There are two open general manager jobs in the NHL presently, and you’d have to imagine that Ron Hextall is a candidate for both. He’s widely seen as one of the top assistant general managers in the NHL today, and because of that is certainly in line to move up to a GM job at some point.
But neither the Buffalo Sabres, who fired general manager Darcy Regier in November, nor the Calgary Flames, who fired general manager Jay Feaster last week, have asked to speak with Hextall about their job openings. Via CBC’s Elliotte Friedman, in his weekly ’30 Thoughts’ column:
By the end of the weekend, neither the Sabres nor the Calgary Flames had requested permission to speak to Philadelphia Flyers assistant GM Ron Hextall. That’s surprising since he’s clearly ready for the opportunity. Is it because of the assumption he will eventually replace Flyers GM Paul Holmgren? That doesn’t mean, however, Holmgren is ready to go. Even with Sunday’s 5-4 meltdown at Washington, the Flyers have worked their way into the post-season picture.
Hextall was hired by the Flyers in July, in what was basically a lateral move responsibility-wise from his previous job as assistant GM in Los Angeles. Here’s some of what he said when he was hired:
If [becoming GM of the Flyers] were to work out at some point when Homer’s had enough, that’s great, but that could happen again in 29 other places as well. I do want to be a general manager and I talked to Homer about that when we were talking about this job. If something else becomes available, I at least want to look at it. He was absolutely fine with that.
Long story short, if the Sabres or Flames ask him, it certainly seems like Hextall will have the conversation, and it also sounds like the Flyers will allow it. But as of now, it doesn’t appear that Buffalo or Calgary is interested in him. That might be bad news for Ron Hextall, but it’s certainly good news for a Flyers organization that doesn’t want to lose him.
