PP ever gets organized.