On the contrary, Torts likes him, they just wanted him to get more seasoning and get stronger.
Good. Because Torts has been committed to a long-term rebuild since last fall, and has carried the FO with him, kicking and screaming (until they were fired).
www.nbcsports.com
Oh, so Torts is going to push for Atkinson to be traded?
Btw, this was the situation Fletcher walked into.
Flyers name ex-Wild exec Fletcher as new GM
Chuck Fletcher was hired as executive vice president and general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday, one week after Ron Hextall was fired.www.espn.com
"It is an honor to join the Flyers, an iconic NHL franchise, and I would like to thank Dave Scott and Paul Holmgren for entrusting me to guide the team forward," Fletcher said. "Adding to my excitement is the high level of talent that is in place, which sets this opportunity apart and will pay dividends as we move the organization ahead and ultimately compete for a championship."
5 takeaways from Flyers management's press conference after Ron Hextall firing
Flyers president Paul Holmgren and Comcast Spectator Chairman and CEO Dave Scott addressed the media for 20 minutes Tuesday in response to the firing of general manager Ron Hextall, and Holmgren spoke for another 15 minutes afterward. Here are the top five takeaways from Tuesday’s press...
“Hexy in his time as general manager has put this organization in a good spot with the young players that are in place right now, our farm system, our prospect cupboard is full. There’s cap space, which is a good thing,” Holmgren said
I wouldn't go that far. Hextall had some enormous drafting errors. But Fletcher certainly left the Flyers way worse than what he inherited.
I'm not even remotely defending Fletcher...he was an abomination. I'm just saying that it wasn't like he was handed the keys to a Ferrari. Hextall was a very mediocre GM.
For the most part, those highly touted prospects flopped in D+1 and D+2, other than Patrick, who broke down. It isn't like NAK, Rubtov, JOB, Ratcliffe, Ginning, Laberge, etc. were stars before the Flyers got their hands on them, or could have been traded for more than a bag of used pucks. The ones that shone before the Flyers were fine after they became Flyers (TK, Farabee, Provorov, Sanheim, Hart). Provorov simply was a finished product at 19, he may do better with a better partner, but the fact he needs a partner to play his best simply means he's not a #1.
He was handed a lot of mediocre prospects, most of whom didn't pan out, and a couple key ones got injured (Lindblom, Patrick, Allison). He had a handful of quality veterans, most at their peak (G, Voracek, Raffl, Gudas), a few solid young starters in Couts, Ghost and Laughton, and a bunch of scrubs. It was an 85-90 point team that had an up season in 2017-18 and a down season in 2018-19.
And blaming Ron Hextall who had another job in between.
