‘Clearly we have work to do’: GM Chuck Fletcher addresses the state of the struggling Flyers

After numerous injuries and fresh off a 10-game skid, general manager Chuck Fletcher said Thursday that the Flyers are working on building a foundation for the future. He also said he thinks they still can win now.

“I expect to be more competitive the rest of the way,” Fletcher said. “We’re five points out of a wild-card spot now. We’ll see if we have the capability of staying in that race and competing.”

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An hour before Fletcher spoke, coach John Tortorella described the situation he thinks the Flyers are in.

“I know some other things were said out here, before I came in here,” Tortorella said. “It hasn’t changed my thinking as far as what I think needs to be done. This team needs to be built. It needs to be built from the footers. We’re not even in the foundation; we’re in the footers.”

Fletcher agreed that they’re creating a foundation and that plans have, by necessity, changed since his “aggressive retool” comments over the summer. That said, he still shied away from the word “rebuilding.”

By bringing in Tortorella, Fletcher feels the Flyers have addressed the critical issue of the culture of the locker room. He said he talked to Scott Laughton, who’s been wearing the “A” in the team’s absence of a captain, and Laughton said the team feels more optimistic than last year, despite the recent skid.

Tortorella also mentioned that they’re figuring out who does and doesn’t fit into the team’s future. Fletcher agreed with that statement, but they both acknowledged that they can’t just decide a player doesn’t fit and get rid of him. Contracts get in the way. Tortorella said that, on his part, he just gives Fletcher information. He lets Fletcher figure out the contracts and trades. Fletcher didn’t explain how he would move players who don’t fit but have bad contracts.

Kevin Hayes, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Travis Sanheim are players with large, long contracts from whom Tortorella has explicitly stated he needs more. Fletcher clarified that that doesn’t necessarily mean Tortorella thinks they aren’t a fit but that he sees more in them.

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Fletcher said when he found out that Sean Couturier couldn’t play right before camp and that Cam Atkinson would be out to start the season, he wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of results. But he did expect Tortorella to build a standard and structure, and he feels the coach is doing that.

In the loss to the Islanders on Saturday and the win against them on Tuesday, the Flyers played with better structure, Fletcher pointed out. For the most part, those improvements have come on defense. Fletcher and Tortorella were not shy about saying that the power play has been terrible and that the Flyers aren’t creating much offense.

“But I think the hope is to build that foundation of how we want to play and re-establish that identity,” Fletcher said. “And then, obviously, we have to find a way to add more talent. As we get a couple players back from injury here, I think that will improve our talent level. But clearly, we have work to do.”

He added that the Flyers have a number of prospects flourishing in the AHL and that the players they drafted, many of whom are playing college hockey, also are doing well.

“So there are some players in the pipeline that are coming,” Fletcher said. “We do have three first-round picks the next two years. So we have certainly tried to be aggressive in adding some young talent, and we’ve tried to find a way to add some pieces here to keep us competitive.”

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Does that mean it’s a rebuild? Fletcher said he’s not sure what the label for it is.

After last season, Comcast Spectacor chairman and CEO Dave Scott was quick to say the Flyers wanted to win now, while Fletcher mentioned the aggressive retool. Fletcher admitted he has had to adjust his plans, especially with all the injury news. Would Scott be willing to do the same?

“That’s probably a better question for Dave,” Fletcher said.

This may, in fact, take time, contrary to their comments at the end of last season. Organizations and fans aren’t always patient, but Fletcher said he isn’t thinking about whether he’ll be fired before his process yields results.

“I understand the business,” Fletcher said. “So my focus is on doing what’s right for the team going forward. And that’s all I do.”