When routine bites hard, and ambitions are low.
The Paul Holmgrem Philadelphia Flyers who traded a decent pick for pending UFA Andrew MacDonald and signed him to a UFA-busting deal are not the Ron Hextall Flyers who have demoted MacDonald to the AHL while collecting promising prospects on the blueline.
The franchise is different now, under different direction, and for the first time experiencing a rather Garth Snow-like (2008-13 era) forced patience. Hextall and Snow, two ex-Isles and former Flyers crease mates, rebuildin' Metro teams feisty-goalie style.
One can debate whether the Flyers, always a high-cap spending team, should really be taking that foot-off-the-gas approach like Snow did when the Isles were in Nassau and unable to convince even Ryan Smyth to tear on the bottom line.