FANS SPEAK: Flyers’ Management Team Named Worst in NHL

The Flyers’ management team is at the bottom of the 32-team NHL.

The Athletic on Thursday ranked fans’ confidence levels in the front office; the Flyers were last, based on input from fans.

Philly had the fourth-highest entries (1,000), showing that its fans wanted to be heard.

The Flyers, with GM Chuck Fletcher running the show, were plagued by injuries as they had the second-worst record in franchise history last season.

Other than this, things are GREAT pic.twitter.com/dPPmeOJVZd

— Tyrone Johnson (@TyJohnsonNews) August 18, 2022

And then came the team’s summer of discontent — after management had promised an “aggressive retool” months earlier.

No Johnny Gaudreau, a gifted free agent who wanted to play here. No trade for Alex DeBrincat, the left winger who would have been the ideal player to build around.

No significant moves to clear cap space and change a faceless team.

So fans vented in the Athletic poll.

“I’ve never seen a front office be so delusional about the current state of the roster,” one fan wrote. “There’s no clear direction, and I don’t see a way out anytime soon.”

Front offices were graded in several categories: roster building, cap management, drafting and developing, trading, free agency, and vision.

The Flyers’ management teams received a D-minus in each category.

Philly fans ranked the Flyers last in every category except drafting and developing, where they placed the front office second-worst in the NHL.

Interestingly, Fletcher, a Harvard graduate, vowed to be aggressive when he first took the Philadelphia Flyers job. He said he was influenced by his dad, Cliff, a Hall of Fame general manager back in the day.

“He was a guy who wasn’t afraid to make moves,” Chuck Fletcher told me in 2018. “Again, not every move you make works out, but he certainly was never afraid to pull the trigger. He taught me to make your best judgement, make your best decision, and hopefully it works out. If it doesn’t, you have to go back and make another one.”

The younger Fletcher, however, has been gun-shy in making big moves for the Flyers.

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