False report on Flyers’ Dave Scott; offseason may resemble 2019

Social media was abuzz Tuesday after a report in Hockey Buzz surfaced.

The outlet said they were “just rumors” at this point, and listed a litany of Philadelphia Flyers developments, including this one: Dave Scott was retiring.

Scott is chairman of the Philadelphia Flyers’ parent company, Comcast Spectacor.

Contacted late Tuesday night, Scott said the rumor was false.

“It’s not true,” he said, adding he had “a lot more work to do!”

The Flyers, crippled by injuries and without much depth, had their second-worst record (25-46-11) in franchise history and missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-94.

Scott and GM Chuck Fletcher have said that if their injured players return healthy, the Flyers are two or three players away from turning things around.

Lots of needs

On Tuesday, Fletcher acknowledged “we need to get younger; we have to get more talented. We have to get faster. We have to aggressively look at trades, free agency, and can we add a couple players to supplement what we have here and make this team better.”

Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau, a star left winger from South Jersey, is among the UFAs on the market.

Fletcher said “another element will obviously be the return to health of certain players.” He mentioned top-line center Sean Couturier and top-pairing defenseman Ryan Ellis.

“This is slightly different circumstances, but this offseason could be a lot like the offseason in 2019,” Fletcher said. “If you look back at that year, we traded back in the first round, got an extra pick, traded picks for players, and acquired picks at the deadline. You are constantly doing what you can to improve your team. That is what I guess I call a retool.”

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In that offseason, the Flyers traded down three spots and drafted defenseman Cam York in the first round. Fletcher, in his first draft with the Philadelphia Flyers, also picked up a second-round pick from Arizona, enabling him to take Bobby Brink. He traded two draft picks to Nashville to move up 11 spots and grab Brink.

That summer, the Flyers acquired Tyler Pitlick from Dallas for Ryan Hartman. (Hartman, 27, scored 34 goals this season for Minnesota). They dealt second- and third-round picks to San Joe for Justin Braun, acquired Matt Niskanen from Washington for Radko Gudas, and picked up Kevin Hayes from Winnipeg for a fifth-rounder. The Flyers signed Hayes 16 days later to a seven-year deal that carried an annual $7.1 million cap hit.

Some of the moves worked; some didn’t. And three years later, the Flyers still find themselves no closer to their first Stanley Cup since Gerald Ford was in the White House.

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