After a dependable 2024-45 season that saw him break the 10 goal mark for the fourth time in his career and form an effective partnership alongside Ryan Poehling on the Flyers’ fourth line, Garnet Hathaway had cemented himself as an everyday NHL regular. 

Until a hit by Boko Imama last February forced him to miss 15 games last year, Hathaway had played in every single Flyers game since joining the team in the 2023 offseason, and it seemed as if his name was a formality in every John Tortorella lineup. 

And while he didn’t have the highest skill ceiling by any means, Hathaway was usually capable of providing a gritty and hard-working 11-12 minutes per night, with the occasional goal sprinkled in here and there. The veteran winger helped set a tone for a team that prided itself on hard work and limiting big chances in the defensive zone, and he kept the opposing team honest with his physical presence and intensity. There will always be a role for a player like that version of Hathaway.

Garnet Hathaway’s decline has been palpable

But after the arrival of Rick Tocchet and the departure of his running mate in Poehling, Hathaway has looked like a shell of his former self throughout the early part of this season. Out of 544 players who have been on the ice for over 300 minutes, Hathaway is the only one to have gone without a point. That’s 33 games without a goal or an assist, and while his game isn’t dependent on him scoring every night, he is someone who has developed into a pretty reliable fourth line scoring option over the back half of his career. 

Goals and points aside, Hathaway has still provided very little in his on-ice minutes this year, and looked more like a player of Nic Deslauriers’s caliber; a non-regular, who is only activated in order to provide some physicality or grit when duty calls. 

Tocchet was initially hesitant to exclude the 34-year old, but as the Flyers continued to bring up more and more effective replacements as the season went on, Hathaway’s grip on a spot in the lineup became gradually looser and looser. In Carl Grundstrom’s 10 games since joining the Flyers, he’s provided multitudes more than what Hathaway had in over triple the games. Combine that with the strong debut of someone like Denver Barkey, and younger depth names that have proven to be too good for the AHL like Nikita Grebenkin, and a path back to regular NHL ice time seems difficult for someone like Hathaway. 

As the Flyers continue what should be a pretty intense roster overhaul over the coming months and years, the spot that was once reserved for Hathaway may no longer exist. He remains with the Flyers for another season after this, and it’s not as if his NHL career is over. But with Deslauriers likely to depart after this season when his contract runs out, the only path back to the Flyers roster for Hathaway, barring a prompt return to form, may just be as his replacement. The 13th forward who can bring a strong sense of physicality and leadership will always have a role, especially within an organization like the Flyers who seem to value that archetype. 

But for Hathaway, someone who isn’t getting any younger and seems to have slowed down dramatically, regular NHL duty with the Flyers might be a thing of the past.Â