John Tortorella's Comments Intriguing - Danny Briere's Star to Shine in Philadelphia?

Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella spoke with the media this week, as he regularly does, and offered an intriguing response to a question about his relationship with the team's management. 

He credited assistant general manager Brent Flahr. But Tortorella also praised the hockey mind of the special assistant to the general manager, Danny Briere. 

People can subjectively read between the lines now and refer back to the latter part of November 2022 to determine where Briere's ascension is realized, meaning with this or another organization, as the future unfolds.

Philadelphia Flyers: Chuck Fletcher and Brent Flahr Provide Summer Updates Prior To NHL Draft

Philadelphia Flyers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chuck Fletcher, along with Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr, provided updates about the team prior to the National Hockey League Draft that is set to take place in Montreal, Canada, on July 7 and 8, 2022, along with outlooks regarding the roster, which will be impacted by trades and free agency.

The following is courtesy of the Flyers' Media Relations Department:

Is this the least predictable going into it where you can say this is absolutely going to happen and figure it out from there?

BF: Yeah, I think it is fair to say. We usually have a couple players we want to draft for sure. We’ll have a pretty good idea by next week, but there are still some unknowns. Again, we have a grouping of players we’re talking about.

 

Because you are getting such a high pick at number five, do you expect this player to be NHL ready in this year?

BF: Depends on the player, to be honest with you. Some players are physically more ready than others. There are a couple more kids that need more time to get stronger. Some have played at a little higher level. That will be up to them. Some of these kids should be ready to practice and play potentially within the year

 

Do you still invasion making this pick and not trading it for a player?

CF: Well, if we’re going to trade the pick outright, it needs to be for a player in a certain age group. A player that could help us win now, but also win for several years. I do not think we are looking for someone in their late 20’s or early 30’s. Certainly speaking to every team in the league, we say this every year, but it’s definitely true this year, trying to ascertain that value of that pick is. If somebody has designs on it and makes the fair offer, we have to consider everything.

With so much talent bunched up together, does it make it potentially easier to make that decision knowing that the guy you like at five could still be there if you move down “X” numbers of spots?

CF: That certainly could be the case. The top end of this draft you mentioned previously is pretty scrambled. Different readings on the group and different lists, there are probably several names in most teams’ top ten. Whether that creates more movement or less movement, I’m not sure. I think there’s already been some interesting conversations and everyone’s trying to get a sense on where everyone’s at and what the value of that pick is.

 

What is Ryan Ellis’s status currently?

CF: Well, he’s continuing to progress, certainly improved since the end of this season. Certainly, further along now compared to a month or two months ago. Saying that, the bulk of his rehab is still ahead of him. He’s starting to intensify his off-ice workouts. Its’s going well, but there is still several steps to go before he gets on the ice. It’s still difficult, if not impossible, to predict where he’s going to be at in three months. The last month has been encouraging, but there is still more work to do.

 

Considering the uncertainty of how draft prospects still develop as well as the coaching situation. How does that effect what you’re looking for going into the draft?

CF: Not at all. He’s no different than any other coach. We prefer to have the best player available. We’re looking for a player. Realistically it’s not going to be a goaltender this year at five; a forward or a defenseman that has a skill set that could help us for many years. We’re up the either position. There’s some excellent defenseman. Some excellent forwards. Certainly, we’re looking for talent at the top of the draft.

 

Do you expect Ryan Ellis to be ready for training camp or is that still an unknown?

CF: I don’t know how anyone could predict that right now. That’s certainly the hope and the goal. We’ll have to see. Again, he’s starting ramp up the rehab, which is great that he’s at the point where he could ramp it up, but we’ll just have to see how everything responds.

 

When did it evolve that Joel Farabee had to get surgery?

CF: It happened about two weeks ago. It was crazy. It was one of his first formal workouts of the summer and he was warming up with light weights on the bench press. He felt, what he called some kind of pinching sensation in his neck area. He was able to see a doctor in the Syracuse area. Got some imaging done. We got him down here last Monday to see Dr. Yoon and he got him in for surgery four days later. I don’t even know what to say. It was extremely unfortunate and unlucky for him. I think we moved as quickly as we could once we knew he had issues.

 

How much training is Farabee going to be able to do in spite of the surgery, are you optimistic he’ll be ready at the start of camp or the start of the season?

