When you look at his tenure with the Philadelphia Flyers Chuck Fletcher is not a bad General Manager. He’s not, full stop. He took what we thought was a playoff team, and improved it to be a contender. Every one of his moves reflects his dedication to pushing the team forward into competitiveness. And when we fell short in 2020-21 season he took it upon himself to shake up the locker room and retool the team, seemingly aligning himself with fans that perceived internal issues. It is not Chuck Fletcher’s fault that the Flyers are sixth in their division, and out of the playoffs. Fletcher saw the Flyers struggle early this season, and he made the conscious decision to shake up the coaching staff. Let’s shake up the room early to see if we can’t get these guys back on track? Relieving Alain Vigneault of his tenure as head coach, and shipping the much-maligned power-play specialist Michelle Therrien out with him. Our GM has done everything in his power, allotted to him by Comcast, to right the ship, and get this team to where it needs to be. And they’ve failed, the players, the coaching staff, upper management have failed. For whatever reason, this group of players cannot find it within themselves to come out and compete on a nightly basis. And that sucks, it really does because I love our players. I do, every single one of them plays their hearts out, and gives it their all for this team and city. It just isn’t working, and it hasn’t been for over ten years. So now I feel compelled to write this article on why the Flyers should commit to the rebuild, and forfeit this season, and the next if I’m being honest.  

How do you begin to say goodbye to one of the greatest Philadelphia Flyers of all time? How? Of course I’m speaking about Claude Giroux, one of the most underrated, elite forwards this city has ever seen. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I see him leave. A Flyer through and through Giroux has put his body on the line for us, he’s fought tooth and nail to keep us relevant, and he’s made AHL players into stars. I’ll never forget everything he’s done for our city and I cannot thank him enough for compounding my love for hockey. Obviously, any significant Flyers rebuild starts with sending off our best player. Giroux is in the last year of his contract with a full no-trade clause and would be a welcomed addition to any contending team. I imagine he will waive his no-trade clause for a chance at a cup, I mean who wouldn’t in his position. He has already given us everything, so we owe it to him to give him a chance to win the cup. It is hard to write this, I struggle to think of Giroux in another team’s jersey, but this organization has failed him. Make it right and let him choose which contender he wants to go to. It is the least we can do.

  

I wanted to avoid mock trades in this article but it feels impossible. Every rebuild comes with a slew of trades one must make, including every fan-favorite player. This also requires my speculation on what team Giroux would want to go to. I know Ottawa has been rumored before but I’m going to focus on actual contenders. According to CapFriendly Giroux has a remaining cap hit of 4.634 million which makes him easy to move. Current standings indicate the top three teams as the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and the Washington Capitals. Can’t say I’m super up to date on all team prospects but the basis for my mock trades will be a First Round Pick, a Top Prospect, and either a Mid-Prospect/Roster player. The cap is going to be messy as most contenders are right against it so I’ll do my best. 

Philadelphia Flyers Receive: Mikhail Sergachev, Taylor Raddysh, and a First Round Pick 

Tampa Bay Lightning Receive: Claude Giroux 

Or 

Philadelphia Flyers Receive: Cal Foote, Anthony Cirelli, and a First Round Pick 

Tampa Bay Lighting Receive: Claude Giroux 

Tampa immediately becomes the deepest center group in the league, and likely cruises to a Stanley Cup with an absolutely lethal power playgroup featuring Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux, and Victor Hedman. The Flyers receive a much-needed first-round pick, and young players to build around. Just to reiterate, I am guessing on making the cap work here, Flyers can obviously retain some salary and take some back to make things work. 

Philadelphia Flyers Receive: Anton Lundell, Owen Tippet, and a First Round Pick

Florida Panther Receive: Claude Giroux  

I hesitate at these mock trades as I feel like I’m always asking for too much. I’m biased towards the Flyers so it is tough to make these trades work. Ask high, and settle, right?  

