Fletcher was hired to be "collaborative." The anti-Hextall. I don't think that's very controversial.
This is what happens when decisions are made by committee.
There have been some bad mistakes, but people pile on every decision in a knee jerk response.
The bigger problem has been the lack of a coherent vision, which of course, is what you'd expect from a committee.
The biggest villain is Scott, b/c he's the "CEO." It's his responsibility to make changes when things become dysfunctional.
To absolve him b/c he's ignorant - his job is to learn enough to be able to judge the performance of his subordinates.
Now the 2018-19 moves were an impatient response to a half-ass rebuild, which was partially Hextall's fault - if you're gonna rebuild, rebuild. If Snider gave him the green light he should have run with it, if not, then Snider is at fault. But Holmgren got tired of the team floundering, tired of the college coach. Which explains the big name HC and the "win now" moves - and it worked until COVID.
Summer of 2021 was a decision to stick with AV and hope he could recapture the 2019-20 magic. That was the biggest mistake, b/c it meant reworking the roster to AV's preferences (if I only had the right players) instead of admitting 2019-20 was a fluke.
Fletcher's real flaw wasn't going along, he was hired to go along, it's that he did a bad job of implementing a bad plan the last couple years. His first year was fine, he implemented Holmgren's directives at minimum cost. Had two very good drafts. Since then, not so good.
But the moves since this spring have been completely incoherent, as if 2 or 3 people are grabbing the steering wheel, and the Flyers truck is weaving down the road. Which is why I think Fletcher isn't in control.
The solution is simple - fire everyone, bring in a competent "CEO" who has a basic understanding of sports in general and the NHL in particular, and hire a GM who understands how the game has changed since the lockout. Give the GM complete authority to sink or swim, no "senior advisors" and see what happens.