CF: I am not even sure that that is important to me. Just looking at some schedule drafts coming out, we have eight games in the month of October. To me, it’s about getting him right. I’m not 100% sure how quickly he can get into getting stronger and really working on, not just his upper body, but his lower as well and building some strength to help him become a little more durable. He plays hard and he’s a fearless kid. This was going to be a big summer for him, from strength and development scenario. That is certainly an important part of the rehab, just getting him healthy and stronger. For me whether it’s three months or four months at the end of the day, if he’s ready for Game One, great. If he misses five, six, seven games and we can push him a little further, that might make sense too. We’ll make every decision with him based on his long-term health, welfare and development.

 

Did the doctor speculate if any of Farabee’s past injuries were connected to his current?

CF: No, no one has said that. You can speculate all you want. There’s no correlation. Certainly, nothing at the end of the year. There was no issue with this at any point, since I’ve been here.

 

BF: Talked to Joel this morning. He was saying it was the first time he started working out. His shoulder and everything was 100%. Everything felt great and then this happens. He walked out of the surgery. Later that day, said feels really good, which was amazing.

 

CF: That’s an incredible surgery

 

Was there any kind of consultation of what kind of players coach likes or would want to go with?

CF: He’s not coming here. I’ve never had a head coach ever in 30 years I’ve been in the business; I’ve never seen the head coach be involved in the drafting of players that may not play two, three years down the road. I’m certainly well aware of what John likes in a hockey player. What I think all of us in the group respect, we want is smart, competitive, hardworking people. Preferably six foot five with high end skill and speed. John clearly, like all of us, we appreciate the same attributes in player. John will be consulted a lot more on pro players and maybe free agents and trades. You always want to get the coaches input on the type of player you’re bringing in from the outside if you’re going to do that. Maybe they have knowledge of the player or certain things they know about the player that you don’t. You would be crazy to not involve your coaching staff on player personnel decisions. In terms of the draft, we’ve just never done that.

 

BF: Nor do they want to.

 

CF: Yeah, I don’t think they want to. Exactly. I don’t think they want the kind of responsibility for that.

 

If everything were equal, what kind of player would you go for?

BF: We’re not showing our hand. You’re just trying to get dirt out of me. I’m not going to tell you.

 

What position would you go for if they were equal?

BF: Why would I tell you that?

 

CF: We could use everything. We could use a center, wing, a defenseman.

 

BF: In reality there’s obviously a group of players, that a lot of you guys are aware of, we have some guys higher than others. We are at the mercy of the teams in front of us a little bit, but we have a couple of players targeted that we’re hopeful that are there at five. If that’s the case then we’ll make that decision.

 

Is there any ease that Joel will comeback okay sense you’ve seen players with similar injuries comeback in the past?

CF: Yeah, it did. I know that Joel, Joel’s family and his representation were encouraged by the results that they’ve seen. We’ve obviously consulted with more than one doctor and we got multiple opinions. Everybody thought that this was the best approach. For Dr. Yoon to see him on a Monday, recommend the surgery and he had it on the Friday. There was a high degree of cooperation. A lot of communication with everybody. We all felt that this was the best way to go, not just short-term of getting him back as a player, but for his long-term health would be as well. It’s incredible. There’s still only three players that had it. My expectation is that this will become a little bit more commonplace as we move forward.

 

Is there a spot where teams this year are varying when looking at a certain player in the draft?

BF: One. This year is a little different. You guys read about the names. I know I talked a little bit on my counterparts. There’s a lot of different opinions on the top end of the draft. Not as much of a consensus as some media think. I think you see the general names. We have a couple of layers of players, certain amount of guys that we’re comfortable with where we’re at. Then another layer maybe if we move back a couple spots. At the draft table, if it goes a certain way  we can move back and gain assets and still get player that we have rated, then we’ll potentially do that. You’re going to see more action as we get closer to the draft and get more information on what teams are doing or looking to do.

 

Why do you think trading a top draft pick is so rare? Why do you think this draft might be different in that sense?

CF: Were you in our meeting this morning? I swear to God, we were talking about that. I was asking, “When was the last time a team traded back from number five? Was it Luke Schenn” That was the only name we came up with? Ian and Cole were digging it up for me. It’s hard. I assume obviously you had to have a pretty bad season to earn the number five pick or to earn a top ten pick. It’s still the best way to acquire top end talent, so I think it’s difficult to trade because that’s a great opportunity to fix at least one hole that you have long term in your organization. There is also the human and emotional, psychological side of it as well. You have guys that have worked all year preparing their list and they get the chance to get a top guy. As a manager, you’re trying to give your guys more opportunities and not take opportunities away from them. That factors in as well. There hasn’t been a lot of them and you’re looking at that, trying to ascertain what is that value if you do. How much do you need to get back to move from five to whatever? There are probabilities of how much each slot over time has become a NHL player, a good NHL player. You have to factor in this draft, as Brett said the layers, maybe you have a layer of five players and then another layer of five. If there’s a big discrepancy to trade down one layer or another, if you do, what are you getting? You have to get something. We honestly met on that for an hour today. As you get closer you start to ask those questions because teams are calling you. Would you trade number five? Sure. You say sure, I don’t know if you always mean it. That’s the fun part of it, for us at least. Exploring what may be there, but as you just mentioned history tells you that usually you make the pick.

