Ron Hextall leaves the Flyers organization in better standing than it was when he took over as GM in May 2014. That much is clear, and we shouldn't let the ending blur the overall picture.
Hextall was the general manager the Flyers needed, but his far-too-patient philosophy wore thin in an organization that prides itself on the image of competing for the Stanley Cup every season.
Ultimately, Hextall ignored the NHL team for far too long, and his ignorance to deviate from his plan in a season that was supposed to be a "step forward" signaled a change was needed.
As team president Paul Holmgren said in his statement, Hextall and the Flyers "no longer share the same philosophical approach concerning the direction of the team." We can draw our own conclusions as to what that means, but how we define the Hextall era is simple.
This organization needed a general manager like Hextall when it hired him, but he's not the right person to finish what he started. Hextall's threshold for mediocrity outgrew the organization's and the fans' tolerance for trusting a message that one day, the Flyers will be a Cup contender.
That message began to become murkier with the Flyers in last place of the Metropolitan Division at Thanksgiving for the second straight season and owning problems that fall singlehandedly on the GM. Hextall's inaction presented a different representation of the Flyers than we understood, that they're complacent with mediocrity. In the end, the patience ran out.
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Where do the Flyers go now is the question everyone is asking. We'll find out in the coming days. Holmgren has already begun the hiring process. The next hire arguably is the biggest decision this team will face in decades. Screw this up and it'll set itself back even more.
We can draw parallels from recent Philly sports history. Think Ed Wade and Pat Gillick. Wade built up the Phillies' minor-league system but wasn't capable of pushing the team across the finish line. The Phils fired Wade in October 2005 and replaced him with Gillick. Three years later, the Phillies ended Philadelphia's 25-year championship drought.
Gillick added a couple key bricks to the foundation Wade built and it led to the best five-year window in Phillies history. That's exactly what the Flyers need in their next GM.
They need someone who can pick up what Hextall left and finish the job. They have to carry on with Hextall's drafting and developing mentality but not be afraid to package a young asset to improve the now. Whoever the next GM is, they'll have a pretty solid toolbox to work with.
The Flyers' farm system, by most accounts, ranks among the deepest in the NHL. For an organization that ignored drafting and developing for so long, that carries a lot of weight. This is an organization that ignored the draft for years, and it left the cupboard way too empty.
Think about this for a moment: From 2004 until 2012, the Flyers drafted 64 players, had three drafts without a first-round pick and six without a second-round pick. Really, during that span, Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier are the only two who have made a considerable impact here.
You can't win without homegrown players, and that's a takeaway from the Hextall era. He also dug this team out of salary cap hell and that sets up the next GM well.
Hextall just couldn't quite figure out the rest.
If the Flyers end up winning a Cup in a few years, we'll look back on the Hextall era as a major reason why. Until then, we're left wondering what could have been.
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