from Mike Sielski of the Philly News,

It would seem, at the moment, the biggest question ahead of the Flyers’ offseason: Will Gordon be back? And the more games he and the Flyers win now, the better it is for him, though someone did ask him: The team had gone winless in eight straight games before embarking on that 16-3-2 stretch. Didn’t that turnaround alone say something about the job you’ve done?

“Maybe it just might have reaffirmed some of the beliefs I’ve had as far as coaching, how to do things, systems, people management, work delegation among coaches,” he said. “After every season, you evaluate what you did positively, what you did negatively, and everything in between.”

He won’t be the only one evaluating, though. General manager Chuck Fletcher, team president Paul Holmgren, and franchise CEO Dave Scott will be, too. And if they’re doing their evaluating right, they should consider a broader view in a manner that Gordon can’t or won’t.

For instance, they should consider that last season, under Dave Hakstol, the Flyers rebounded from a slow start with a 16-5-1 stretch from early December into mid-January, then were eliminated in the playoffs’ first round by the Penguins. They should consider that, under Hakstol in 2016-17, the Flyers went on a 10-game winning streak – and still failed even to qualify for the postseason.

They should consider that, in 2015-16, Hakstol’s first season, the Flyers needed a 12-3-2 run just to get into the playoffs. And they should consider that, in 2013-14, under Craig Berube, the Flyers went 39-21-10 over their final 70 games, including a 12-2-1 burst late in the season – and, yes, lost in the first round.

The purpose in noting those other spurts of success is not to argue that Gordon hasn’t done a good job this season, or that he is a better or worse coach than either Hakstol or Berube.

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