The season 4 offseason is now behind us and a recap in Philly seems necessary. Status quo was not an option after another underwhelming season. Since the beginning of the league, the Flyers made the playoffs only once and lost in four little match. So the team needed serious work going in this off-season. The Dahlin case After luck brought top prospect Rasmus Dahlin in the Flyers system, the first question to be asked was : should he be created this year or should the Flyers wait a real insane NHL season to pull the trigger? On one hand, the Flyers had enough, if not too much NHL defenseman. On the other hand, the team wanted to have a top young D to be paired with either DeKeyser or Myers. It would have made a lot of sens to wait on this creation and have Dahlin be an all-star right from the get go, but Flyers GM decided to go for the creation and development and if Dahlin hits a great NHL season, a rerate will be spent at that point, if the timing is right. The goalie case Last season, Flyers moved top prospect goalie Sorokin to get an OK backup goalie and an upgrade in defense in DeKeyser. Sorokin was forced NHL at 80 OV and the Flyers just didn’t have the team to develop the young talent. Have the team known that 80OV would not be forced NHL anymore, the decision might have been different. Flyers had to improve between the pipe but it was not easy finding the right fit. GM Poulin decided to gamble his first pick for top rerate candidate and NHL cup winner Jordan Binnington. At that point it was clear that tanking was not an option for the Flyers. Lots of GM would have been tempted to just forget this year, wait another two seasons on Dahlin, get picks by moving older players and try a rebuild. But tanking was never a part of the Philadelphia’s GM mentality so he decided to try and capitalize on Dahlin’s creation, on his future assets and try to make a push to be a wildcard in the East. The summer moves Everything started with Free agents market. The Flyers where finalist to sign a goalie in Halak and then Lundquist, but both decided to go elsewhere. Then Kesler choose New York over Philly and that was it for potential big help. At that point it was clear that moves had to be made. First of all, the Flyers needed scoring. They sent Joel Armia, and a prospect to the Oilers in return for a top 6 goal scorer in James Neal. Then, it became clear that there was a lack of depth in the line up. Flyers decided to move a young player that didn’t meet expectations in Scherbak and a 3rd pick to the Jets in return for versetile depth foward Andrew Shaw. At the point GM Poulin was pleased with a good part of his lineup, except for the second line center and the top defensive D. Some phone calls were made to either flip Sam Gagner and a pick and a prospect for a better 2nd line center, but no interest was to be found. The Flyers decided to settle for Gagner to start the season and see if the wingers can get him to produce. The Flyers will also have one of the weakest goaltending duo in wait for Binnington next year rerate. At that point the top three lines were looking like this : Ehlers – Wennberg – Atkinson Neal – Gagner – Gallagher Maroon – Perreault – Shaw Subpar player - Subpar player - Subpar player ---- DeKeyser – Yandle Parayko – Myers Dahlin – Pysyk Kuemper / Coreau While this lineup will certaynely be able to get his fair share of wins, it seems that given the strength of the Metro and the Eastern conference, all the effort to put together a competitive team might have fallen short. Going forward Knowing that the final lineup would look like this, GM Poulin maybe would have been better to just stay status quo for this year and gamble on the draft. If the Flyers are to clinch one of the Wildcards this year, it will be because something unexpected clicked between some players and a committee of players are able to carry the team past the finish line. Otherwise, the Leafs might get the jackpot with the Flyers first pick they got for Binnington. Since the Flyers don’t have much more future to give up, it seems unlikely that big moves are to be made before the start of the season. It might be a long one folks. Fasten your seat belts and make some prayers for the Flyers are far from being the dangerous threat they wish they could become.