I don't buy the theory that Ron Hextall came back here as the No. 2 GM in waiting just so he could leave to go somewhere else to be the No. 1.
If that were the case, then why leave LA as the No.2 behind Dean Lombardi? Does being No. 2 in Philly mean more than being No. 2 in LA? Of course not.
Also, there has been a number of GM openings in the NHL - Montreal, Edmonton, Columbus, St. Louis _ in the past few seasons where Hextall could easily have been given the job and he wasn't.
No, he came back to the Flyers to be the GM in waiting for Paul Holmgren's job somewhere down the line. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a group decision by the organization to "close ranks" now and bring him in now for the future.
The real test of how the Flyers truly feel about Hextall will come "if" another organization offers him a GM position. Then the Flyers are caught between a rock and a hard place.
They might be content with Holmgren but they want the younger Hextall who bleeds orange 'n black to lead them in the future.
This is a season when the entire coaching staff and entire front office will be under scrutiny. The Flyers simply can't afford to get off to a slow start and having not made the playoffs last spring, there will be little tolerance for failure.
That said, I feel the Flyers made some pretty good moves. I would still have preferred a winger to a center in free agency, but we'll see whether it's Vinny Lecavalier or Brayden Schenn who moves out of the middle.
All that gets settled in training camp, anyway.
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