Flyers GM Ron Hextall Starts to Clean Up Mess 40 Years in the Making

From back to even before it became a social media international holiday, the Flyers were always one of the most talked-about teams whenever the NHL’s trade deadline rolled around. An organization that prided itself on never shying away from making the type of aggressive move that could better position itself for a playoff run, the Orange-and-Black often walked away from deadline day as one of the ‘winners’ of the unofficial event. At least, that’s how owner Ed Snider and various general managers making the transactions would want you to believe. In reality, years of wheeling and dealing at the deadline slowly eroded away at the framework of a franchise that is just now starting to realize the consequences.

Despite his impressive track record as part of the Los Angeles Kings front office, current Flyers general manager Ron Hextall had to overcome the stereotype of another ‘Ed Snider Yes Man’ if he was ever going to convince an increasingly aware fanbase that he could do what Paul Holmgren and Bobby Clarke before him could not. While it often makes for spectacular alumni events and memoriam tributes, the Flyers organization and fanbase’s reputation of somewhat of a cult following is not without merit. Seemingly stuck in the mid-1970s, the deification of certain types of players, often recognized more for their physicality and attitude more than skill, has only fostered the sort of team-building that is not suited for today’s NHL. For the most part, the league has all but phased out the sort of intimidation-style play that had become synonymous with the Flyers.

Though he may have been one of the few people internally to have seen it, Ron Hextall did not come into an ideal situation for a first-time general manager. Anchored down by a brutal salary cap situation and a farm system just now starting to turn the corner, Hextall walked into a unique situation in his first offseason. The team was coming off a first round playoff exit, so a full rebuild was not an option he could sell to either his superior or the fans. Conversely, anyone who watches enough hockey to see what type of teams are able to achieve the ultimate success could realize that the Flyers were not even in the same stratosphere as clubs like Hextall’s former employer, the Los Angeles Kings. Much like the Sixers were before Sam Hinkie’s arrival, the Flyers had suddenly found themselves in hockey purgatory. Not good enough to consistently compete for titles and not bad enough to position themselves to draft the types of players whose talents could make up for poor personnel management. Something was going to have to give.

A lack of flexibility as a result of mockery-inducing contracts given to sub-standard or past-their-prime players made Hextall’s first offseason an uneventful one. Save for his trade of Scott Hartnell to the Blue Jackets for R.J. Umberger, a move that neither team will claim as a win or a loss given their position in the NHL standings, Hextall was forced to sit on his hands as the Flyers were a rare bystander during free agency. The new general manager was going to have to wait for the season to play out before he was able to put his first stamp on what looks to be an organizational makeover. As they’ve become so good at doing, the Flyers did not make things easy for Hextall leading up to Monday’s trade deadline.

After finding themselves in the NHL cellar following an abysmal stretch toward the middle of the season, Philadelphia was suddenly only a few points out of a playoff spot. Their patented late-season surge had them as close to within two points of the Boston Bruins and the Eastern Conference’s final wild card spot. Even going into Monday’s deadline, just six points separated the Flyers from a spot in the postseason tournament. Unlike the NBA, there is plenty to back up the notion of ‘anything can happen in the postseason’. The 2010 Flyers proved just that, clinching their postseason spot on the final day of the season before making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. With a handful of young, talented prospects at his disposal, Hextall could have very well been strong-armed by Snider to make yet another deadline splash to try to land the ‘missing piece’ to get the Flyers over-the-top. While he did not go full-Hinkie on the roster, Hextall made a definitive step in a new direction that this organization desperately needed.

In a matter of a four-day span, Hextall positioned the Flyers to capitalize on one of the most talent-rich drafts in recent memory, freed up salary cap room, and did so without appearing to shake the framework of the current roster too drastically. The Flyers (six points back of the Wild Card with 19 games remaining) could still conceivably overtake the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins to secure a final playoff spot. If they don’t, and in all likelihood that will be the case, Hextall can go into his second offseason as general manager with a full arsenal of draft picks and salary cap space that has evaded this organization in years past. On the surface, the Flyers traded their two most talented defenseman without a single able-body that could help the team scratch-and-claw towards a postseason berth. In reality, Hextall was able to garner substantial returns on a pair of players that did not fit in the franchise’s future plans. Kimmo Timonen had yet to take the ice in what he has already identified as his final NHL season. By trading Timonen to Chicago for a pair of draft picks (2nd in 2015 and conditional in 2016), the Flyers improved their future, didn’t do anything to their present, and scored some PR points by having guided Timonen along his entire rehabilitation process before moving him to a team with a much stronger chance at giving the veteran defenseman his final wish, a Stanley Cup.

