Keith Jones and Dan Hilferty Explain Just How Much Work is Really Needed to Undo the Inherited Flyers Mess

With the city abuzz over the Phillies, and the Eagles in the midst of their OTA activities, the winter sports teams likely are way off your radar.

But the Philadelphia hockey media was jonesing for something, anything they could to fire up their computers and put out something new for fans to chew on – especially hockey fans, who are a special breed of content consumers. All you have to do is look at social media to see the lengths and depths they are willing to go to discuss something hockey related.

The Flyers obliged the cravings of the hockey-writing community, as representatives of that content-starved public, and threw together a press conference Wednesday with president of hockey operations Keith Jones, and Comcast-Spectacor CEO Dan Hilferty.

If we’re being honest, not a whole lot was said when it came to the hockey team itself. Jones deflected questions about the status of Matvei Michkov, and understandably so. Things are very different in Russia than they are here and there’s too much risk in saying something publicly that could change unannounced, minutes later, in a different country. So, it’s best to say nothing.

Keith Jones on Matvei Michkov situation: “When we drafted him the expectation was he would finish his contract with SKA. So, we are listening. We are reading many of your articles and kind of following along. We have no update on it. We would welcome him with open arms….

— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) June 5, 2024

There will be some resolution to that – probably later this month – but where Michkov plays hockey next season won’t change the Flyers approach this offseason.

That’s because the Flyers really can’t do anything of substance. They have so much dead money heading into the 2024-25 season, it’s crazy. But that’s a result of needing to get out from under even more restrictive contracts.

When you consider they still have to pay Ryan Ellis $6.25 million, Cal Petersen $5 million to be a minor league goalie, and are retaining a combined $5.23 million in salary for Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo to not play for them, it’s tough to imagine a world where they’ll be adding much at all this summer.

Sure, a full-on hockey trade could happen, and one or two probably will, but those aren’t designed to load up on assets or catapult a team to a new level. Those are often even swaps with both teams hoping to get slightly better than if they would have kept the player they traded away.

The Flyers did reach out to Carolina about the availability of forward Martin Necas, but there doesn’t seem to be a good match there. Even if the Flyers offered something like Joel Farabee and the first-round draft pick they got from Florida in the upcoming draft, it’s likely not enough to entice the Hurricanes and interim GM (and former Broad Street Hockey contributor) Eric Tulsky.

So, they may look in a different direction.

The key priority as far as NHL-level talent for the Flyers this offseason will be to sign Travis Konecny to an extension. His ask is high. And with one more strong season, it might be a number he could fetch as a free agent after 2024-25, so the Flyers have to take that into consideration.

Would the Flyers be willing to breach the $10 million plateau as far as an AAV for Konecny? Maybe, if it has to be a shorter deal – like four or five years. Or maybe if they show a commitment to Konecny for longer term – say, seven or eight years – maybe they can convince himto take a little less in annual salary knowing he’ll earn more by getting extra years tacked on to the contract.

Sign Konecny, draft a bunch of intriguing prospects, maybe make a hockey trade or two, and then take the rest of the summer off.

Which is why there wasn’t much to glean roster-wise from the press conference.

I can’t stress how big a fan I am of these two. Dan Hilferty is so awesome, just loves the Flyers and Philadelphia while Jonesy is just the best with his approach and knowledge. You can rest easy knowing the Flyers are in these guys’ hands. https://t.co/CyEpzZRovH

— Corey Swartz (@cswa11) June 5, 2024

But there were a couple interesting things Jones said, that you can think about and maybe perceive as something new:

“I think there’s been a lot of progress made on the team coming together (and) with the players enjoying playing here again. When we are in a position to go out and get a premier player through free agency, this is going to be a destination they want to come to again. That’s part of the process here. Starting last year and over this (next) season as well. Before we flip and start to be a team that’s in a different situation after removing a lot of money off our cap and getting rid of some of the contracts that we had to get rid of.”