 

Are you willing to talk about specific players? What do you normally like in a player?

CF: I don’t know. I’ve never really done that, just because you end up going through all of them. The kids at the top end like every year there’s some really good young players. I think the one thing that separates this draft from many is that the top five is still in the flux. Seems like in a lot of years, there’s been more certainty about the top three or four players will be. This year there seems to be more uncertainty than most years. That could provide a great opportunity for us. But, no, to answer your question, I don’t think that that’s proper.

 

Would you go up to get a player you had wanted to draft? 

CF: I just think it would be hard. Realistically.

 

Would if be less difficult because of how evenly everyone is launched in the draft?

CF: Potentially. You’re not sure how it will play out. It could play out either way and I’ve tried to think it through from both angles. I could see arguments would be harder or easier to move up or back. Realistically the likelihood of us moving up I think would be much slimmer. It could happen, but I think we’re going to be pretty happy picking at five and I think we have to weigh what kind of price would you want to move back to five. Is there even a price? If so what price? I think that might be more relevant, then what it would take to get to one.

 

What you actively look to acquire a second-round pick?

CF: Yeah, definitely. I think the priority is making sure we do well with the first pick. If we can still get a great round pick and find a way to get a second-round pick, get another player or another prospect, sure. But I think that’s secondary to actually looking at the top end in the draft.

 

Are you looking for someone who fits the mold of helping the team be harder to place against?

CF: I still think you got to make sure you get high-end talent. High-end talent as we just saw in the playoffs, you look at Tampa and Colorado. They have a lot of high-end talent that is packaged in often times in big or competitive or speedy frame. I think we’re certainly like everybody wanting to get the most competitive players we can get but you can’t forsake talent. You have to make sure you get talent and where we’re picking you should be able to find competitive people that have talent.

 

Are you looking to add a veteran goalie?

CF: That’s still up in the air. That’s in all honestly. Obviously, we’re going to look and explore what veteran goalies may be available and talking to teams about potential trades. Trying to see what the price would be to do that. Saying that, Sandström and Fedotov are 25 years old. They both have proven they are good goalies in leagues outside of the NHL, so do you take a leap of faith and save some cap space? Or do you get a veteran guy and maybe have more certainty? But there is a cost to that as well. That’s really been a part of what we’ve been discussing the past few weeks.

 

What gave you the confidence in signing Sandström?

CF: Just continue to get better. He had some injury issues for a while but the last couple of years he’s steadily improved. I think he has over, between the ECHL and American League, maybe over 80 games of experience over here plus time in the Swedish league. He has some games at the NHL level. He is a highly competitive kid that continues to progress. Certainly, he looks like he has the ability to play in the NHL again whether it’s right way, three months down the road, or a year down the road only time will tell. For us, he was a key guy who’s going to be unrestricted free agent. Barry Hanrahan did a good job working with his agent and finding, I thought, a fair solution by giving him a little bit of protection in terms of a one-way deal in year two, but also allowing us to maybe having a competition this year as well.

 

What is Ryan [Ellis] dealing with, when referring to his “multi-layer” injury?

CF: It’s multi-layered. It’s almost everything that’s in the middle of the body. Multiple areas where he is working on strengthen and rehab. Trying to put all the pieces back together. He’s made progress. He’s determined to get back and not just play but to be a good hockey player. Be the player that we wanted him to be when we acquired him. He was probably the most excited player last training camp coming in. After he got over the initial shock of coming in from Nashville, he was so excited to play and it was incredible watching him spend hour after hour with Ivan Provorov. They had breakfast together. They talked together before practice. They were partners on the ice. They had lunch together. He wanted to get to know Ivan so well that they would build this chemistry as quickly as they could on and off the ice. I was like this guy is a true professional. It was incredible, watching his interact with Ivan and Ivan interact with him. How they were trying to make each other better and then his world came crashing down. It’s been very difficult for him on many levels. Physically but also emotionally trying to become a part of the team when you played four games and your rehabbing all year. You are not with the guys. You’re not on the road. He’s very excited and determined to get back. He’s made progress. I’m not trying to be vague, but I don’t think anyone could look you in the eye and say he’ll be back by this time frame. He’s where we thought he would be. He’s where the medical people thought he would be. He’s got another step he’s got to take and hopefully that responds. Then another step and got another step. Get on the ice and then how does that respond. It may go quicker. It may go slower. For me, the ultimate goal is to get him back as quickly as possible. The goal has been for camp and for the start of the season. Hopefully, that’s the case, but the bigger picture is to get him back. That’s what we are focusing on.

