Philadelphia Flyers moving on from Dave Hakstol was easy to see coming

The Philadelphia Flyers finally made it official on Monday by announcing their decision to move on from Dave Hakstol as their head coach.

Back at the end of November when the Philadelphia Flyers decided to move on from Ron Hextall as their general manager, it seemed like only a matter of time before the same decision was made in regards to Dave Hakstol.

Flyers fans haven’t been shy when it comes to expressing their frustration towards Hakstol over the years when considering how many times this team has seemed capable of making a deep run at the playoffs, only to come up short each time.

Even during his first year as head coach during the 2015-16 season, Hakstol helped Philadelphia earn a trip to the playoffs before losing right away to the Washington Capitals, setting the bar high moving forward.

With that being said, the Flyers finally pulled the trigger on Monday by parting ways with Hakstol after rumors started to emerge over the weekend. As a result of the move, Scott Gordon will take over the responsibilities of interim head coach in the mean time.

When seeing how Hakstol was only in the middle of his fourth season with the team, some will argue the former head coach was treated unfairly by Philadelphia since he was let go too soon.

But also, when looking at the expectations surrounding this team along with the fact that the Flyers currently sit on the bottom of the Eastern Conference, this decision regarding Hakstol seems like it was for the best.

For obvious reasons, it was clear that Philadelphia was in desperate need of making some changes when seeing how quickly their season has gone downhill with no signs of turning things around any time soon.

Only time will tell when it comes to seeing how the Flyers perform under Gordon, but with the team losing four games in a row heading into Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, it’s tough to have high expectations.

Then again, when seeing how it’s only December, and there is still plenty of hockey to be played, maybe Philadelphia can figure out a way to slowly work their way out of the basement of the Eastern Conference standings.

If not, well at least the Flyers will be able to take advantage of earning a high draft pick along with no longer having to deal with the frustrations surrounding Hakstol as their head coach.