Not many fans foresee that at the end of May, the only thing to talk about the Philadelphia Flyers is the team’s offseason plan. However, only a few days away from June, the first round of the playoffs is gradually heating up, and the fans of the Ferris wheel have already set their sights on the summer.

After one of the most disappointing seasons of the past few decades (if not), this will be one of the Flyers’ biggest offseasons. The flyers are now in offseason mode, and these are some of the biggest questions General Manager Chuck Fletcher has to answer when looking for a way to get the organization back on track.

What does it have to do with Nolan Patrick?

Since the end of the Flyers season, there have been many rumors about the future of the former No. 2 pick in 2017. The reason Patrick became a polarizing player in the city has to do with the injuries suffered during his young career. He has just participated in 197 of the 302 regular season games.

Winnipeg’s products did participate in 52 of the 56 games this season, but only scored 9 points. Most of his poor performance this season is due to his absence for the entire season and the lack of a normal offseason in the pandemic. Except for the fans, no one in the organization has publicly criticized Patrick for his lack of performance. Head coach Alain Vigneault pointed out that his efforts on many nights were positive.

However, at some point, a former hot player needs to do more than just take one or two points every two weeks. Patrick didn’t do much at all-even before his concussion-and didn’t show much hope in his first season. Patrick (Patrick) has been his third agent since joining the league. He may be someone the team hopes to make a deal in the offseason, or someone exposed in the expanded draft, hoping that Seattle can take him out of his hands. go.

Who in the expanded draft should protect?

Speaking of the latest NHL franchise, this is one of the biggest decisions of the offseason. When the Seattle Kraken selects a player from each organization, it will involve who protects whom, and then exposes who is exposed.

The 32nd hockey team will be responsible for selecting a player from all clubs except Las Vegas (which joined the league in 2017), and its roster includes 14 forwards, 9 defenders and 3 goalkeepers. The latter will not bother Fletcher because Carter Hart is one of the players Fletcher will protect, and Seattle will not take any goalkeeper from them.

The pilot will be able to protect seven forwards, three defenders and one goalkeeper. Fletcher does not have to worry about protecting any first- or second-year players, including Joel Farabee, Wade Allison, Cam York and Morgan · Frost (Morgan Frost).

The most likely plan for the pilots is to see them use three defensive protection measures on Ivan Provolov, Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers. In the front, expect Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Kevin Hayes And Scott Lauhgton (Scott Lauhgton) will be appointed. This left two highlights for Jake Voracek, James van Riemsdyk and Oskar Lindblom, the latter being the youngest People are also highly regarded by the organization. As a result, the pilots are likely to lose one of their top-scoring senior forwards, or someone like Shayne Gostisbehere (and his big contract), and throw it to Kraken.

Where can I find top defensive players?

Once the dust settles, the expanders will have to resolve their biggest concern: the top opposing defensive team will fight alongside Provorov. After Matt Niskanen retired abruptly last offseason, Fletcher turned to answer this question internally, and finally Sanheim and Miles, who regressed this season ( Myers) severely burned him. He probably won’t start recruiting one of these two guys with Provorov next season, and certainly doesn’t want their number one potential player York to be the de facto top pair in jumpers.

Obviously, Fletcher will and should go all out to get high-end blue eyes to prevent another season beyond 2021. Fletcher said that in the interview at the end of the season, they will need “creativity” to improve their level. This team. What this means remains to be seen, but it is likely to involve the introduction of one or two big-name defenses.

Flyer fans have set their sights on their names, including Dougie Hamilton, who is more in line with the team’s greatest needs, so more than everyone else is a right-handed shooter and one of the top shooting guards. The largest unrestricted free agent will have a series of bidders bidding for his services, including his current team Carolina, and many believe that Carolina will intervene with a big offer. Several other names such as David Savard, Adam Larsson and Brandon Montour have also remained in the free agent market.

Is 2021 just a blessing?

This seems to be a very stupid question. Last season is over, what does it matter?

Usually, the organization will close the book quickly in the previous season, especially the book that collapsed and burned like a leaflet, but 2021 is a different season. Fans do not want to hear excuses, which is completely understandable, but Fletcher and Wignot hinted at the different structure of last season and its impact on young people, whether it is their growth or daily life.

It is impossible to determine how many lives in the pandemic affect the team, and when all other teams follow the same agreement, this does not provide an excuse for their hasty play. However, for people like Fletcher who are evaluating their lineup, it is necessary to consider the impact of everything in the past year and a half on these young players. These young people are mainly regressive.

If he really felt that it had a significant impact on his team, it would be unwise to burn them all. If he sits on his hands and doesn’t do anything, it would be a bad decision because he believes that the team that won the number one seed in the bubble months before last season is there. Fletcher’s difficult task is to find a middle ground in the offseason to improve the organization now and in the future.

Is Alain Vigneault still that guy?

This question has been answered for the 2021-22 season. Fletcher confirmed to Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic team that Vigneault will spread rumors that he might have considered stepping aside after the end of the season. The third season of the season. In the departure interview, the coach reiterated that he came to Philadelphia “to win the Stanley Cup”, and he told Fletcher: “I think I have let everyone down.”

This season is definitely a season worth forgetting. Wigeno often finds himself looking for his head in the crosshairs of angry fans. Regardless of the fur decision, Vigneault will return to the third season, but his work safety has begun to heat up. If the Flyers start poorly in the first two months of next season, then this seat will only make the Canadian head even hotter.

Fletcher strongly supports Vigneault and his other coaching team because they are suitable for this kind of candidate. However, I hope to really go inside and find out what went wrong during the offseason, and the decline of young players’ backlash was caused by the COVID regulations and the coach’s message transmission. If it is determined that a considerable part of it is controlled by the coaching staff, then Fletcher’s bondage to Wignert will have to be shortened to next season.

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