Lol Jane got owned in his own blog. Amazing.

1) Was focused on long-term -- rebuilding the farm system, investing in development infrastructure (a state-of-the-art training facility, expanding the development coaching staff, creating a sports science section) and creating long term cap space -- rather than "win now". It may work out long-term. It may not. But there was very much a plan, and it was well-articulated.

2) No he didn't make any blockbuster trades but the Flyers had a deal 99 percent done to get the first overall pick in 2014, and Florida got cold feet at the last moment.

3) Last I checked, Giroux has 197 points over the past two seasons. Moving to wing prolonged his prime, and he's not close to looking on the downside yet. Voracek (if that's who you are referring to, even though they haven't been on same 5-on-5 line the majority of the past two seasons) has averaged 75 points over the past two seasons. He's still pretty good. If you mean Couturier, the past two seasons have been the best two of his career to date, and he's still only 26 (so he's in what should be his prime).

4) Any GM that wouldn't take two first-round picks -- the two of whom (Frost and Farabee) now comprise the organization's top two forward prospects -- in exchange for a non-nucleus player (albeit a quality one), should be fired on the spot. The Flyers had to eat a bad contract for two seasons with Lehterä, but the picks obtained were excellent asset management.

5) The only guesser here, James, is you. You jump to a conclusion that is not grounded in reality. While Hextall isn't an "analytics first" GM, he does incorporate it to some degree because he's very much a leave-no-stone unturned type who is always searching for those 1% and 2% boosts. It was actually during his tenure that the Flyers expanded upon some of their proprietary analytics and hired full-timers to run analytics. Additionally, if you want an education on how the game has changed, talk to Hextall sometime. He has forgotten more about hockey than you and I combined will ever know.
- bmeltzer

Bravo.

1) If he was focused on long-term building, I think he could have done much better. Either you trade Giroux or Voracek (horrible contract he gave him too) and star over or you try to win while they were in their prime.

When Hextall took over, they were one of the best combos there was. I think Hextall was stuck in no-man's land (again, he was way too conservative) and should have picked a lane.

2) I'm sure he tried, but he didn't make any really good or any really big trades.

3) I meant Giroux and Voracek, both of whom he signed to big deals. They're now on the downside of those deals and they didn't pan out. (By which I mean they didn't come close to winning while they were good contracts) It's nice and all that Girioux is aging gracefully, but the time to win was the second those contracts were signed, not now when they're both 31.

The Couturier and Ghost contracts were very good, still are. And I would have no problem with the contracts for the two big stars if they tried to win when these deals were still paying dividends. (The Giroux contract isn't terrible today, but who wants to pay almost nine millino for ages 31-34?)

4) The Schenn deal is still bad. It's nice if the prospects work out, but a known commodity for two late round picks isn't great. Again, if the Flyers were also trading other players from their roster this trade would make more sense, but Hextall wouldn't commit one way or the other and he waffled until he was fired.

5) I'm not guessing - the evidence that he's not a very good GM is strong. I do hope he knows more about hockey than me though since it's his job. You can't really compare the knowledge of a career hockey man with that of a guy who has to spend 50 hours a week on a different profession.

Bottom line: Hextall was too risk adverse, and too conservative to be a good GM. He did nothing that stands out as excellent, and several things that don't seem too hot. While I don't think he's terrible, I do think limiting a team's job search to just ex-NHL players is extremely stupid.
- James_Tanner

Such. A. Loser.

I won’t lie, I, for one, love James. I mean he is the biggest known dirt bag of this site yet everyone keep screaming at it. Gotta give credit where it’s due.
- Habsody

They hate me so much they are pretending Ron Hextall was a good GM. Give me a few days, they'll be certain that Chiarelli is underrated too.

This is an HR nightmare: a murder among colleagues

DAAAAAAANNNNYYY
DAAAANNNNY

And of course Tanner's reply to "Not" being sexist in his post is by promoting the song "Nice Leg, Shame About Her Face!" Good call!

They hate me so much they are pretending Ron Hextall was a good GM. Give me a few days, they'll be certain that Chiarelli is underrated too.
- James_Tanner

No one is defending Chiarelli. Try again

Ohhhhhhhh Jiiiimmmmmmmyy

You getting schooled my man

Keep up the writing Jimmy. I don't agree with a lot of what you write, but I don't read HovkeyBuzz for TSN-like articles. I like HockeyBuzz because it gives me a taste of other people's views/opinions. Even if I completely disagree with them, I like being exposed to other people's perspective on hockey topics,

I am entertained by your work, and is that not the point of a blog? I respect the fact that you take the time to read and reply to comments....which cannot be easy when even the slightest typo will be repeatedly pointed out.

