Did the Philadelphia Flyers get rid of the wrong guy by relieving Ron Hextall of his duties as general manager?
The Philadelphia Flyers came into this season as a “win now” team. They have not be winning, so a move of some sort, whether it be a firing or a trade, was expected. As the Flyers always do, they surprised everyone. This time around, they relieved general manager Ron Hextall of his duties. The Flyers will begin their search for his replacement immediately.
Letting go of Hextall is a bit surprising. He has been far from perfect, but the Flyers have made the playoffs in two of the past three seasons. That’s not bad. As a matter of fact, that’s pretty darn good. Most teams would kill to have this kind of success. Hextall has built a team capable of winning games, even if it is still a flawed team.
We might never know precisely why they let go of him. Maybe the Flyers wanted to do something that Hextall refused to do. This is from their statement (bolded for emphasis).
"We thank Ron for his many significant contributions, but it has become clear that we no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team."
But there are general managers out there who have done far worse than him, yet they still hold jobs. Replacing Hextall could be hard.
Hakstol over Hextall
It’s surprising the Flyers never gave Hextall the chance to hire another coach. Dave Hakstol, who was hired in 2015, has been a much larger reason for the Flyers’ lack of success this season. He’s not getting the most out of his talented roster. The same talented roster that made the postseason last year.
Perhaps the Flyers wanted to fire Hakstol and Hextall didn’t want to. Their statement vaguely implies this could have been the case. But, unless that’s the case, it makes very little sense to not give the general manager a chance to fix one of his very few mistakes.
Undone By Goaltending
Hextall’s greatest mistake was never shoring up the goaltending. This shouldn’t come as a surprise for Flyers fans, but goaltending cursed the team during Hextall’s tenure as general manager. Which is a bit ironic considering he’s arguably the second best goalie the team has ever had.
Ironically, Hextall, even though he has been relieved of his duties, might be the guy who finally solves those goaltending woes. He’s the guy who believed a lot in Carter Hart, who has put up outstanding numbers in juniors.
Lack of Ideal Replacements
Finally, firing Hextall makes little sense because, simply, there are not many good guys out there. Of course, Steve Yzerman is an option. However, considering he’s currently employed by the Tampa Bay Lightning, so one would think they’d have to work something out with them.
After Yzerman, the options get significantly worse. There’s Dean Lombardi, who is in the Flyers front office, though his current role is undefined. He won two Stanley Cups with the Los Angeles Kings. However, Lombardi was ultimately undone by his awful contracts and mism]anagement of assets.
Chuck Fletcher and Ron Francis are both experienced general managers, so they’re likely going to get some interest from the Flyers. But there’s a darn good reason why both were fired.
Bill Guerin could be an option, but he currently works in the Pittsburgh Penguins front office. Mike Futa from the Los Angeles Kings drew interest from the Carolina Hurricanes and he might be willing to jump ship. However, those guys are unknowns. Hextall was at worst an above average general manager. The Flyers are likely going to wind up sacrificing the known solid quantity for an unknown one. That’s always a risky decision.