In the history of the Philadelphia Flyers, there might not be a more universally hated figure than former general manager (GM) Chuck Fletcher, who was with the team from 2018-2023. Looking back on it, it seems as though he did a great job of setting up the GM who replaced him: a beloved Danny Briere.
Of essentially every good thing the Flyers have in their organization, Fletcher is at least somewhat responsible for. It might seem ridiculous as his firing was all but unanimously considered to be a good idea, but he has helped put Briere in a position to succeed. From here on out, the young GM is responsible for taking the Orange and Black to new heights.
Fletcher Acquired Top Draft Picks
In Fletcher’s first full season as the GM of the Flyers, he helped them finish with the sixth-best record in the NHL in 2019-20 despite missing the playoffs just a season prior. Instead of improving, Philadelphia heavily regressed the next season. Even with a great start to a shortened 2020-21 campaign, they missed the playoffs entirely. Instead of riding a wave of mediocrity, he acted immediately.
Whether or not he meant for the Flyers to be an awful hockey team in 2021-22, they were. They had the fourth-worst record in the NHL, which essentially marked the start of the Flyers’ rebuild. It was never said that they were rebuilding explicitly, but Fletcher traded away their captain, Claude Giroux, for young assets at the trade deadline—the era of old was officially over. He could have always done the popular thing and extended one of the franchises’ legends, but he chose against it. In the end, it helped Philadelphia draft prospect Cutter Gauthier with the fifth-overall pick in the 2022 class. Even if he is no longer with the team, he is one of the best prospects in the NHL.
In 2022-23, many wanted the Flyers to go out in free agency and replace Giroux with a player like Johnny Gaudreau. He was, by far, the biggest fish in the 2022 free agent class, yet Fletcher refused to entertain the idea. He did make some moves to try and help the team at least be a little bit more respectable, like trading three draft picks for defenseman Tony DeAngelo, but he never made any high-risk deals for an immediate solution to the loss of their star captain.
Because of this, the Flyers were also not very good in 2022-23. After failing to trade veteran forward James van Riemsdyk at the trade deadline, who had a $7 million cap hit for one more season (a contract that Fletcher did not sign), he was canned on March 10, 2023. However, all of the damage was already done. Philadelphia finished with the seventh-worst record in the league, which allowed them to draft quite possibly the best prospect they have ever had in Matvei Michkov.
If Fletcher operated any differently, the Flyers likely wouldn’t have gotten either of these two players. Overall, one of the best things he did was acquire this talent. Briere is in a favorable spot with a lot of options because of the job his predecessor did.
Fletcher & Flahr Drafted Well
The Flyers’ assistant GM, Brent Flahr, has a major drafting influence in the organization. While he hasn’t been perfect, he has done a solid job of it. Even though he is still with the team and has an important role, he only came on board because of Fletcher in the first place—they worked together with the Minnesota Wild.
When both he and Fletcher were still in Philadelphia, they drafted the following players in four draft classes: Cam York, Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, Emil Andrae, Samu Tuomaala, Alexei Kolosov, Gauthier, and Alex Bump. Projecting potential isn’t a perfect science, but these athletes have a lot of it. These players are all some of the best young athletes the Flyers have at their disposal, and they came before Briere was on board.
Michkov would make this list a lot better, but Fletcher never got to see that pick out even though he was the one who made it possible. Even without him, players like York, Foerster, Kolosov, and Gauthier could all have incredible futures in the NHL. Love him or hate him, Fletcher had a great track record regarding the draft.
Fletcher’s Trading Helped Accumulate Assets
Fletcher’s trading is what many dislike him for, giving away big assets for players like Rasmus Ristolainen and DeAngelo, and giving away a second-round pick to shed the salary of Shayne Gostisbehere, but those deals weren’t all negative. In fact, he was actually pretty decent at trading.
While the Ristolainen trade, one where he gave up a first- and second-round pick to accomplish, was expensive, it has its benefits. For starters, the draft picks that Fletcher gave up were essentially of zero consequence. The first-round pick was 14th overall in 2021, yet that was one of the weakest draft classes in recent memory. Seeing as that was the bulk of the deal and the fact that the Flyers got a player in return who had a fairly good season in 2023-24, this one hasn’t aged quite as bad as it could have. They objectively lost the deal, but not by a significant margin.
The DeAngelo trade was a bit less defensible, as the Flyers were never really in a position to go out and acquire him. However, Fletcher didn’t give up a prospect or a first-round pick to acquire him, so ultimately that one wasn’t of major consequence, either. The Gostisbehere deal, while shortsighted, also falls into this category.
Aside from these deals, Fletcher did a good job with trading. He acquired forward Owen Tippett, a first-round pick, and a third-round pick that became Denver Barkey for a 34-year-old Giroux. At that same trade deadline, he dealt forward Derick Brassard for a fourth-round pick that became forward Alex Ciernik. If that wasn’t enough, he dealt veteran defenseman Justin Braun for a third-round pick that the Flyers used to select promising goaltending prospect Yegor Zavragin.
Related: 3 Flyers Prospects Who Could Take a Major Step in 2024-25
As opposed to the three trades we covered before, these ones were brilliant on his behalf. While Flahr and Briere did much of the work by selecting the prospects just mentioned, the point stands that Fletcher’s presence helped set the Flyers’ current GM up for success. These moves undeniably did that.
Briere Was Allowed to Trade Away Key Players
One of the best things that Fletcher did—or, didn’t do—was trade core players. Instead, he left all of that up for Briere to do. Players like Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Ristolainen, Ivan Provorov, Scott Laughton, DeAngelo, and more were all kept on the roster. As a result, Briere was able to make some sweet deals.
Provorov, a player that Fletcher extended during his first offseason with the Orange and Black, was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a haul back on June 6, 2023, by Briere—that was only possible because of Fletcher’s restraint in making deals. The same applies to DeAngelo, who was shipped to the Carolina Hurricanes for solid prospect Massimo Rizzo and a fifth-round draft pick. The Flyers can have an exciting 2024 offseason also partially because of Fletcher, as they can get some value for the other players mentioned.
Now, we can get back to the Gauthier debacle. He never wanted to play for the Flyers, so that was a situation that Briere dealt with. He acquired skilled young defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick, again because of the assets that Fletcher accumulated.
Fletcher was by no means the best GM in the world, but he did a great job of setting Briere up for success. Most of the great things that the Flyers have are because of their former GM and not the current one. With Fletcher now gone from the Flyers for a decent chunk of time, he can no longer be scapegoated—all of the big decisions fall on Briere.