Offseason of questions begins for Hextall, Flyers

The Flyers offseason is an array of questions. What was the true downfall of the team? What can make the team a playoff team again? What can make the team elite? How do they get there? Is there anybody here who can help them get there? Who stays and who goes?

That is the task for GM Ron Hextall: answering the many questions facing the Flyers.

He'll start on Wednesday afternoon by perhaps answering the biggest one on the surface: can Craig Berube be the man behind the bench for a playoff contender?

If this is where the questions begin, then the first stop on this offseason tour is to a column from three weeks ago. For the Flyers to move on from this dismal season, it starts with the firing of Craig Berube. It has more to do with the future of the franchise than the lack of results from this season. 

What was the downfall of the 2014-15 Flyers? It was a lack of consistency, the failure to step up in the big moments and take advantage of the opportunities that kept them in the race even as March progressed and a heaping pile of puzzle pieces that made up the Flyers lineup.

It should have been over long before that. But down to the final six weeks of the season, the Flyers had a chance, albeit a small one, to crack the playoffs. Ask the Ottawa Senators about small chances. They have a game on Wednesday night in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It literally was a puzzle for most of the season. An injury here, a benching there. At times, it seemed like Berube picked the names out of a hat and made his lines in that matter.

If leadership, lack of chemistry and inconsistency were the problems, so too was the lack of an opportunity to build on those. If the lineup isn't consistent, then the team can't build chemistry.

In Hextall's case, his hands are tied in a sense. There are many contracts hindering the progress of the organization. But for Berube, as the head coach, you have to find a way to motivate your players, especially the ones that are constantly changing roles.

So in that case, consider the season a success for Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier, who managed to find some offensive success in a season where they constantly had to adjust to a new role or a new set of linemates. Have a little sympathy for Vincent Lecavalier, who didn't know from one night to the next if he was in or out.

They are the victims of the Berube effect.

That said, none of those players were mentioned in my column from two weeks ago, about the puzzle pieces that fell into place and fit a role. The Flyers will need Ryan White, Chris Vandevelde, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Michael Del Zotto to fill certain roles because there may not be better players at a better price to be penalty-kill specialists or fourth-line energy players. Every team needs those two.

Hextall can affirm all of these questions in the coming offseason. The Flyers will have a chance to draft well, potentially make trades and signings that turn the page on the days of Berube and Paul Holmgren.

It will all start on Wednesday, when Hextall will meet the media and potentially announce his decision regarding the Flyers head coach. It may be Berube for another year.

But then again, in a week, the Flyers could be looking for a new coach and getting ready for a Top-8 pick – either one, seven or eight – in the upcoming Draft.

And that's only the beginning.

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.