The Philadelphia Flyers’ 2022–23 National Hockey League season is effectively over in terms of their ability to be a competitive team. Despite the fact that the team has been out of the playoff picture for a while, the Flyers’ current season has been a complete disaster, and it still seems that way.
The Flyers have made the strange choice to sit veteran defenseman Tony DeAngelo for the last several games; in fact, they have done so for three straight contests already. That must have seemed a little bit like a slap in the face for a fit and motivated player like DeAngelo, especially since coaches typically only use these kinds of maneuvers to convey a message.
Nevertheless, if there is a message being conveyed here, the Flyers don’t seem interested in telling DeAngelo what it is, as John Tortorella confirmed on Sunday that he hasn’t even recently spoken to the player.
DeAngelo has a history of being a bit of a problem child with some of his former organizations, so his treatment in this way isn’t exactly startling. The apparent lack of communication with a player who the Flyers will still have under contract come next season, however, is unexpected. DeAngelo signed a two-year contract with the former Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher in the summer of 2022, therefore he will still be on the Flyers’ books for the upcoming campaign with a $5 million cap cost.
Given that situation, alienating one of your regular defensemen so late in the season seems like a dubious choice, especially when referring to a character like DeAngelo.