The Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Yankees are driving down the same road. Both teams have rabid fan bases and expect to win, with a front office that will settle for no less. Neither will commit to a traditional rebuild where they hover around the bottom of the standings for a few years and then slowly improve. Philadelphia and New York want winners and patience is not always a virtue Luckily for both, after years of bad contracts, they are digging themselves out of holes that will enable them to be successful for the long term, not just for one season. Here are the reasons why.
Young Cornerstones:
Both teams have cornerstones at vital positions and are very young. The Flyers are blessed to have 20-year old franchise defenseman Ivan Provorov, who leads all Flyers defenseman with 22 points. He not only plays on the second power play unit, but kills penalties. There is a reason he leads all Flyers in ice time per game, the kid does it all.
Both teams have cornerstones at vital positions and are very young. The Flyers are blessed to have 20-year old franchise defenseman Ivan Provorov, who leads all Flyers defenseman with 22 points. He not only plays on the second power play unit, but kills penalties. There is a reason he leads all Flyers in ice time per game, the kid does it all.
The Yankees have catcher Gary Sanchez who burst onto the scene last year with 20 home runs in just 52 games. With his rocket of an arm, he threw out 41% of would be base stealers in 2016. He is just beginning to tap into his potential.
The Fountain of Youth:
The Flyers and the Yankees are lucky have stacked farm systems. The defensive and goalie prospect pool in the minors runs very deep. Travis Sanheim, Sam Morin and Phil Myers anchor a young, deep pool of defensive prospects, while Anthony Stolarz, Alex Lyon and Carter Hart top the list of goalie prospects.
The Flyers and the Yankees are lucky have stacked farm systems. The defensive and goalie prospect pool in the minors runs very deep. Travis Sanheim, Sam Morin and Phil Myers anchor a young, deep pool of defensive prospects, while Anthony Stolarz, Alex Lyon and Carter Hart top the list of goalie prospects.
The Yankees were recently rated as having the number two farm system in baseball, led by Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield and James Kaprielian.
Getting Out of the Black Hole:
Both the Flyers and Yankees have been plagued by albatross contracts that felt like they would never go away. Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall somehow got rid of the Vincent Lecavalier and Chris Pronger contracts, along with those that will be coming off the books at the end of the 2017 season (Mark Streit, Nick Schultz, Michael Del Zotto to name a few). The Flyers will have more payroll flexibility to bring up some of the young talent and go swimming in the free agent pool.
Both the Flyers and Yankees have been plagued by albatross contracts that felt like they would never go away. Flyers General Manager Ron Hextall somehow got rid of the Vincent Lecavalier and Chris Pronger contracts, along with those that will be coming off the books at the end of the 2017 season (Mark Streit, Nick Schultz, Michael Del Zotto to name a few). The Flyers will have more payroll flexibility to bring up some of the young talent and go swimming in the free agent pool.
The Yankees are in a similar situation, but since there is no salary cap in baseball, although there is a luxury tax, the contract situation is a bit different. They will not have to pay Alex Rodriguez $21 million not to play for them and CC Sabathia’s seven-year $25 million dollar contract comes to an end.
The Flyers and Yankees are both trending down a successful path. They have been able to rebuild on the fly while finding a way to remain competitive. The Flyers are in the NHL’s toughest division and the Yankees are in the American League’s toughest division. Both teams are getting younger, faster, and more athletic. While the sports are binary opposites, the similarities between the franchises also include allowing their young talent to grow while giving them room to learn from their mistakes. The moves have already started paying dividends with an unexpected birth last year in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Finally, the patience is paying off for both teams.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
