It is no secret something is wrong with the Philadelphia Flyers. For the second consecutive season, the team is missing the playoffs, and the first time since the early 90's it's going to happen in back to back years. There is something different with this crop of hockey players who wear the orange and black. We saw last off-season the team make trades to improve the culture and character of the team. We saw Jake Voracek be shipped back to Columbus for Cam Atkinson. That would be one of the bigger moves to shake up the locker room. Veteran defenceman Keith Yandle was signed as a free agent to help improve team morale. And don't forget rugged d-man Rasmus Ristolainen arriving thanks to a trade with the Buffalo Sabres. Unfortunately with all the moves, and some others I didn't bring up, the team and morale has been worse this season.

It is unbelievable that this team is winless in games where they trail by 2 or more goals. To me that yells quit factor. You see it when you watch the games, and don't lie, yes you watch, the team gets so deflated when a goal or 2 is scored against them. The shoulders slouch, heads looking down, and you can see it on the faces of the players, "here we go again." Something is seriously wrong beyond the skaters on the ice. This goes beyond the coaches, it goes up to management. Now that long-time captain Claude Giroux is playing his hockey in South Beach for the Florida Panthers, it is time for another culture changing off-season, just like on that dreaded day June 23rd, 2011. There are the big fish out there who will be UFA's after this season, most notably Filip Forsberg and Johnny Gaudreau, but I am going to give you 3 names who won't be competing for MVP's but will provide leadership and a new culture on Broad Street.

1 - Marcus Foligno - LW Minnesota Wild

When I see Marcus Foligno play for the Wild it immediately reminds me of another big power forward who used to call Philadelphia home, and who also struggled with his balance. Foligno currently on the Wild's third line is enjoying a solid season with to this point a career high 22 goals and 17 assists. He is a big body, listed at 6'3" and 228LBS he does an excellent job of hitting, fighting, and getting in front of the net to take away the goalies vision. Other than the stat sheet, Foligno is almost always the first one into a fight to defend a teammate or if need be, change momentum for his team. Getting back to the former Flyer he reminds me so much of, that would be none other than the one and only Scott Hartnell. The two have such a similar hockey style, but also the inside the locker room intangibles that people don't see. Hartnell could always keep the room loose with his antics and always made sure to have people laughing, I mean how could you not laugh at a real life Yukon Cornelious! In all seriousness though, Foligno has the respect from every individual in the Minnesota organization and not only does he verbally lead a team, but he does it with his actions on the ice. With the Wild going to be in cap hell next season due to the buy-outs last off-season of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, it will be tough for the state of hockey to keep Foligno's 3.1 million dollar cap hit, especially since Kevin Fiala is in line for a massive pay day. This should be a steal for the Flyers. Give up something minimal for a player who will immediately come in and change the makeup of the identity of the Flyers right away. Or actually give them one.

2 - Nikolaj Ehlers - LW Winnipeg Jets

Now this player is someone I have been hopeful to see in Philadelphia for some time. Currently with 26 goals on the season, his career high is 29 back in 2017-2018, to me he has always been a speedy forward who can be a threat to score when he wants to. Look, have I watched every Jets game? No. But usually when I tune in he is noticeable and what I really like is he doesn't shy away from scrums or the physical games. The Flyers lineup now has enough guys who want to ignore scrums or pretend to hold a player back, bring in Ehlers and let him fly up and down the left side and let him play with some jam in a city that is begging for it.

3 - Shea Theodore - D Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights can't always find loopholes with the cap, sooner or later something has to give. With big cap hits from Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Max Pacioretty they desperately need to shed salary especially if they want to keep some of their role players like Reilly Smith. This trade would be complicated but that's not my job to figure out, but Shea Theodore could be a young d-man who the Flyers could luck into having on their roster next season. Ivan provorov has looked completely lost since the retirement of Matt Niskanen. Theodore, who is a first round pick from the 2013 draft, was basically given to the Knights in the 2017 expansion draft. He is a solid and shifty left handed defenseman who the Flyers could use and actually have him at the young age of 26. He is locked up for another 3-years and 5.2 million per so the deal will not be just a gimme, but again that is not my job. This deal should be top priority for the orange and black. You need to build from the back end to have a solid foundation to become a championship team. With this current D-core, they don't even have a shovel in the ground on starting this foundation. You make this trade, you have the foundation and even a couple of studs put up. Defense wins championships, and with this move the Flyers will have a respectable pair on the blue line to start their games.

• Anthony Varrasso - Off The Rails Podcast - Olde City Sports Network

  
  Photo Credit - David Berding - USA TODAY Sports

  Photo Credit - Ethan Miller - Getty Images