from Adam Proteau of The Hockey News,

If you look around the league this season, you’ll note that teams with better records than the Flyers have dismissed their GMs. The Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks both cleaned house; the Edmonton Oilers fired their head coach; and the league-worst Montreal Canadiens let go of their GM and coach.

So, what makes the Flyers so different that dismissing veteran bench boss Alain Vigneault was the only major move they’ve made thus far? How can Fletcher have been so wrong about not only this season, but last season as well, and still be trusted to chart their next course? It`s not as if Fletcher can point to a lot of success since he took the Flyers`job in December of 2018. Yes, Philadelphia won a playoff round in the 2019-20 campaign, but other than that, the Flyers have missed the post-season in two of the past three seasons, and they`ll be 1-for-4 in playoff appearances after this year concludes. That is not a statistic that inspires confidence Fletcher will be able to pull them out of this tailspin, especially when you take into account Fletcher`s well-publicized comments about his belief in this group at the beginning of this season.

It isn’t as if there is a shortage of qualified candidates to replace Fletcher. Indeed, there are all sorts of up-and-coming hockey minds that currently are serving as assistant GMs, scouts, and other management roles. The Flyers could take the reins away from Fletcher today, have someone such as former NHLer and present-day special-assistant-to-Fletcher Daniel Briere take over in an interim basis for the rest of the season, and hire a permanent replacement this summer. That would at least prove to Flyers fans there are repercussions for disappointing play. Right now, there’s no sense Fletcher should be held to account for his miscalculations.

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