Well then:

Ron Hextall. Flyers great. Former Flyers GM. Now he’s a Pittsburgh Penguin, replacing Jim Rutherford, who abruptly resigned from his post just seven games into the season.

Hexy was fired in November of 2018, about four years into his tenure here. The Flyers were rebuilding and it was taking longer than the powers that be wanted, so out he went, replaced by Chuck Fletcher. But Hextall gets a ton of credit for adding some great young players to this squad, like Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Carter Hart, Oskar Lindblom, and Joel Farabee. Eleven of his guys have played for the big club this season alone.

Turning to our resident hockey experts, Anthony says this is an “interesting duo” of Hextall and Burke, the latter previously being an NHL GM for several teams. They essentially hired two general managers. Hexy is great at drafting and developing while Burke is more of a “swing for the fences” type of guy who will make the big move. They’ve got all the bases covered if the pairing works out philosophically.

Russ points out that the cupboard was pretty much empty when Hextall came here. It’s a different situation in Pittsburgh, where it’s kind of empty but top-heavy with Crosby, Malkin, and Letang. You wonder if or how they might see out those guys’ careers and try to restock. We’re talking about fan-favorite Cup winners.


On the surface, this feels gross. Ron Hextall as a Yinzer? Kind of barfy if we’re being honest. I’ve always liked Hexy but the thought of him being involved in the Penguinos makes me want to ralph everywhere. It makes me want to blow Sheetz and Primanti Brothers chunks.

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