Yahoo Sports NHL trade deadline: Flyers fans lose it over James van Riemsdyk whiff
Flyers fans lose it over van Riemsdyk trade whiff originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers approached Friday's NHL trade deadline with basically one thing to accomplish: trade James van Riemsdyk, who is on pace for 18 goals this year and whose contract expires after this season, for literally anything. Any other move would be gravy.
Ideally they wanted to maximize van Riemsdyk's value as a veteran contributor heading towards a postseason contender, a still-capable goal scorer who could return a middle-round draft pick this year or next. But no matter what, you had to get something in exchange for a reasonably valuable piece.
Folks, they did not do that.
RELATED: Fletcher can't find way to trade JVR, forced to defend his job, Flyers' direction
The 3:00 p.m. deadline came and went, and van Riemsdyk remained on the team. After this season he will be a free agent and the Flyers could lose him for nothing.
Unsurprisingly, Flyers fans seemed to reach a breaking point with the inaction on van Riemsdyk - particularly after an apparent deal with the Red Wings materialized and subsequently fell through - and took to Twitter to voice their frustration:
I'm laughing so hard there are tears streaming down my face https://t.co/7RL41FJcSF
— Steph Driver (@StephaliciousD) March 3, 2023
There was a time when I loved Flyers hockey. That organization continues to make an unwatchable product worse.
— Paul Hudrick (@PaulHudrick) March 3, 2023
Unbelievable... #Flyers https://t.co/egCc3P48r2
— Kevin Durso (@Kevin_Durso) March 3, 2023
JVR was not traded before the deadline. Unreal. Just absolute awful work by the GM.
— Anthony SanFilippo (@AntSanPhilly) March 3, 2023
the Flyers video yearbook is just going to be a bunch of tweets about how they screwed something up set to Yakety Sax https://t.co/PhnGCWJYNZ
— Matt Carey (@RealMattCarey) March 3, 2023
— Shawn is gunning for 23-48-11 (@s__carson) March 3, 2023
I've been as or more critical and sarcastic and scathing and skeptical of Chuck Fletcher as anyone else, but I gotta be honest, even I didn't think he was so big of an embarrassment that he wouldn't be able to move JvR
This is some next level failure, I'm speechless— Dan Silver (@dsilver88) March 3, 2023
Chuck Fletcher masterclass today. Just beautiful execution by the worst GM in hockey.
— Connor Thomas (@ConnorThomas975) March 3, 2023
Chuck Fletcher’s trade deadline pic.twitter.com/kqvh0t4qds
— Kevin Cooney (@KevinCooney) March 3, 2023
Yeah, so they don't seem too happy.
It's not Chuck Fletcher's finest hour, and his four-plus year tenure as the Flyers' general manager has not been trending in the right direction. Between the baffling Shayne Gostisbehere trade, his decision to trade for and then extend Rasmus Ristolainen, the iffy Tony DeAngelo decision, and now Friday's whiff on a van Riemsdyk deal, the swings and misses are stacking up against him.
The Flyers have the third-fewest points in the Eastern Conference and eighth-fewest in the National Hockey League with 20 games left in the season. It'll be a slog to the finish line, and the organization is decidedly facing an uphill battle this offseason and over the next few years.
Yeesh.
