The Philadelphia Flyers are currently the biggest disappointment in hockey.
On Friday, before the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft, the Flyers traded for defenseman Tony DeAngelo of the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for three draft picks over the next three years. The Flyers then reportedly extended DeAngelo to the tune of a two-year, $10 million contract to lock down the defenseman through the 2024-25 season.
There are more details to this trade, but they don’t matter. What matters is that the Flyers have traded for — then extended — a noted, outspoken bigot and a toxic human being.
There’s a long history of receipts detailing DeAngelo’s putrid behavior on and off the ice. This extends well back into his junior career, where he was suspended twice for violating the OHL’s policy covering “homophobic, racist, and sexist language”. DeAngelo has also been suspended twice for abuse of officials, once verbal and once physical.
On Twitter, DeAngelo’s conservative views came to light as he denied the severity of COVID-19 during the pandemic. He is also a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, even going so far as to deactivate and move to Parler in a temper tantrum when the former president was banned.
Oh, and the impetus for DeAngelo’s falling out with the Rangers that surprisingly put him on waivers in 2021? He was reportedly involved in an altercation with Alexandar Georgiev where the goaltender punched DeAngelo in the face in the tunnel leading to the locker room after a loss. DeAngelo reportedly started the incident after a miscommunication between the two led to Sidney Crosby’s game-winning overtime goal.
Despite this mountain of evidence pointing toward DeAngelo’s noxious personality and petulant temperament, the Flyers traded three draft picks for a player that is, at best, a mediocre defenseman and a terrible human being.
The worst part? Flyers general manger Chuck Fletcher believes the team did its “due diligence” in looking into DeAngelo’s background and how he’d fit with the team going forward.
Fletcher: "We're very happy to add Tony to our team and I know he is very excited to join the Flyers. We did our due diligence and we strongly believe in Tony and his ability to help our team."
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) July 8, 2022
Those right there are the words of a hockey team that’s completely lost the plot. The Flyers aren’t the first team to be a true disappointment to its fanbase in recent years, but this move truly is the last straw.
You know, the Flyers used to be a paragon franchise in the NHL. Definitely not one of virtue, if their Broad Street Bullies moniker is anything to go by, but the Flyers brand used to mean something. It meant unyielding focus in the face of adversity. It meant passion and grit. Blood, sweat, and tears. “No one likes us, we don’t care” is the motto of Philadelphia sports fans, after all.
But now, all I see in this Flyers franchise is cowardice. This is a franchise clinging to a bygone era of hockey and wishing it were 1975 again. No amount of wishing will turn back the clock and return the Flyers to the powerhouse they once were.
All of this just to win a few extra hockey games? Is toting around DeAngelo’s pestilential baggage — spreading filth in his wake — worth it in the hope he can help the Flyers return to their former glory? Fletcher and the Flyers front office think so, and it’s a crying shame.
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