Keith Jones talks Matvei Michkov, Rick Tocchet, and the Flyers’ rebuild in local radio hit

It’s been almost three full years since the Flyers began their “New Era of Orange” and hired Danny Brière as general manager and Keith Jones as president of hockey operations.

A lot has happened since. The Flyers drafted Matvei Michkov, made several trades, and had a coaching change from John Tortorella to Rick Tocchet. One thing that hasn’t changed is the Flyers’ last postseason appearance, as the team seems poised to miss out on the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.

But are things trending in the right direction?

Jones believes so, as the Flyers’ president joined 97.5 The Fanatic’s Kincade & Salciunas radio show on Monday to discuss the team’s rebuild and why he remains as excited for the Flyers’ future. Here are five important questions he answered:

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“I think we all would love to rush it and make it happen quicker, but it’s just not the way it is in the environment that we’re in today,” said Jones. “One of the things I’m really happy about is we are alleviating a lot of the cap pressure that we had in the past. So a lot of the deals that we had to work out of, including the Kevin Hayes deal, the Ryan Ellis deal, Cam Atkinson’s deal, all of that money is starting to come off the books …

“The other part of it was to add younger talents and accumulate draft picks, and start to put those picks into play, allowing the players enough time to fully develop, not to rush them, but to watch them grow, and hope that our assessments on where they’ll end up in the future align and they end up being big parts of the franchise as we move forward. So those things are all in a very good place, and I’m really excited about the future.”

“I think Rick has done a really good trying to implement his philosophy, his defensive style of coaching, and trying to bring it to an entirely new team, with a new group of players, and with a group of players that, in some cases, are very young. I do think there’s challenges that come with that. But overall, I think he’s done a really good job,” said Jones.

“I look at where we’re at and without a major hiccup for about a six-week period, we’re talking about a team that, with where we’re at in our growth isn’t quite there, yet would have been sitting in a much higher place in the standings above some really good hockey teams. So I think he’s done a really good job of grinding out wins. But obviously, there’s going to be bumps along the way in that process also. So I’m quite pleased with Rick.”

“I’m not just confident, I’m excited. I think this year has been obviously very up and down, but I can’t wait for the future, because I know [Michkov’s] talent, I know the player, I know the growth that has taken place this year,” said Jones.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be a straight line, but when I watch him now, and his attention to detail and the way that he has improved his defensive play, and on top of that, now he’s starting to get his jump back and starting to make the plays that we know he’s capable of playing. I think it only goes up from here.

“So yes, the sophomore slump is real. But more importantly, during this slump, there’s been some valuable things that have been added to his game. So I think the future is extremely bright. I’m as excited about him today as I was after last season, and prior to that, after we drafted him. I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens next year.”

“I think it’s important to have some pieces to insulate some of the younger guys, because some of the new guys have come in and made a very good showing to start. But as we know, it’s never a straight line. There are going to be wobbles that take place. … But when you have guys around them that have done that before and are continuing to be productive players, most importantly, that’s a great way for the kids to learn,” said Jones.

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“There’s also [got to be a] willingness to accept your role changing, where you may have been a prime power play player at one point in your career, you may have to adjust and become a more defensive player. … So you know, a player like Sean Couturier comes to mind in that regard, and Sean’s willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team is really important as we move forward with these kids.”

“We all can’t wait for the building to be packed again and to play playoff games, but we’re also realistic on the timeline to do that,” said Jones. “It’s getting closer, there’s no doubt about that, but we’re not there yet, so we’ll continue to look at every creative way to make the team better.

“I think there’s a lot of improvements that have happened, that we’re looking at, that we have in the near future, in players like Porter Martone and the return of Tyson Foerster, those things are going to be very important for us. Specifically, they provide us with boosts in areas that we need for the future of our team.

“Obviously, the power play is not where we want it to be, but we have specific thoughts on players that are going to help continue to get that in a much better spot, and I’m excited about where those players fit in. Jack Berglund is another player that’s going to be one of those net-front guys that can provide screens, set intelligent picks, and help players around him find ways to score on the power play. Those type of things excite me, and sometimes I feel a little bit impatient with those things, but I also recognize that we believe those guys are going to really help in that regard.”

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