Ron Hextall reportedly turned down a trade that would have completely adjusted the direction of the Flyers

Ron Hextall was fired as the General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers in November of 2018. His firing was a direct result of his refusal to listen to staff members, his poor drafting track record and in some cases the moves he refused to make. While loyalty is often valued very highly by players, misplaced loyalty can cost a General Manager their job in an instant.

In the past year it was revealed that the Flyer's scouting staff had viewed Cale Makar as the best choice with the 2017 2nd overall pick. But Hextall reportedly felt different. Hextall ultimately ended up locking out his scouting staff and he elected to make the decision to draft Nolan Patrick 2nd overall. Makar eventually went 4th and went on to win both a Norris Trophy and a Conn Smythe Trophy. Last season alone Makar put up more points than Patrick has in his entire NHL career.

Now another missed opportunity has surfaced that Hextall passed up during his time as a GM. In 2014 the Philadelphia Flyers were offered a deal from the Florida Panthers. The deal would have sent the 1st overall pick, which ended up being Aaron Ekblad, to the Philadelphia Flyers. In return the Panthers were looking for one specific player, Wayne Simmonds.




Hextall reportedly refused to give up Wayne Simmonds in exchange for the 1st overall pick. While Hextall valued Simmonds toughness he ignored the value that the 1st overall pick could immediately provide to his lineup. At the time Simmonds was in the prime of his career. 5 years later the Flyers ended up trading Simmonds to the Nashville Predators for Ryan Hartman and a 4th round pick.

Unfortunately for the Flyers Simmonds never outproduced his 2013-2014 totals and he eventually began to decline due to the rugged style he played.