from Sam Donnellon of the Philadelphia Daiy News,

Next month, Ron Hextall will mark his third anniversary as the Flyers' general manager. In that time, he has conducted three drafts, handpicked a coach whose college-level "culture" he touted, and methodically begun a youth movement that he believes will lead to an era of elite-level teams that perennially challenge for the Stanley Cup.

That vision, though, is as murky as it was when he was elevated to his current position. Despite almost unheard-of health and the first emergent players of his systemwide youth movement, the Flyers will finish this season with a worse record than last and miss the inclusivity-oriented NHL playoffs for the second time in his three seasons as GM.

As for that culture. Entering their final two games this weekend, the Flyers have scored 212 goals this season and allowed 230, numbers that place them among the league's worst. They are good at home. They are bad on the road. Throughout the season, they were a maddening model of inconsistency, capable of routing the league's best teams one night and succumbing meekly to some of their worst the next....

The players Hextall added from the outside to this team after last season - Dale Weise, Roman Lyubimov, Valtteri Filppula - did not improve it. The coach he hired has yet to prove his professional acumen.

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