Early in the morning on April 7, The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor published part-one of a two-part interview with new Comcast Spectacor CEO Dan Hilferty.
Among the topics covered were Hilferty’s self-proclaimed status as a “tenacious fan” of the Philadelphia Flyers. More importantly, Hilferty’s vision and search process for the open role of President of Hockey Operations.
Hilferty provided a clear roadmap of what he is seeking for the position. He also revealed that the Flyers hired a consulting firm to assist with the search and a separate individual consultant who was instrumental in the John Tortorella recommendation.
Based on the clues dropped by Hilferty in the interview, I have reached several conclusions, culminating with the opinion that Ed Olczyk is the potential frontrunner for Flyers President of Hockey Operations.
Conclusion Number One
John Tortorella is firmly cemented as Flyers Head Coach.
Without revealing the explicit details of Charlie O’Connor’s excellent interview, Hilferty referred to Tortorella in almost reverential terms. He expressed support for Tortorella’s dedication to player development and the process of rebuilding the Flyers.
Translation: John Tortorella is the man Dan Hilferty wants as his head coach.
Conclusion Number Two
The removal of Danny Briere’s interim general manager tag is likely a formality.
While Hilferty stressed that Briere remains in an interim role as Flyers General Manager, he complimented Briere for repeatedly demonstrating leadership skills as GM. He also complimented Briere’s ability to collaborate with Tortorella and for possessing the capacity to combine newer-age analytics with older-school eye-test evaluation methods.
Translation: Hilferty is impressed with Briere and feels comfortable with him as general manager. Barring something unexpected, Briere’s interim tag will be removed at some point in the near future.
Conclusion Number Three
The Flyers’ new President of Hockey Operations will be Ed Olczyk or someone with similar traits.
Hilferty leaves a number of breadcrumbs in O’Connor’s interview that hint at his vision for the position of Flyers President of Hockey Operations.
It is obvious that Hilferty’s priorities for the position are:
- Someone who can serve as an effective bridge between hockey operations (Tortorella and Briere) and business operations (Val Camillo).
- Someone highly connected, familiar, and respected by the entire National Hockey League, it’s organizations, and cities.
- Someone with excellent communication, sales, and public relations skills who has the charisma to reinvigorate the fanbase into a new era.
In other words, the Flyers’ President of Hockey Operations is not about player personnel decisions. Instead it’s about communication. It’s about representing the Philadelphia Flyers to the league and fans with influence, gravitas, and personality.
With that said, who are the likeliest candidates?
Who has the deep familiarity, respect, and connections throughout the NHL while also possessing excellent communication and sales skills?
Ed Olczyk
Olczyk has an extreme degree of familiarity with the NHL and innumerable connections throughout the league.
He is:
- A longtime player.
- A former NHL head coach.
- A highly experienced, Emmy-award winning, national and local broadcast television hockey analyst. In fact, not only does Olczyk have extensive experience as a national television hockey analyst, his broadcast skills led to a successful secondary career as a national television horse racing analyst.
Considering Olczyk’s respected reputation and deep familiarity throughout the NHL, along with his long-demonstrated communication skills and engaging personality, one would be hard-pressed to find a candidate who better checks the boxes that Hilferty seeks for the position of Flyers President of Hockey Operations.
I do not know if Ed Olczyk is under consideration for the role or if he is even interested. Elliotte Friedman, however, recently mentioned on his 32 Thoughts podcast that Olczyk’s name has been mentioned in some capacity.
Upon reading Hilferty’s outline for President of Hockey Operations, I can see why.
Are there other candidates who better fit Hilferty’s vision?
Eric Lindros
If so, I would love to hear them. It reasons, however, why Eric Lindros has been mentioned as a possibility for President of Hockey Ops. If Hilferty opts for the Joe Sakic/Cam Neely type of “big name, former organizational superstar” to represent the Philadelphia Flyers as President, then Lindros fits that bill.
