Jeremy Roenick slams the Flyers over Keith Yandle controversy.

Given that they find themselves well out of the playoff picture the Philadelphia Flyers won't be very relevant to the conversation in the National Hockey League as the Stanley Cup playoffs draw nearer and nearer, but over the weekend they made quite a stir in spite of their position in the standings, or perhaps due in part to it.

Saturday night would have been veteran Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle's 990th consecutive game in the NHL, the longest streak in the history of the league. Instead the Flyers made the controversial decision to effectively scratch Keith on the night putting a stop to his record setting Ironman man streak and stopping the record at 989 consecutive games. While Keith himself has handled the situation with class and grace, not everyone has been so willing to let this decision from the Flyers go uncriticized including some former NHL players.

The latest player to speak out on the matter is one well known to fans in Philadelphia and that is former Flyers forward Jeremy Roenick. The former NHL player turned NHL analyst has never been one to shy away from sharing his controversial opinions or shy of speaking out on big controversies surrounding the league, and this topic has proven to be no exception. On Saturday night, Roenick took to his social media and published a scathing series of messages that made it clear he was not happy with the way his former team was treating Yandle.

"I never thought I’d be this disappointed in the [Philadelphia Flyers], one of my favorite teams ever…" wrote Roenick on Saturday. "Scratching Yandle is beyond disrespectful and sends the wrong message of loyalty to the players and fans of the NHL!"

Roenick would continue by personally calling out the man behind the Flyers bench, Philadelphia Flyers head coach Mike Yeo. 

"The team is not making playoffs… what’s the message here!?" asked Roenick. "Mike Yeo, you should be ashamed. What Keith has accomplished is truly remarkable, and to take that away from him…"

Roenick's most salient point however came when he highlighted how such a move would be perceived by other veteran free agents around the league. Roenick expressed his belief that no players will want to sign with the Flyers in free agency following such a decision, especially not if the aforementioned Mike Yeo is behind the bench.

"What free agent would ever wanna play for Mike Yeo now?" asked Roenick. "The team is trying to rebuild and you pull a move like this… truly unbelievable! Im very disappointed to be a Flyers fan right now!"

While Roenick is no longer a member of the NHL broadcast due to some controversies of his own, he does very much still have a voice in the hockey community. It will be worth watching if his concerns regarding the Flyers, Yeo, and free agent players will materialize as a result of the Flyers' decision on Yandle.