Jones: Flyers were a playoff team with Walker, didn’t forget the rebuild originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
The word “collapse” has often been used to describe the Flyers’ finish to the 2023-24 season.
And that word was fair. If the Flyers had stayed afloat down the stretch, they would have punched a ticket to the playoffs.
With 11 games remaining, they had an 83.4 percent chance of making the postseason, according to Hockey-Reference.com’s odds report. They held third place in the Metropolitan Division for more than two months before losing eight straight games and being defeated 42-18 in that skid. They were 2-7-2 in their last 11 games and were eliminated from the race on the final day of the regular season.
What’s also fair is acknowledging that the Flyers’ decision-makers weren’t caught up in a playoff run as the March 8 trade deadline approached. From the start, the organization promised to focus on the future and try to build a sustainable competitor. The Flyers made good on that promise by moving one of their best defenders, Sean Walker, two days before the deadline. The deal with Avalanche netted the Flyers a conditional 2025 first-round pick.
But it hurt the Flyers in an area where they were already struggling. With Nick Seeler hitting injured reserve on the same day as Walker’s trade, the Flyers lost arguably their most effective defensive pairing. They were also missing Rasmus Ristolainen and Jamie Drysdale due to injuriesmaking the club very weak while trying to secure a playoff spot.
The Flyers went 6-10-3, surrendered 3.95 goals per game and had a minus-30 goal differential after trading Walker. His absence didn’t completely break the Flyers, but it absolutely factored into their nosedive.
“I don’t think the message should be lost in the fact that we traded a player for a first-round pick next year in a very important draft,” president of hockey operations Keith Jones said Wednesday. “If Sean Walker had stayed with the team, are there three points for us? Yes, so we are in the playoffs, we would have fought hard, we would have been a difficult opponent for everyone.
“And that’s what we established last year. I don’t think many teams came in and felt like they could easily get two points playing against the Flyers. If you look at our record against the bottom four teams or even between the two teams that are playing in the final of the Stanley Cup, it was respectable, to say the least. So I think there’s been incredible growth in that aspect.”
More: Hilferty ‘thrilled’ with Flyers direction, Jones opens up on rebuilding timeline
The Flyers have recorded 13 wins over top-10 teams. They combined to go 5-4-2 against the clubs that reached the East and West Finals (Panthers, Rangers, Oilers and Stars) and 3-2-0 against the Cup Final teams (Panthers and Oilers).
However, the Flyers also have 13 losses to bottom 10 teams. Half of their losses in that costly eight-game skid came against teams in the bottom five of the NHL standings.
“I think some of the disappointment and losses at the end of the season will be something our players take with them,” Jones said. “I think it will be valuable for them. We didn’t lose to the best teams in the league. We lost to some of the worst teams in the league. We were the ones ignoring our opponents, so there are valuable lessons in that.
The end of the season resulted in the Flyers making the 12th overall selection – your first of two first-round picks – in the June 28-29 NHL Draft.
“Does this take away from what our guys accomplished throughout the year? I don’t think it will slow down,” Jones said. “Does having the 12th overall pick help us in this draft? Does it help. Is it something we expected while our players were fighting for the playoffs? No, but we have to do it now.”
After the season, coach John Tortorella was adamant that Flyers made the right decisions at the trade deadline. On Wednesday, Comcast Spectacor president and CEO and Flyers governor Dan Hilferty also supported the front office.
“We never lose sight of the goal, [which] it was the long-term positioning of the team,” Hilferty said. “As a viewer I appreciated that, it was really encouraging to watch. This is the plan and we will stick to it. You’re right, we were all sad to see Sean go. But the truth is that a choice has emerged and there is an opportunity to build towards the future.”
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