If you were wondering if the Philadelphia Flyers were undergoing a rebuild, then general manager Ron Hextall will be very direct when describing the franchise’s direction.
Despite landing in the 2nd slot in the NHL Draft, the Flyers, who finished last season only seven points short of the final Eastern Conference playoff berth, aren’t rebuilding.
“You’re not rebuilding when you’re competitive,” Hextall said, according to Sam Carchidi of Philly.com.
“A rebuild, to me, is when you go to the bottom and you pick high, high, high – and essentially, you’re not trying that hard to win. That’s not in our DNA. We want to win. We want to win as many games as possible.”
“We’re not going to go to the bottom of the league and pick first overall for four or five years. That’s no way to build culture. Our vision was to stay competitive, and build, and get younger – and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Despite the proclamation, Hextall knows that the Flyers need to see more production on the ice.
“I can sit here and tell you 85 points, 105 points, but it really doesn’t mean anything,” said Hextall.
“What’s (important) is when our team starts the season and we go do it. Do we expect to make the playoffs? Of course we expect to make the playoffs.”
” … I’m comfortable saying we expect to make the playoffs because our team on paper is good enough to make the playoffs.”
