With His Analysis Done, Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher Is Reshaping The Flyers, But At What Cost?
When Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher was hired, he didn’t make the rush decision to get better then. At the time, the Flyers were in 2nd to last in the NHL and not improving anytime soon. But, since being hired, all the moves Chuck Fletcher has made had been for the Philadelphia Flyers 2019-2020 season.
Fletcher was smart not to rush into again. Instead of immediately reacting to an initial thought or a knee-jerk reaction to one bad stretch, Fletcher used the 2nd half of the season to see where the Flyers needed to improve on. In his closing press conference Fletcher said, “I think we need to add more experienced players. We need a veteran backup for Carter, would like a veteran defenseman, and possibly a veteran proven scoring forward”, about what he was looking for in free agency and trades.
Well, with two weeks still til the start of free agency, most of that is already done.
On June 3rd, Chuck Fletcher sent a 5th round pick to Winnipeg for the rights to UFA center Kevin Hayes. One spot the Flyers needed to make a decision on was center. With Nolan Patrick struggling to handle the 2nd center line role, Fletcher went out and got the 2nd best center on the free agent market. The one that exactly probably fits the Flyers new style of play the best.
“He plays a smart, two-way game and is just entering the prime of his career. Kevin will add size and skill to our line-up.”
Kevin Hayes, 6’5″ 216lbs, adds more to the team than you think. Hayes is somewhat of a special teams specialist. In his time with New York, under Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault, Hayes was used in a role somewhat of a carbon copy to Sean Couturier’s role in Philadelphia. Someone who does all the little things right to make everyone else around him better. But, in the main part, their defensive minds. Always being in the right place at the right time is somewhat of a lucky terminology. But, guys like Couturier and Hayes use that in their game on every shift.
On June 14th, Chuck Fletcher traded Radko Gudas to Washington for Matt Niskanen. A move that was somewhat confusing on the part of taking back 30% of Gudas salary, but a move that was the right one to make. With the Flyers in need of a better and new defense corp, Fletcher made the move to get the veteran Matt Niskanen from Washington.
“He is a veteran right-shot defenseman who has a track record of success as a Stanley Cup champion. Having played heavy minutes in all situations throughout his career, Matt will be a steadying influence to our talented and young group of defensemen.”
Matt Niskanen, 6’1″ 203lbs, gives the Flyers young defenseman a veteran presence to rely on. Someone that knows how to win and has been through everything in his career. Coming into this year, the oldest Flyers defenseman was Gudas age 29. Trying to win with a young defense isn’t easy. Even with the praise and high rankings the young Flyers defense has, with no-one to guide them it is hard to win without that veteran anchor. A role that Niskanen has played in Washington for the past 5 seasons.
But, the biggest note to make is his time spent with another young Russian defenseman in Washington, Dmitry Orlov. Being the mentor to Orlov over the past 3 seasons has really changed Orlov’s game for the better. Something the Flyers are banking on will do the same in Philadelphia for their young Russian defenseman, Ivan Provorov, who should start the season on the same pair as Niskanen.
On June 18th, Chuck Fletcher sent a 2nd & 3rd round pick to San Jose for Justin Braun. Which may seem like a ton for a 32-year-old defenseman on the final year of his deal. But, like Fletcher has said multiple times, the work that former GM Ron Hextall did allows him to make this type of move. A move that could pay off big time if Braun can continue to perform like he did in San Jose.
“He is a high character, quality defender who will bring a steadying presence to our team.”
Justin Braun, 6’2″ 205lbs, gives the Flyers a steady top 4 defenseman who can play in any role. Braun, in his time in San Jose, played in a bunch of different roles, ranging from 1st pairing guy to 3rd pairing penalty kill specialist. With Braun, he brings a different type of veteran leader than Niskanen. One that is more defensive first, rather than more of a two-way guy in Niskanen.
In the Ron Hextall era, he was not necessarily afraid to trade assets for veteran players. But, his terminology was it had to make the team better now and in the future. As Chuck Fletcher said, he made all of these moves without giving up any of his most valuable assets and prospects. Fletcher has used replaceable assets to improve the team now and make the team better in the future by allowing time for the prospects to develop. Where as in the Ron Hextall era, this would have been categorized as mortgaging the future.
With these three moves, Fletcher has already checked off most of his to-do list. Veteran forward CHECK. Veteran defenseman CHECK CHECK. The only two spots left are backup goalie and scoring forward. However, without getting a scoring forward, Fletcher exactly made the overall scoring better with Hayes. In years past, the Flyers relied on one line to do all the scoring and get secondary scoring when needed. But, by adding Hayes, he strengthens the top 9 to give the Flyers three lines that can score on any night. Something the team hasn’t had since 2011-2012.
At the moment, here is a rough look at your Philadelphia Flyers 2019-2020 opening lineup…
Giroux-Couturier-Konecny
JVR-Hayes-Voracek
Lindblom-Patrick-(Farabee/Frost/Ratcliffe)
Raffl-Laughton-Hartman
Provorov-Niskanen
Sanheim-Braun
Ghost-Myers
Hart
Everything about this lineup checks all the boxes for the Flyers to have a successful season next year and hopefully make it past the 1st round of the playoffs.