Like I said, I don't often agree with you, but I am always curious to see what you have to say, and how you will say it. It's fun! That concept just seems complete lost on people.

Now I will sit back and wait for responses on my comment which will point out typos, errors in grammer, and why my opinion is wrong.

Ohhhhhhhh Jiiiimmmmmmmyy

You getting schooled my man
- rrentz

It's been greatly entertaining reading this. If he had just said "Hextall had a number of flaws and probably deserved to be fired", I'd probably agree with him. The doubling down on it like he was Mel Bridgeman running the Senators is funny.

Aren't the coyotes out of cap space and have nothing to show for it? Another brilliant move by boy genius Chayka

Keep up the writing Jimmy. I don't agree with a lot of what you write, but I don't read HovkeyBuzz for TSN-like articles. I like HockeyBuzz because it gives me a taste of other people's views/opinions. Even if I completely disagree with them, I like being exposed to other people's perspective on hockey topics,

I am entertained by your work, and is that not the point of a blog? I respect the fact that you take the time to read and reply to comments....which cannot be easy when even the slightest typo will be repeatedly pointed out.

Like I said, I don't often agree with you, but I am always curious to see what you have to say, and how you will say it. It's fun! That concept just seems complete lost on people.

Now I will sit back and wait for responses on my comment which will point out typos, errors in grammer, and why my opinion is wrong.
- bullethead7

Your opinions are wrong.

They hate me so much they are pretending Ron Hextall was a good GM. Give me a few days, they'll be certain that Chiarelli is underrated too.
- James_Tanner

I mean you've been pretending Chayka is a good GM so something something stones and glass houses

Tanner, clearly you don't like Hextall and Chiarelli...but at least its Ron and Peter instead of Ruth and Patty. Did the millenials at your favourite tazo chai tea place look up from their laptops and forgive you today?
- uofcguy

Tazo is a tea company, not a variety of tea just fyi.

Morning jimmy, anything good for breakfast today? Any chance gormley gets a PTO?

The walls are closing in on Tanner. First he had his article shut down. Then the predictable attempt to deflect and backpedal. Now Meltzer exposing him as completely uninformed. Thanks for the laughs Tanner. Tell us more about Chayka's genius compared to Hextall.

The walls are closing in on Tanner. First he had his article shut down. Then the predictable attempt to deflect and backpedal. Now Meltzer exposing him as completely uninformed. Thanks for the laughs Tanner. Tell us more about Chayka's genius compared to Hextall.
- uofcguy

I'm just puzzled why the blog was part one. Meaning there is a part two. Was part one so jam packed with info that it needed to be split up into parts? There was so little effort and thought put into part one. It might have taken 5 minutes to type up. Has me on the edge of my seat awaiting part two.

Hey tanner if you wrote better blogs you wouldn’t have to be all over the comment section arguing with EVERYONE who disagrees with your crap. You write the blogs we comment.

Hey tanner if you wrote better blogs you wouldn’t have to be all over the comment section arguing with EVERYONE who disagrees with your crap. You write the blogs we comment.
- Trevrrrgavo

He whines about being picked on for typos...well then take an extra 30 seconds and check your lousy work. He claims Kessel is his favourite player. Next sentence he calls him Keseel. Amateur hour.

Jimmy is like president Trump. #stillwinning.

Just look at all the peeps who visit and comment. Pure entertainment. You need jimmy on this wall. You want jimmy on that wall.

And of course Tanner's reply to "Not" being sexist in his post is by promoting the song "Nice Leg, Shame About Her Face!" Good call!
- buster29

Yeah that's what I thought was great . Jimmy pretends he dosn't know what people were saying about the s exist comment but posts that song. Actually Jimmy that was sneaky funny .

James Tanner: Grading the Coyotes Summer Transactions Part One
- James_Tanner

Jimmy, James, Jim, Jan, Jen, whatever name you want to go by or gender you want to identify as, Please tell us the last Analytical GM to win a Stanley Cup?

Now Meltzer is considered a great hockey writer. Jesus
This whole thing is childish beyond belief.