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Chuck Fletcher: Alain Vigneault and Assistants aren’t Going Anywhere
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All it took was one word.
One word to let everyone know that any changes coming to the Flyers organization in the next few months will be concentrated in one place and one place only – the roster.
The word came from GM Chuck Fletcher. It was in response to a question asking if any of the changes coming to the organization would involve the coaching staff.
“No,” he said.
It was emphatic. There were no qualifiers. There was no deliberation. There was no explanation. It was resolute. It was precise. It was pointed.
It was one word.
And that one word was Fletcher’s solemn oath that Coach Alain Vigneault and assistants Michel Therrien, Mike Yeo, Ian Laperriere and Kim Dillabaugh would be running the show come the 2021-22 season.
Done deal. No further questions. This one isn’t on the coaches – and even if it is, its not going to put it on the coaches because that’s always bene the case with these Flyers and it hasn’t gotten them anywhere to just change coaches.
John Stevens was fired, and then won a Stanley Cup as an assistant in Los Angeles. Peter Laviolette was fired and then took Nashville to the Stanley Cup final and now has Washington poised for another long run. Craig Berube was fired and he won a Stanley Cup with St. Louis. Dave Hakstol was fired and…
Well, let’s just try and forget that era.
The point is, Vigneault is a sure-fire hall of fame coach. He’s not going to be canned after two seasons, both of which were greatly impacted by a global pandemic.
The players may not like this, but it is what it is. They are handsomely paid to play a sport. Deal with it if your boss isn’t warm and fuzzy.
Unless Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Dave Scott suddenly emerges from his cocoon, wielding a scythe, and slicing and dicing up this organization – which we doubt will happen because Scott, as Gorilla Monsoon used to say, is “conspicuous by his absence” – Fletcher’s mandate of the status quo on coaches will be carved in stone.
This doesn’t mean Vigneault and his staff are going to get off scot-free for the debacle that was the 2020-21 season. No, they need to shoulder some of the blame, and as such, will be under a more intense spotlight next season if things start to go a little awry again.
But, for now, the players are going to be the ones that suffer. Some will lose jobs. Some will be shipped out of town. Some will be buried further down the depth chart.
The Flyers aren’t rebuilding. They’re restructuring. They’re re-tooling. This isn’t a situation where they are going to get rid of all their veteran talent and tank for a couple of seasons. That’s not happening.
Instead, there will be changes – and they started already, parting ways with the ill-fitting Erik Gustafsson, and longtime role player Michael Raffl in trades on Monday right before the deadline.
But there will be more. The Flyers will likely turn over about eight jobs between this season and next. This deadline was just part one. The expansion draft is coming. The entry draft is coming. Free agency is coming. It’s going to be an active summer. Chuck Fletcher all but promised it.
It has to be. It has to be one where everyone is put on notice. Because 2021-22 is a tipping point for a lot of people surrounding the Flyers.
It’ll be the last year on contracts for Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Justin Braun, and Robert Hagg. Someone will be lost to the expansion draft. It’s almost assured that James van Riemsdyk, Jake Voracek and Shayne Gostisbehere will be exposed, tempting the Kraken to take on a veteran player with term and dollars remaining.
And although Scott Laughton signed a new deal Monday for five years and $15 million, he is one of only a choice few players who are guaranteed to be on this roster come October. That list is quite small:
- Giroux
- Couturier
- Laughton
- Kevin Hayes
- Ivan Provorov
- Carter Hart
- Oskar Lindblom
- Joel Farabee
That’s it. Oh, there’s some prospects too, but I’m talking about players who were directly involved in this season’s failure.
Yes, guys like Phil Myers and Nolan Patrick should feel vulnerable. Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny could go in the right deal.
Fletcher is poised to make changes this offseason. He talked about at length in his presser. When I asked him if the groundwork was laid for some potential moves in the offseason, Chuck was forthcoming.
“I hope so. Certainly, going back to even last offseason, I’ve had numerous conversations with essentially every general manager – there’s a few teams in our division we’re not talking trade every day – but with most of the teams in this league I’ve had numerous conversations and I think I have a pretty good feel with where they’re at and what they’re looking to do. That work continues all year long. There’s a lot of teams looking to make changes this summer and at that time we’ll be in a position to know (what we want to do).”
This woeful Flyers season might not end until May 10, but the next season has already begun. And Chuck knows he has thousands of eyes on him.
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Anthony SanFilippo writes about the Phillies and Flyers for Crossing Broad and hosts a pair of related podcasts (Crossed Up and Snow the Goalie). A part of the Philadelphia sports media for a quarter century, Anthony also dabbles in acting, directing, teaching, and strategic marketing, which is why he has no time to do anything, but does it anyway. Follow him on Twitter @AntSanPhilly.