 

Are you worried that you might have to get another defenseman because you’re finding out if Ryan is coming back so late?

CF: We’ll know before camp. We just may not know on July 13^th, but I would think over the next month, we would start to get a pretty good picture as he continues to advance in his rehab protocols, both off and on the ice. Is he still going forward or has any setbacks? Does he stall at a certain step? This is all the uncertainty. Again, I’m not trying to be vague. I’m trying to be as completely transparent as I can be, but there is certainly a path where this could go really well. We will just have to see. Sure, there is some uncertainty. A little bit now with Joel. The good news is Sean Couturier is doing great. He’s doing all summer training. Feels very good. Same with Kevin Hayes. Hopefully, there are no more surprises this summer in a negative sense. Like a week and a half ago when I got the call that Joel Farabee had numbness and pain in his neck and it could be pretty bad. I was like are you kidding me. Hopefully, there are no more of those. If we do, we will just react, that is what we do. We’ll have to work around it and have to ability to hopefully improve our roster. Clearly getting guys back to full health, and hopefully have young guys improving. We can’t continue to go to market and build a team. We need to get some guys back and get some kids to step up.

 

Has there been any more decisions made on the coaching staff?

CF: Well, I meant to speak to John before I did this so I can say this. Darryl Williams will be back. Kim Dillabaugh will be back. A goaltender coach to me is always an organizational decision, not just a coach. Adam Patterson and Vinny Yula will be back. After that, we are working through. From what I know right now, Torts is speaking or will speak with everyone that was on staff last year and try to see if there is a fit, if it could work for the people last year, if it could work for John. It’s got to be a two-way street. There’s got to be a comfort level and we’ll continue to talk to people outside the organization as well. We are in the middle of that process. Whether it’s done this week or next week, I am not sure. That’s what we’re working on right now.

 

Do you agree with your head coaches statement that the team has to “get harder”?

CF: I one hundred percent agree, that is why we hired him. You have to remember ‘19-20 season, we were a hard team to play against. We played hard. Playing hard doesn’t just mean we were big and strong;  it means playing the game the right way and having the puck. It’s forcing the team to defend; it’s forcing the other team to play the way you want them to play and on your terms. So, it’s not just about personnel. It’s about, A. not defending all the time. It’s defensive structure. It’s how you retrieve pucks and get out of your own zone. Again, it’s hopefully having the puck, not being trapped in D-zone like we were all last season. When you’re defending all the time, it’s hard to dictate. It’s hard to be aggressive. All you’re doing is reacting to what the other team does. You want to have the puck, but to have the puck, you have to defend quickly. You have to defend well and get the hell out of the D-zone. Once you do that now you can manage the game and make puck decisions. You can chip and chase. You can enter under control. You can do whatever you can do because you have the puck. You can dictate the flow of the game. That’s what we want to get back to. That’s what we want to be. That’s what Torts’ teams always been. That’s the mindset and identity of what we want to accomplish here. It’s coaching. It’s buy-in. It’s accountability. It’s structure. It’s fitness levels. It’s personnel. It’s everything. We’re going to try to check every box we can this summer to be that type of team.

 

Why do you think there has been splintering amongst the team?

CF: Splintering, I don’t know that I agree with that. Obviously, he is entitled to his opinion. I think it is a bunch of good guys that have gotten along. I think where we have to get to is you can be a good guy and get along, but we have to hold each other accountable. I think that’s maybe where he’s getting at and where clearly, we need to get to. The players recognize that as well. It’s about having standards, both off the ice and on the ice. It’s everything. It’s how you play. It’s puck management. It’s shift length. It’s team orientation. It’s not turning a puck over for the third time in a row. It’s blocking a shot. It’s making sure you’re in the gym and that you’re on time. It’s everything to do with it. It’s respecting your teammate and the organization by doing the right things. I think that’s something we need to get better at and get back to. It’s a good group of guys that like each other and they want to get better. This group does not lack character. We clearly need direction, accountability, and not just from the coaching staff, part of that has to be  internal too. I think that’s probably what he meant is creating that internal push. That doesn’t always have to be the coaching staff.