Where I believe Lindros’ candidacy fails is in Hilferty’s emphasis on communication skills and charisma. Lindros may have clout throughout the NHL due to his superstar career, but is there evidence he would be an effective communicator and liaison between the Tortorella/Briere hockey department and the Val Camillo led business side?
Additionally, Lindros never has seemed particularly charismatic or comfortable with public speaking. His name may help sell tickets, but does he have the personality to engagingly represent the Flyers to the fans and influence the NHL on the Flyers’ behalf? I am skeptical.
Chris Pronger
This is where Chris Pronger would be a better choice. Pronger not only has the superstar name, he also has the personality, influence, and gravitas. Nevertheless, I struggle to take a Pronger candidacy seriously based on his mercurial nature.
Would Pronger fully commit to the role of Flyers President of Hockey Operations? He seems the type to prefer the freedom to follow his whims rather than invest in a full-time team commitment. Pronger has business interests at home in St. Louis and his advisory stints with both the NHL and the Florida Panthers were rather brief before his resignations.
Would Pronger want too much power in the role of President? It is easy to envision Chris Pronger taking what Hilferty described as more of a communications role and transforming President of Hockey Ops into a hands-on-everything dictatorship.
Robert Esche
In contrast to Pronger, a more hands-off executive who is likely to receive serious consideration for President of Hockey Operations is Robert Esche. Esche checks a number of boxes.
As a former Flyer, he is familiar with Philadelphia and has extensive business experience. Esche has served since 2013 both as President of Mohawk Valley Garden (which handles all operations of the Utica Memorial Auditorium) and as President of the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets.
Therefore, Esche possesses the requisite experience and familiarity with the world of professional hockey as both a player and executive. He also has executive experience in the restaurant industry and as the longtime chairman of a Utica-based charity.
Esche, accordingly, seems a natural choice to transition from the role of an AHL team president to the role of an NHL team president – the liaison between the Flyers’ hockey and business departments who provides general oversight without becoming the de-facto general manager. Esche, for example, is not the general manager of the Utica Comets despite being team president.
I wonder, however, if Esche lacks the gravitas to meet Hilferty’s stated goal of reinvigorating the Flyers’ fanbase. Though Esche has worked for years as an AHL executive, he has not been in the public eye.
Most Flyers fans remember Esche merely as one of the many short-lived mediocre netminders who have transited Philadelphia for decades.
Therefore, Esche would be a rather uninspiring, “minor league” type of hire based on name, reputation, and recognizability. Whether Esche has the charisma and PR skills to compensate for his lack of obvious star power and influence, I do not know.
Esche’s post-playing-career success as an executive, however, implies business savvy.
Dave Poulin
Dave Poulin certainly possesses the intelligence and team-executive background (as former Toronto Maple Leafs Vice President of Hockey Operations) to bridge the gap between hockey operations and business operations. Poulin is well-known throughout the NHL and also has communications experience as a radio and television commentator for TSN.
Furthermore, Poulin is highly familiar with Philadelphia as a former Flyers team captain.
Poulin, however, is a 64-year-old Flyers alum at a time when much of the fanbase believes older Flyers alumni (e.g., Bill Barber, Paul Holmgren, Bob Clarke) are interfering to the Flyers’ detriment.
Considering the emphasis Hilferty placed on fan relations and reinvigoration in the role of President of Hockey Operations, it is difficult to envision Poulin as his choice.
Additionally, though Poulin has broadcast experience, he is not a particularly charismatic personality, and is probably better served as a workmanlike, low-profile team executive rather than a public conduit and face of a franchise.
Leading Candidate
Based on the first part of O’Connor’s interview with Hilferty, if I had to handicap the race for Flyers President of Hockey Operations, I would list Ed Olczyk as the favorite.
Olczyk seems to meet everything on Hilferty’s wish list, except perhaps an intimate familiarity with Philadelphia.
I also believe that Robert Esche and Chris Pronger will receive strong consideration.
Lastly, while I do not believe Eric Lindros will win the primary role, it would not surprise me at all to see Lindros named Vice President of Hockey Operations to whomever is named president.
Joe Kania is a Contributor for HW Hockey
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