Tag: Nolan Patrick

For as much scrutiny as Chuck Fletcher faces, Ron Hextall’s drafts have shown the Flyers inability to build a core that lasted well into the future. The minor trade involving Isaac Ratcliffe was further proof.

The offseason will present its challenges for a team in need of an overhaul and massive improvements at every level of the organization. There will be plenty of stories to come as next season’s team is constructed. For now, here’s one last look at the 2021-22 season with five takeaways from the season.

Since getting introduced as Special Assistant to the GM, Danny Briere is looking to make a name for himself. If this season continues to get worse, he might soon be in position to be Chuck Fletcher’s replacement.

Bobby Clarke’s appearance on the Cam and Strick Podcast led to some comments regarding Ron Hextall’s tenure as GM and the selection of Nolan Patrick in the 2017 NHL Draft. The guys discuss these comments and give their thoughts. They also look at another postponement due to COVID and two more losses to extend the losing streak to seven games.

With Bobby Clarke’s recent comments about former Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall, it’s time for another revisit not just about the Brayden Schenn trade, but the 2017 NHL Draft as a whole.

It has reached a new level for the Flyers. This is essentially one great, big reality show. The play on the ice is only one part of the equation, and at this point, the things happening off the ice are becoming bigger headlines, most recently comments from Flyers legend Bobby Clarke on the Cam and Strick Podcast regarding Ron Hextall’s time as GM.

With multiple roster moves throughout the summer, the Flyers are seeking to redeem themselves going into the 2021-22 season.

After a busy offseason, is there still a chance for young players to make their impact on the Flyers roster this season? The possibility exists for sure. It always does. The road to get there is just going to be much more difficult this time around.

The Flyers appear to be done for the offseason, outside of re-signing Carter Hart and Travis Sanheim, and are hoping a majority of their acquisitions turn out to be wins on “quality bets.”

As the market opens, the Flyers are still not finished yet. They will definitely be signing a goalie, likely on the opening day of free agency on Wednesday. Don’t rule out the addition of another forward as well to provide some added depth in that department. With those things in mind, here are a few candidates at each position that the Flyers could target in free agency.

Kyle Collington and Kevin Durso are here to discuss the four trades the Flyers made this week, going through each trade, as well as looking at GM Chuck Fletcher’s comments about gaining more energy and changing the mood in the locker room.

On Saturday, just prior to making their first pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, the Flyers made yet another trade, sending Jake Voracek to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Cam Atkinson. The trade is one-for-one and no salary was retained.

When Saturday afternoon’s trade went down and sent Ryan Ellis to the Flyers for Phil Myers and Nolan Patrick, it came as a surprise to the veteran defenseman. That said, it also marks the beginning of a new chapter for Ellis.

The Flyers completed a trade with the Nashville Predators, adding defenseman Ryan Ellis in exchange or defenseman Phil Myers and forward Nolan Patrick. Patrick was sent to the Vegas Golden Knights in a separate deal involving the Predators and New York Rangers.

As GM Chuck Fletcher and assistant GM Brent Flahr met with the media on Tuesday morning, it marked the beginning of what should be a busy few weeks for the team. They need to get better. They know it. And they know time is of the essence.

As Flyers management – head coach Alain Vigneault and GM Chuck Fletcher and chairman Dave Scott – met the media on Tuesday, the trio rested on excuses for most of their comments, sounding more optimistic in hopes of a normal season than the work that may need to be done to a roster filled with holes.

From a mid-January start with some early positive results to one final win/loss to the New Jersey Devils in mid-May to conclude the 56-game campaign, here are five takeaways from the season.

Kyle Collington and Kevin Durso discuss it all, looking at a week with the Devils and other playoff races happening around the league.

The Capitals’ superstar was given the opportunities to unleash his lethal shot. The Flyers third-string netminder did an admirable job given the circumstances. The Flyers continued to get an impressive start from one of their young players. Here are five takeaways from Saturday’s 6-3 Flyers loss to Washington.

Notably in Thursday’s game, the Flyers saw their goalie perform at the level he’s shown before but struggled to get to this season. And he had to take center stage in the skills competition coin flip that is the shootout to secure a 2-1 victory over the Penguins.

The Flyers got a regulation win on Saturday, scoring the only goal of the third period to claim a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins at Wells Fargo Center.

The result was what the Flyers needed. How long it took was what they didn’t. In this critical week in their season, the one that will likely define whether they choose to buy or sell – or do a little of both – at the deadline, the Flyers needed to win games. They have one to start, certainly a step in the right direction. 

There are no moral victories when it comes to playoff races or trying to contend at this point in a season. You either find a way to win or you don’t and that single point still involves a point lost. That said, there are plenty of moral victories you can find in games like this when you are trying to determine what you have and what you need for the future. The Flyers got lessons in both on Saturday.

The Flyers may be sitting fifth in the East, three points out of a playoffs, still very much mathematically alive. But their defense is in shambles. Almost every core player that was expected to produce on the higher end offensively has shown struggles. The goaltending has been questioned. To put it simply, the Flyers are a mess right now, and it’s become clear that the current system is just not working.

Monday’s game was a battle royale of mediocrity. This was a game that probably played out exactly as it should have in both result and process. Yes, the Flyers are a better team than the Sabres. The standings certainly reflect that. But for 40 minutes, they weren’t close to that, so much so that they not only once again dug a hole to the worst team in the league, requiring another frantic third-period rally, but they also had to shorten the bench to do it.

An unlikely hero emerged late in the third, as Sam Morin scored his first NHL goal with 4:27 to play in the game. That goal held up as the game-winner, in a much-needed, 2-1 victory for the Flyers over the Rangers on Saturday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center.

In the end, the Flyers probably got the deserved result for the chances they had in the third period and the strong start they had in the first. It’s two points they desperately needed and will take any way they can get at this point. The process on the ice may still have a lot of flaws and they were on full display again, but it’s a game the team can put back in the win column, another game where they took care of business against a team behind them in the standings. 

The Flyers stayed the course, and this time, pulled off the comeback to claim the two points. Jake Voracek got the deciding goal in overtime with 1:13 remaining to give the Flyers a 5-4 win.

Both Alain Vigneault and Claude Giroux said the Flyers are trending in the right direction. James van Riemsdyk agreed and said they did a lot of good things. But the results don’t lie. The Flyers are not a playoff team at the moment in the standings for a reason. And they need a quick fix or this will be yet another season of disappointment, yet another season of mediocrity.