After years of preaching patience, Flyer GM Ron Hextall finally seemed to have his team ready to take the next step. He added 36 goal scorer James van Riemsdyk as a free agent, said that youngsters like Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere were ready to step up and be leaders, and flat out stated that simply making the playoffs wasn’t good enough.
The good thing is, the way the Flyers have played thus far, they won’t have to worry about a first round playoff exit. The team has played amazingly bad defense, the goaltending has been a dumpster fire and the coaching staff seems to be plodding along, over valuing “safe” veterans and seemingly unable to make effective in-game adjustments at crucial times.