One could argue that Hextall’s trade of Braydon Coburn was the biggest coup of the NHL’s deadline trading frenzy. Coburn, whose once-promising career as a potential top-pairing blue liner had transitioned into perennial scapegoat of the Flyers blue line woes, was Hextall’s biggest bargaining chip. Very few, myself included, expected him to be able to turn Coburn into what he did. In return, the Flyers received 1st and 3rd round picks from Tampa Bay to go along with Radko Gudas, a promising defenseman prospect currently recovering from injury. Tack on the much-needed salary cap space that Coburn’s departure frees up, not to mention an alleviation of a logjam of tweener defenseman that has patrolled the Philadelphia blue line since Chris Pronger’s injury, and Hextall can hang his hat on perhaps the most valuable return of the deadline period. NESN.com’s Bruins beat writer Nicholas Goss listed the Flyers as one of his ‘winners’ of the trade deadline and had this to say about Philadelphia.

"Philadelphia Flyers Acquired: Radko Gudas, 2015 first-round pick, 2015 second-round pick, 2015 third-round pick, 2016 conditional fourth-round pick Departed: Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn The Flyers acquired three picks in this year’s draft — which projects to be loaded with top-end talent and depth — for two defenseman who weren’t part of the team’s future plans. Timonen hasn’t even played this season. The Coburn trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning also freed up $4.5 million in valuable salary-cap space"

In summation, the Hextall managed to clean up some of the mistakes of years past, help the organization’s distant future, and do so without impacting its immediate future. He was not able to unload any of the team’s horrible contracts, but that did not stop him from turning in a productive first deadline in charge. Hextall is not fooled by blind faith or the team’s hollow position as a team on the cusp of a playoff spot. He realized upon arrival that, to turn the franchise in the right direction, he was going to have to take advantage of every opportunity along the way and maximize his returns when the market dictated. The Flyers seemed to be one of the last teams to take advantage of what was a seller’s market for the better part of the pre-deadline period.

Transactions aside, the most refreshing aspect of Hextall’s deadline performance was what he had to say afterward. Rather than spit the same sort of propaganda that his predecessors were notorious for, Hextall was brutally honest about his mindset in making the moves that he did.

"“We got to make [the choices] count now, this is only the first part. But I think if you look at young pieces, young assets, we have a lot of them coming. That’s what excites us. We are tying to build towards a top team for an extended period of time and I think we are on the way to that…All the top teams take time to build. In the salary cap world you can’t just buy everything you need on July 1. These moves helped us with the cap. We have some flexibility where maybe we can do something to make our team better in the summer. But we’re not there yet as far as moving forward and planning.”"

What was perhaps most telling about Hextall’s post deadline press conference was his sentiments on the franchise’s irresponsible handling of the salary cap.

"“It’s a balancing act. It’s a juggling act. And it’s hard. You can’t sign a guy now for 6 years and then all of the sudden in Year 1 you’re going, ‘Oh boy, what have I done? How am I going to get out of this one?’ You’ve got to be cognizant of the year beyond”"

Any individual with even moderate familiarity of the Flyers current contract situation immediately knew Hextall was talking about much-maligned defenseman Andrew MacDonald and the ludicrous extension given to him by Paul Holmgren on his way out the door. Much like he did on the ice, Hextall not pulling any punches.

The Flyers return to the ice for game 64 Tuesday against the Calgary Flames. One could argue that their win Saturday against the Rangers gave fans a reason to come back and watch with the same intensity that was present at Wells Fargo Center over the weekend. The team will call every remaining game on the schedule a ‘must-win’ and, in all likelihood, that will have to be the case if they want to return to the playoffs. However, had the Flyers gone out and traded for a veteran player to help them win now, the implications of such a move on the franchise’s future would have brought that much more unsettlement to the fanbase. By doing what he did, Hextall assured himself a silver-lining to a season that may end without the Flyers making the playoffs. There will be the stubborn contingency of fans stuck in the ’70s holding onto the days of the Broad Street Bullies, calling for Hextall’s head for not finding the ‘missing piece’ and waiving the white flag on the playoff race. What that delightful collection of individuals seems to overlook is that every ‘missing piece’ has created a need for several more in each subsequent year. Perhaps the organization has found its ‘missing piece’, he just happens to make his impact off the ice rather than on it.