I rescinded the comment as it was to early to tell for most of their picks although I don't generally credit drafting to the GM. I will credit a gm for putting the right people in place who will do that, but its unclear to me if he had any influence in his time there with that.
I'm looking mostly at his trade history (which is tiny), and judging from his returns (which is mainly picks .... ) he doesn't know how to buy low or evaluate potential. That is why (along with poor taste in coaches) he got canned. Just doesn't move the dial.
All I see is another MacT or Tambo there. No thanks from me, but I respect that people like him.
First, you must understand that he developed a plan to fix empty cupboards and one of the worst cap situations in the NHL. A plan, as in patience is the ONLY way to approach that..or you end up like this mess overspending in FA. He preached that over and over, unlike the bozos in this outfit, who are forcing everything
His trades? he traded away 3 immovable contracts in Lecalvier, Schenn and Pronger...and he got a return, when most GM's have to pay to move contracts
Evaluate potential? He drafted Hart, took an undrafted Myers, and traded up to get both Konecny and Frost
His poor signings for players like Elliot, Weise, Gordon, were planned "filler" players while he bided time to develop, and he didn't want to hand any term so he'd have cap when it mattered
He hasn't handed out a single clause in 4 years, even to high ticket players like Voracek and JVR, cuz over and over he stated cap flexibility is highly important to improvise(ahem ahem Lucic, Talbot, Koskinen, Russel)
He is on record as saying the team was real close and with a boatload of cap and a full cupboard picks and prospects finally, he was gonna spend to make a contender for years, and didn't spend early just to make odd playoff appearances and shallow playoff runs(sound familiar?)
Aside from 1 big mistake, like you mentioned, a poor choice in a coach, he was extremely impressive doing all that in 4 years. Now Fletcher gets the keys to arguably one of the best situations in the NHL for a GM.
A team filled w/ proven vets like G, Vora, JVR, awesome prime players like Couterier and Ghost on criminal contracts, and a handful of fantastic rookies like Hart, Sanheim, Provorov, Patrick, Konecny and Lindblom
If Hart continues to play like he has, the Flyers will be a top 5 team in the NHL for years to come, and that all is at the hands of Hextall