Among the teams in the Metropolitan Division, there’s no question that the Philadelphia Flyers have been the least active in the NHL offseason.
Many rival teams, and the New Jersey Devils, especially, have been aggressive this summer in a concerted effort to improve their rosters and compete for a Stanley Cup.
But, with training camp and the NHL preseason just days away at this point, you can’t say the same about the Flyers. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
The Devils are an unfair comparison for the Flyers as a team that boasts a breadth of young stars with veteran talent insulating them.
Let’s instead compare the job general manager Danny Briere has done to the work of Kyle Dubas of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Brian MacLellan of the Washington Capitals–the leaders of two teams with similarly stated goals.
The Flyers, the Penguins, and the Capitals have all refused to outright tear their squads down in an effort to rebuild, or retool. The latter two, in particular, are doing whatever they can to make the twilight years of their stars competitive.
Has anyone ever heard of Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin?
Even after trading captain Claude Giroux, the Flyers, be it with Briere or Chuck Fletcher, too have tried to remain competitive.
In comparison to their rivals, though, that plan doesn’t appear to be working.
After making the playoffs at the Flyers’ expense, the Capitals got busy this offseason. MacLellan went out and sought a number of upgrades, particularly up front. In the span of a few weeks, Washington managed to add Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Brandon Duhaime, and Taylor Raddysh before picking up old friend Jakub Vrana on a professional tryout agreement.
Defensively, Jakob Chychrun and Matt Roy join a group that already includes two-time NHL All-Star John Carlson and the blossoming Rasmus Sandin. Oh, and don’t forget about Trevor van Riemsdyk and Martin Fehervary, who are both more than capable of holding their own in top-four roles.
After moving Darcy Kuemper in the Dubois trade, Logan Thompson takes over in goal behind incumbent starter Charlie Lindgren.
The key here, though, is that Dubois and Chychrun are both 26 years old. They complement the young Capitals already in the NHL, as well as prospects like Terik Parascak, Leon Muggli, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Hendrix Lapierre, Andrew Cristall, Ryan Leonard, Ryan Chesley, and Cam Allen.
The Capitals are in a much better position to win now, and by adding talent of various ages, MacLellan has also given them a headstart in building towards the future before the days of Ovechkin are over.
Dubas, too, has managed to toe this line, adding 20-year-old top prospect Rutger McGroarty in the same offseason that veterans Kevin Hayes, Anthony Beauvillier, and Matt Grzelcyk came to town.
Don’t forget that the Penguins sold off superstar winger Jake Guentzel at the NHL trade deadline and still managed to retool and remain competitive. Making those picks and prospects count is a different beast, but it’s a start nonetheless.
As for Briere and the Flyers, they finish in third place out of the three teams in offseason action because, well, they didn’t really do anything.
The extent of the Flyers’ offseason business was re-signing defensemen Erik Johnson and Egor Zamula, as well as young forward Bobby Brink.
Of course, 19-year-old Russian sensation Matvei Michkov arrived in North America earlier than anyone had expected. But, Michkov is exactly that–19 years old–which means the Flyers’ days of competing for a Stanley Cup are at least three or four years down the road.
Briere didn’t sell Travis Konecny as the Penguins did with Guentzel, and he didn’t take risks or buy low as the Capitals did with Dubois or Chychrun. Instead, the Flyers gave Konecny the largest contract in franchise history and punted the rest of the offseason.
Why?
More or less, the Flyers are facing more questions than answers. Is Noah Cates more than a fourth-line player? What kind of players are Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee? Can you win with them or any of the other Flyers players remaining from past regimes?
After one year on the job, it appears that Briere has not yet gathered enough information to make a decision on these players. Considering Fletcher and Ron Hextall’s draft and free agency failures, Briere is also tasked with making up for lost time there.
In any event, though, inaction is still a choice, and for at least one summer, the Flyers have chosen to sit back and watch as their rivals improved in more ways than one.
