What went wrong for the Philadelphia Flyers?

Matt Larkin and Mike McKenna continued the Daily Faceoff Show’s newest segment Down and Out, where they talk about all the teams outside the playoff picture and where they can go from here.

Today, it’s the Philadelphia Flyers, who started the season strong before falling off a cliff with multiple 10 games losing streaks. But what exactly went wrong for this team?

McKenna: “Injuries didn’t help right off the bat. Couturier’s been out for a lot of the season. [Kevin] Hayes as well. Ryan Ellis was a big acquisition on D that was expected to play a major role. So I think that put Philly behind the eight ball to start with.

"But what they really needed was for some of the young talent to take a step forward, and I just don’t think that’s happened in Philly. And I’m not sure how much more is coming. They didn’t have a first-round draft pick last year, they only had five [picks] in 2020, they’re missing second-round picks in the next two years, so the Flyers are going to have to build via trade, via free agency, and hope that some of these new acquisitions and these new signings, including people like Bobby Brink, who just won an NCAA championship with the University of Denver, Ronnie Attard, the defenseman who’s offensively minded. They’ve got to come in strong for this team.

"But more than anything, I think this club needs a fresh voice. They need a whole new coaching staff. They started off a couple years ago with Alain Vigneault, Michel Therrien, Mike Yeo. They have three head coaches and it didn’t work. And they’ve been so passive defensively that I just don’t think they’re built for success. They need a fresh voice, they need somebody totally out side of the realm of the Philadelphia Flyers to come in and lead this team. I think it’ll make the biggest difference for them, and especially trying to get that power play going, because it was the worst in the league this year.”

Larkin: “And you said passive defensively, that’s a really good point. This team gave up a lot of chances this year. Carter Hart, I think, was largely to blame for what went wrong last year, they actually weren’t that bad defensively. This year, it’s the opposite. Carter Hart, his play improved a lot after the nightmare last season. But the Flyers, 28th in the league in 5v5 expected goals against per 60. He just didn’t have any help out there.

"And like you said, the young guys, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, they didn’t step forward, and you sort of have this other part of your core that’s over 30 years old, like Cam Atkinson and Kevin Hayes, those guys are getting into their early 30s now as well. So you don’t really have the prime year stars that are taking over.

"And looking forward, this team’s long-term plan, the discussion from ownership, the sort of mandate is to stay competitive. But, I’m a little skeptical of that, because if you look at the team’s recent draft picks in the first round, German Rubtsov, Jake O’Brien, Morgan Frost, Nolan Patrick, who of course is gone now, those are a lot of whiffs, and because of that, your trajectory, you haven’t really replenished the talent pool to the degree you expected to. You don’t have these young prime year starts ready to break out.

"And next year, this team has $76 million plus committed in cap space already, including $5.1 million to Ramus Ristolainen, so I just don’t know for sure that there’s a way out here in the short term. Do you think there’s any way this team can be competitive next year?”

McKenna: “That’s going to be tough. I mean, they’re also missing leadership. They’ve lost their captain Claude Giroux, left in a trade to Florida, and I think that’s a necessary component. They need some creativity, they need help on defense.

"The Flyers kind of need a lot of things, and I’m not sure how they pull it off with the cap constraints, and there’s the flexibility that doesn’t come with that. There isn’t enough of it there, so it’s a big challenge for Chuck Fletcher, GM of the Flyers.”

You can watch the full episode here…