Would the Flyers send Giroux to a division rival like the Washington Capitals? I absolutely hate it but I can’t imagine the Caps being upset about Giroux dishing one-ts to Alex Ovechkin.  

Philadelphia Flyers Receive: Connor McMichael, Lars Eller, a First Round Pick, and a Third-Round Pick

Washington Capitals Receive: Claude Giroux and a Fourth Round Pick  

Now that the hard part is over, I’m sorry G I really am, we can focus on the question of who do we think is untouchable on this roster. As of this moment, my only untouchables are Joel Farabee, Cam York, and Carter Hart. Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t listen to offers but those are my top three moving forward. Everyone else on the team at this moment should be moved by upper management to acquire picks and prospects for the future. I will not stand for another ten years of mediocrity. I will not stand for a half-assed rebuild piloted by Ron Hextall, and I will certainly not stand for Comcast perpetuating mediocrity in the interests of ticket sales, and one-and-done playoff runs.  

I didn’t want to give up on this Flyer’s season, I really didn’t. With the tough injuries and COVID, it felt wrong to bemoan the team’s performance given what’s happening in the world right now. I still held onto hope that the team before the bubble would return, make the playoffs and make some noise. But after last night’s 6-2 smacking by the Pittsburgh Penguins, I realized I was done. Last night was the late Ed Snyder’s birthday, father and founder of the beloved Philadelphia Flyers franchise. Not a single minute in the building or during the broadcasts was this mentioned. No tributes, no remembrance, no soul. This is our team’s founder and we couldn’t even mention it? Now I don’t blame the team’s performance on Comcast’s inability to remember important dates but it does seem like this team has no soul and no direction. Ed Snyder was the heart and soul of this team and he brought it to the rink every night. Former players and coaches often talk about his passion for hockey, and his kindness in and out of the rink. And with him gone, so goes the Flyers. Now led by the Comcast Corporation I just can’t be excited about my favorite team when it’s obvious that something is missing. We need a rebuild. From top to bottom because fans are not going to keep showing up to watch the current product. 

Over the next two NHL Entry Drafts, the lottery winner will be exactly that. A huge lottery winner. This next year’s draft sees the number one pick landing on potential franchise centerman Shane Wright, while the year after sees the Canadian phenom, Connor Bedard, up for grabs. The latter is projected as a Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid-level player. The Flyers should do everything in their power to tank for these players. Either one would be a crowning jewel for any NHL franchise, a true number one center for the future. A player you can literally build a franchise around, and I want the Flyers to try and acquire both. Obviously, the lottery is a lottery, hence the name, but load up on every asset you can to move up and draft these players. This isn’t a Nolan Patrick situation, this is drafting a player that could shape your future. 

Trade everyone you can. You have to, you have to reset this organization or we are destined to be a middle of the pack, over-perform, and make the playoffs, a team that never truly improves. I know a lot of people talk about the Flyer’s inability to develop the talent we have which just furthers my point of a top to bottom rebuild. It is unlikely to see the organization change everything but I am out of ideas on how to make this team perform. Which fucking sucks. I love the Flyers man, but it has gotten hard to stomach. I’ve been to two games this year and they got absolutely smacked, just embarrassed on home ice. I remember when the Wells Fargo Center used to be hard to play in, where teams were scared to be in front of our fans. 

Let me end with this… My ideal Flyers rebuild, ignoring all of the above, would be that the current team gets healthy, and turns it around to make a playoff push. I bought in with Chuck Fletcher’s moves, while flawed, which pushed this team in what I presumed was the right direction. Every move seemed to serve the purpose of getting our group closer to competing for the Stanley Cup. I’ve been behind this team my entire life, watching and waiting, for a time where we could be real contenders. I saw Giroux play in his AHL game, NHL game, and now this season I’m sure I’ll see his last game in a Flyer’s sweater. He deserves and deserved better. We as fans deserved better. Philadelphia as a city deserved more than clinging to mediocrity for 12 plus years. But you will never get me to quit on this team, rebuild or not, I’m here.