The reaction to the Flyers adding Brett Hextall to the organization via an AHL contract to the Phantoms was as expected.
Many people saw it as just an AHL contract and it wasn't as if his father, Ron, the Flyers GM, handed him an a job at the NHL level.
Others saw it as another example of the Flyers always keeping things in-house, reclaiming former players of theirs, and nepotism.
You can make the case for all of that but I saw it for what it was - adding more depth to a total makeover of the Phantoms roster under the elder Hextall this summer. There's a lotta new faces in the organization now.
Also, training camp is less than a month away and Brett was still out there unsigned. He had a chance to sign somewhere else by now and didn't.
If you saw Ron Hextall's comments to me in my CSNPhilly.com story, he was pretty candid in his assessment that he absolutely didn't like what he saw in the farm team and wanted a remake. This is part of it. I don't read anything else into it.
*
From what I have gleaned from various sources the Flyers' coaching staff is not expecting either Dustin Penner or Ryan Malone to walk into training camp as tryout invitees. At least, as of now.
I agree with Bill Meltzer that while Penner may be intriguing as a top line candidate, there are a couple of things that would really worry me.
One, why was Anaheim willing to move him for such little return as a mid-round draft pick? Two, what does it say when the Caps just cut him loose after a dreadful performance for them down the stretch in which he played as if his heart wasn't into it.
That's not the kind of player the Flyers need right now.
*
For more hockey, check out CSNPhilly.com
click here 
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»