When Ron Hextall was introduced as the Flyers new general manager, it was clear from the beginning he had a plan. Of course, there were going to be obstacles along the way.
Carry-over contracts from Paul Holmgren's tenure as GM forced Hextall to be creative in the ways he was going to make this team his own.
The trade deadline featured two trades, but technically four moves, for the Flyers. With every move he made, Hextall showed why he has all the makings of a great general manager.
The first trade, a deal that sent the likeable Kimmo Timonen to Chicago for two draft picks, served as a win-win deal. The Flyers couldn't guarantee Timonen the playoff appearance. Chicago could.
So Timonen has a chance to win with the Blackhawks and the Flyers netted two draft picks for a player who played his first game of the season on Monday night. Win for the Flyers.
The second trade was a necessary one. The Flyers still had a need to unload defensemen and cap space. They did both by trading Braydon Coburn to Tampa Bay. What proved to be shocking was the return Hextall got for the veteran defenseman – two draft picks, including Tampa's first-round pick, and Radko Gudas, a 24-year-old defenseman.
Hextall could have made that a huge deal with just the first-round pick alone. Instead, it was easily the steal of the deadline.
The other two moves for Hextall were contract extensions, each two-year deals. Nick Schultz signed his on Feb. 18. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare signed on Monday. Both contracts gave the Flyers viable players for next season at low cap hits – approximately $3 million between the two players.
Hextall said it best during his press conference on Monday following the trade deadline.
"When you look at young pieces, young assets, we've got a lot of them coming," Hextall said. "That's what excites us. You're tying to build towards a top team for an extended period of time, and I think we're on the way to that. Rome wasn't built in a day. Chicago took a long time to build. All the top teams take time to build in the salary cap world."
Hextall would know. After all, he was part of a team that now has two Stanley Cups in three seasons in the Los Angeles Kings. When the Flyers handed Hextall the reigns, they knew they had the architect of a champion.
The blueprint was written this offseason. This weekend, you saw the groundbreaking.
There were various names the Flyers could have dealt or were rumored to be shopping that did not get traded at Monday's deadline – Nick Grossmann, Luke Schenn, Brayden Schenn, Vincent Lecavalier. A lot of deals are also made as the draft nears and commences. Look for any – or several – of those names to be on the block again.
What Hextall did by holding on to those players was allow the team to have the look and feel of a team trying to make a playoff run. They may fizzle out. They may very well squeak in. Hextall has the Flyers prepared for both scenarios.
Hextall also prepared the team to move ahead with his plan into next season. He knows the talent level that is coming. Many of the highly-touted prospects are defensemen. Those two trades not only cleared cap space for the Flyers to make improvements over the offseason, but also opened holes for the Flyers to utilize their prospects, if they choose, as early as next season.
That's what a good GM is made of. He's constantly thinking two or three years ahead while putting a team with a chance to win on the ice. The Flyers have a chance, sitting five points back with 18 games to play. And they have players who have been through this trying season that is only now starting to shift toward contention.
Regardless of what happens the remainder of this season, the Flyers have an exciting offseason ahead as Hextall's plan is further put into effect. Hextall proved he's up to the challenge and can put the Flyers on the right track.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
