Dissecting Flyer Futility

 This has been on my things to talk about ever since the Philadelphia Flyers decided to can Alain Vigneault as head coach a month ago. Given their position right now, and their embarrassment on Saturday at the hands of Buffalo, it's time to talk about the general futility of the Flyers. For reference, I will use a quote from Bobby Clarke taken from "The Cam & Strick podcast" to frame everything wrong about the Flyers draft and development acumen.

The following quote is in reference to Ron Hextall's time as General Manager and specifically, the 2017 draft.

We end up getting the second pick in the draft, and we end up drafting Nolan Patrick. None of our scouts wanted Nolan Patrick. I don’t know where Patrick should have gone, after his performances in Brandon — he’s a pretty good player. But certainly, they wanted Makar. Of course he went next. Now he’s a superstar and Patrick hasn’t played. But Hextall made that choice himself, and there were other choices that were made at our drafts that we’re paying for. We have two or three first-round picks that are never going to play, and that’s why we’re struggling. Hextall made some huge mistakes.

There's a few things here to note. Yes, Makar was a top 10 prospect entering the draft, but very few, if any, people had him going top 2. Hindsight is 20/20, but had Philadelphia truly thought Makar was their guy, why not trade down a spot or two. It was near consensus that Nolan Patrick and Nico Hischier were going one and two, with Miro Heiskanen possibly sneaking into the second overall pick. As for Makar that year, he was seen as a boom or bust pick that had more questions due to level of competition, as the AJHL is a step below major junior and would have allowed him to go to college after he got drafted, which he did.

Suppose the Flyers did take Makar, now we have look at the Flyers history of developing those picks. Clarke has been in his current role as Senior Vice President since December 2006, so for the purpose of this article, I will begin with the 2007 Draft and move onwards to 2018.

In the time between 2007 and 2018, the Flyers made 85 picks, and of those picks, 21 have played more than 50 games in their career. Nine of the 21 were drafted in the 3rd round or later, and none since 2014. Only two of those picks made a significant impact with the Flyers, being Shayne Gostisbehere and Oskar Lindblom. The Flyers also had some godawful drafts, with 2009 taking the cake, as the entire draft class couldn't crack 50 games played...combined. 2010 was marginally better, but it says something about the 2013 draft class that the most games played by one player was traded (Robert Hagg with 224, and he was traded prior to this season for Rasmus Ristolainen). 2016 is already looking like an all-time bust, with Carter Hart leading the way, but likely needing a fresh start somewhere else. 

That brings us to 2017, and Nolan Patrick. 70 points in 197 games, and missing an entire season to injury, it's obvious the injury bug that plagued him in his final year of junior followed him to the NHL level, and now, he's trying to resurrect his career in Vegas. 

All of this has been overseen by Clarke on some level, and at some point, player development should come into question. Most of the picks that were successful don't have sustained impact (I.e. Ivan Provorov and Carter Hart) and the ones that do, those are few and far in between (Sean Couturier). Also, in relation to the 2017 draft, that too, is looking bad, with 2018 not looking so promising, either. 

As I'm finishing this piece, the Flyers winless streak is now at 13 after a loss to the Islanders. Yes, it is time to blow it up, and that includes the front office. The days of the Broad Street Bullies is long gone, and it's time to give Claude Giroux a chance at a Stanley Cup elsewhere because it's not happening in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. This is what happens when a team is merely content with just making the playoffs. 

I Watched This Game: Wrong for Wright

 It's been a trying season for both the Montreal Canadiens and the Arizona Coyotes, as one team was expected to be awful and rebuild a rebuild while the other is experiencing a riches to rags story. Yes, both teams are ahead in the Shane Wright sweepstakes and they squared off this week. I watched this game.

First period

• The Canadiens are starting Cayden Primeau while the Coyotes are starting Karel Vejmelka. This is also where the Canadiens are without Jake Allen and Brendan Gallagher, and are suiting up recent waiver wire pickup Rem Pitlick, who still has his Minnesota Wild bag amongst the Canadiens bags.
• Really good seats were available for this game, you could even see empty seats on the hard camera side.
• At 5:19, the Coyotes see their hard work pay off, as their persistence leads to a Travis Boyd goal from the dots. Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller get the assists. 
• Liam O'Brien gets called for holding at 5:38, putting the Canadiens on the power play. Nothing came of it, as has been the case all season long.
• At 8:18, Phil Kessel makes a beautiful pass across the ice to Johan Larsson, who fires from almost the same spot as the Boyd goal past Primeau to make it 2-0. Dysin Mayo gets the other assist.
• Victor Soderstrom makes a terrible pass in his own end to Jonathan Drouin, who finds Pitlick in the slot. He beats a sprawling Vejmelka to cut the lead to 1 at 15:11. That is where the score stands, as the period would end.

This was relatively even, with Arizona doing more with their chances, but also making a major mistake that led to the Canadiens goal.

Second period

• At the 4:27 mark, the Canadiens season in a nutshell occurs, as a rebound finds Janis Moser at the point. He proceeds to skate in, weaving through traffic with little resistance to sneak one past Primeau to make it 3-1. Moser was drafted in 2021 as a 21-year old. I get late bloomer, but the Canadiens made him look like Connor McDavid out there. No wonder there's talk about the Canadiens possibly looking for a new coach.
• O'Brien was interfering with Joel Armia, and now sits for two at the 6:18 mark. The Canadiens still can't score, as their only shots were from the point with no one in front to deflect. 
• As Christian Dvorak chases Moser behind the Coyotes net, Ilya Lyubushkin gets in his way, and setting a pick is seen as interference. He sits at 9:34.
• Oh, look, the Canadiens actually score on the power play, and it took Ryan Poehling being in front of the net to tip in a Drouin shot from the point. Jeff Petry also gets the assist at 11:13.
• A Mike Hoffman slash at 15:41 puts Arizona on the power play. They don't convert, but...
• ...they do score at 18:02, thanks to Nick Schmaltz finding a loose puck in front of the net. Antoine Roussel and Larsson get the assists. Montreal thinks the goalie was being interfered with, but lose the challenge. As a result, they are given two minutes for delay of game and lose their time out. Cole Caufield serves the penalty. 

At the end of two, it is 4-2 Arizona. Montreal had more shots, but fewer quality chances. Arizona plays hard, no one can deny that. The talent level isn't there, and it was evident on a couple of missed chances. 

Third period 

• The Canadiens begin the period by switching out Primeau for Sam Montembeault, and also killing off the remaining two seconds of the Coyotes power play that carried over.
• 4:52 sees Brett Kulak clear the puck over the glass, and he sits for delay of game. No score occurs.
• Hoffman is off at 12:40 for a slash against Keller, and once again, Arizona does not score.
• The Coyotes do score at 18:18, on an empty net by Keller. Schmaltz and Moser get the assists, and that is pretty much game.
• Alex Romanov gets delay of game at 19:41, wrapping up a 5-2 final for the Coyotes.

The Coyotes were the team for much of this game, and the result reflects that. The Canadiens didn't have answers for much of the game, though they do put some distance between themselves and Arizona for best odds to draft first overall.