The Flyers are not the «Flying P» we thought they would be

The search for a new coach, a new captain, and major improvements within the organization. By the looks of what has taken place thus far, the only thing that has improved, was the Wells Fargo Center itself. Seems like every year, something is improved in the building, but let's forget about the team that plays there. Let's dive into some of the additions and downgrades so far this offseason.

The Flyers acquired right-shot defenseman Tony DeAngelo and a 2022 seventh-round pick from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick, a 2024 third, and a fourth in 2022. A really good pickup and a need. With uncertainty of when Ryan Ellis will play again, it was important to get some help for Ivan Provorov- since DeAngelo, a Gloucester County NJ native, had 10 goals and 41 assists in 64 games played, who also had a plus-30 last season. Tony is a good offensive mind, moves the puck well, and the biggest thing, he can run the powerplay. Great move.

Sadly, that may be the best thing about this offseason thus far. There was a major need for scoring and the GM Chuck Fletcher said to himself, they were going to get an elite player, well where is he? The talk of the town was that Former Calgary Flame superstar, and South Jersey native Johnny Gaudreau had his eyes on coming home. A signing that would rapidly increase the offense, the morale, and bring more seats in the stands.

Now call me crazy, but when a player of this caliber is just waiting for you to offer him something, typically you do what is needed to make it happen- unless you're Flyers president Chuck Fletcher. Gaudreau ended up signing a seven-year, $68.25 million deal with Columbus. That's a $9.75 million average annual value.

To bring «Johnny G» to the Flyers, it would have required significant cap space to be freed up, essentially having to move a player with a big contract, or two- kind of like a «JVR». The Flyers missed out on the biggest free agent signing since Danny Briere, and now the team is left with a lot of question marks. A very disappointing start to an offseason where you just don't know who will be doing what.