Flyers fire GM Chuck Fletcher

After over four years in charge of the Philadelphia Flyers, Chuck Fletcher has been fired by the team.

According to Giana Han of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Flyers have parted ways with President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chuck Fletcher.

Per a statement given to the Inquirer by Dave Scott:

“The Philadelphia Flyers organization has always been defined by grit, determination, and a standard of excellence,” said Dave Scott, chairman of Comcast Spectacor and governor of the Flyers, in a statement obtained exclusively by The Inquirer. “Over the past several seasons, our team simply has not lived up to that standard, so today, we will begin to chart a new path forward under a new leadership structure for Hockey Operations.

“This morning, we released Chuck Fletcher from his president and general manager responsibilities. We are grateful for his hard work and dedication to this organization, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

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“Chuck faced significant challenges during his time as president and general manager, including some that were outside of his control, but we have reached a point at which we must move in a different direction and look to the future under new leadership,” Scott said.

In addition to the departure of Fletcher, the Flyers will be placing Daniel Brière in the interim general manager role as they continue their search for the next person to lead this team.

The Flyers general manager started the 2022-23 season on a slightly warm seat. After making the playoffs just once in his tenure, Fletcher made a series of moves that only made the future and present of this team get worse. Just last week, he had the opportunity at the NHL trade deadline to sell off some pending unrestricted free agents and instead he shipped out two low-level players to get Brendan Lemieux and two late-round draft picks.

Fletcher was originally hired in December of 2018, shortly after the Flyers fired then-GM Ron Hextall, and then in the following summer, was given the additional title of President of Hockey Operations.

UPDATE:

The Flyers have made it official.

Dave Scott, Chairman of Comcast Spectator and Governor of the Flyers, said some interesting things as the team announced Fletcher’s firing.

“Flyers fans deserve a better team than what they’ve seen on the ice over the past few seasons, and a clear plan to return this team to Stanley Cup contention. We know that this will be a multi-year process, and we are committed to doing it right, because we want to put this franchise on a path toward winning the Stanley Cup, period,” Scott said in the team’s press release.

”In the coming days, we will begin the process of re-structuring our Hockey Operations Department by separating the President and General Manager positions. We view this as a critical opportunity to not only re-establish the standard of excellence that our fans expect, but also to bring new energy, accountability, and strategic vision to our organization.”

Scott has made it clear that this will be a “multi-year process” in trying to fix this team and get it back on the right path to eventual contention, which sure makes it seem like saying the rebuild word without saying rebuild.

In addition to the overview of the process, the team will also be planning on separating the President and General Manager roles, to include two different people in the front office instead of Fletcher having both those positions.

He also gave more detail about what is going to happen next.

“As Interim General Manager, Danny Brière will oversee Hockey Operations. He is ideally suited for this role, having served as Special Assistant to the General Manager of the Flyers for the past year in addition to his more than 25 years in professional hockey as a player and in management. He will ensure a smooth transition following Chuck’s departure and support the team and Head Coach John Tortorella through the remainder of the season and into the offseason,” Scott said.

With one simple quote, it sure seems like the Flyers front office highly values Brière and what he can bring to the management of this team.

The Flyers will not be conducting interviews for the position as the season is going on, but will rather let remaining 17 games happen and then start that process in the summer.