Well….the Flyers were a pretty successful organization until about recently. They were in the Stanley Cup final in 2010. People make a lot about not winning the Cup since the mid1970s but they have been in 6 Stanley Cup finals. They had the misfortune of playing dynasty teams like the Islanders, Oilers and Blackhawks. So this “in breeding” was reasonably successful.
As I see it they tried to win one more Cup for Ed Snider before he died, which didn’t happen. Then their youth movement failed, most famously with the number two pick Nolan Patrick had health problems. A big defenseman like Samuel Morin, #11 pick in 2013, only played 29 games in his career. Some others didn’t make it either, like the 2nd and 3rd round picks. You need to have some of those hit.
Maybe Briere is a long term solution. Montréal considered him before hiring Hughes. Move Clarke and Barber to sinecures where they meet with sponsors and fans, hold hockey clinics. It’s nice you keep heroes in your organization but have them do jobs they can do.