“I think the one indicator on (our) timeline that out there for everyone to see is the money that we have tied up right now for players that aren’t playing for our team. A lot of that is going to start coming off the cap, and I do think that if you look further down the line, that is when we are going to have some real key decisions to make. We have to get them right. There’s no room for error on whatever players we add to the mix in a couple of years. Those are the things we have to pay a lot of attention to right now. … Some of that is growth from within, some of the younger players and whoever we draft with the two first round picks we have this year and the multiple first round picks next year. It’s going to be key. But at the same time, the removal of money off the cap – the dead money – is something that we are going to be able to use to our benefit as long as we do everything right here and make sure that this is a place that people want to play. It’s really important for us to get that message out. It’s important for us to continue to communicate with our fans and to show off our fan base so players say, “Yeah, man, I watched the Phillies in the playoffs last night and that crowd was incredible. I’d like to experience that playing for a hockey team like the Philadelphia Flyers.” All of those things are part of our thinking and we’re going to have to execute. It’s not going to be easy. We threaded the needle last year. (This year) I don’t think it’s threading the needle. I think there’s a blueprint out there that we can maximize and get on, but we have to do it right.” 

The undertone of that hearkens back to the Cutter Gauthier trade. The Flyers were not being viewed by players – not just veteran free agents, but unproven prospects, too, with zero professional experience – as a place they wanted to play.

The “New Era of Orange” was not just about repairing relationships with the fans of the franchise, but also repairing the reputation of a once elite franchise. The decay finally showed when fans stopped going to games two seasons ago, but it was already in existence at the player level for much longer, and repairing that rot takes time.

That’s what John Tortorella has been trying to do for the past two seasons, even if it meant making examples of some players – and some media members – to create a standard that reaches far beyond the ice. Jones and Briere are tasked with not only building a roster from within with good drafting and player development, but also selling agents and their clients outside of the organization on the investment that’s being made to return Philadelphia to the glory days of being one of the haves in the NHL. Hilferty is tasked with being the master facilitator, building a team of business executives who know how to deliver a cohesive, unified, public message – something that didn’t happen prior to his arrival.

These guys didn’t come out and say that directly, but this was the most public they’ve ever been about just how bad things were when they took over a year ago, and just how long the process is going to be to complete the restoration of a once proud franchise.

“If you look at the track record that we’ve had over the past decade, it’s been not a great one,” Hilferty said. “We saw a dip in attendance. We saw on social media and wherever you run into people just not an excitement about the team. …

“I long for a day that people are so excited (about the Flyers) that not one (New York) Rangers fan can get a ticket at a home game at the Wells Fargo Center,” Hilferty said. “We’re not there yet, but we are seeing more enthusiasm.”

I’d run through a wall for Dan Hilferty and Keith Jones

— Dan Knightly (@DanKnightly) June 5, 2024

Hilferty trusts Jones and Briere. They seem to have a plan to get there, it’s just going to take a while. And even if it means not making the playoffs again next season, as long as there’s progress with the plan, everything will remain on track.

“Coming at this as a fan … at the beginning of last year, I was hoping like heck we would outperform what the projections were and I go into this next year feeling the same way,” Hilferty said. “But in the role of chairman, I’m very comfortable that there’s got to be a level of patience around this.”

Hilferty said he’s started to study other franchises, and what they did to become successful. He cited the Florida Panthers, who are back in the Stanley Cup Final for a second consecutive year. And unlike previous regimes, they’re committed to building this the right way. They’ve said it all along. And they’re sticking by their guns.

“I’m going to continue to be a fan and I’m going to cheer every game, but I’m not worried about wins and losses,” Hilferty said. “Yes, you want to be respectable. You want to be in a playoff hunt. But I’m not going to worry that it’s got to be this coming year that you make the playoffs. I just want to see continued progress and development.”

For a team that is in the throes of a rebuild, even one that had an unexpected shot at the playoffs in the first year of it, that’s all you can ask for right now.

As Jones said, they’ve got to get it right. Both with the draft and eventually the players they look to have as part of the core going forward.

In short, the honeymoon phase is winding down. It has about another 10 months to go. Then the spotlight will be on, and the harshness of the beams will be determined by the work that began last summer and continues through this one.

The post Keith Jones and Dan Hilferty Explain Just How Much Work is Really Needed to Undo the Inherited Flyers Mess appeared first on Crossing Broad.