 

What gives you the confidence in the coaching staff to bring them back?

CF: They are good at what they good. They are good at what they do. They are good people and good coaches. I think as we fill out our staff now. John is looking for sort-of for the two top assistants. However, they are labeled. Typically, one runs the defense and the PK and one will run the offense and the power play. Call it the defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator, whatever type of labels you want. Those are probably the roles we’re filling right now. The people that will come in and have some of those hands-on specific roles that John will entrust in them. We’ll work on that. Certainly, Darryl and Kim will bring a lot. Kim’s not just an everyday with an NHL team type of role. He also works with Brady Robinson. He manages our overall goaltender development program. He’s involved watching goaltenders for the draft. He is a coach that’s heavily involved in the draft. We won’t draft a goaltender that Kim and Brady don’t  sign off on. They know more about goaltending than any of our staff may never know. Sorry, Rick Pracey might not like me saying that. Rick knows a little bit about goaltending. You have to rely on your goaltending coaches on the drafting, the development of goaltenders, their progression through the system as well as the day-to-day maintenance of your NHL goaltenders. Kim’s role to me is a role that management, me certainly, but management, me, Brent, Barry, Danny, Tommy, all of us, have a strong comfort level in because we rely on that role more than just getting Carter Hart or whoever ready for practice or who’s going to play the next game. He’s been involved with Felix and now Samuel. When Kolosov come over. It’s a massive role. That’s what gives me confidence with Kim. I’ve watched what he has done. I think I mentioned it at the end of the year, we are getting to a depth where our goaltender depth is getting to in a really good place. We have some young guys pushing. Kolosov is as talented as anybody we have ever drafted. It’s exciting. Kim and Brady are a huge part of that.

 

Where are the negotiations with Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett? Is Martin Jones an option to come back?

CF: Yeah, absolutely. Everything is on the table. In terms of some of those young players and contracts, we are literally just starting. We’ve been involved in a lot of different interview processes, I guess you should say. Now dealing with the assistant coaches, the draft and getting our free agent list together. Not that those issues aren’t crucial, as restricted free agents, we just have time. Yesterday, we actually had a meeting on that, getting together, getting our comps together and our plan together. Probably over the next week or so we will make contact with them. Hopefully, some of them go quickly. I’m sure over the next few weeks we’ll get those done.

 

Do you see yourself making a huge splash at free agency?

CF: We’ll see. Unlike several teams, we don’t have a cap issue. We don’t the cap issues that several teams do where we literally have to move bodies out to be cap compliant. We can be cap compliant easily. We are cap compliant. If we want to be aggressive in free agency then we have to get creative. It’s just how aggressive we want to be and how aggressive we can be that may dictate how many transactions we make. This is the best we have been at least in the last few years. We can be cap compliant if we go away from the summer, we got a hockey team. It’s just how aggressive we want to be.

Inside Access: Chuck Fletcher & Brent Flahr Mid-July Presser

The following transcript is courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers media department...

Philadelphia Flyers President & General Manager Chuck Fletcher and Vice President & Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr

 

How difficult was it? Or is it to put together this expansion protected list? What did you learn from the Vegas draft when you're with Minnesota? And how would have any effect at all on how you approach this draft with Seattle?

 

CF: First of all, I think we have our Expansion Draft list put together. If we make moves between now and then, we can adjust it obviously, but we have a pretty good idea of what we want to do and who we're going to protect and who will make available. For this Expansion Draft, we had more time than we did versus the Vegas draft. More time to make sure we had all the holes filled and we met all the criteria that we needed to meet. From that standpoint, it's been a little simpler. The pandemic and the flat cap have made it probably more difficult because obviously, there's cap pressures on teams. So Seattle will certainly have an opportunity there to talk to teams about helping them out with their cap issues in exchange for various assets. We'll see how that plays out. Seattle, I'm sure, will have good options. They've worked hard, but I think we had a little bit more time to plan for this one. We feel like we're in good shape.

 

Is there anything that you learned from the Vegas expansion draft that would affect you in your decisions this time?

 

CF: No, not necessarily. Every situation is different. Our team in Minnesota was a lot different than the team here in terms of the makeup and the composition of the players. I think your goal is always to do the best thing for the organization. And in our case here now, I think our decisions, we had pretty good unanimity of what we wanted to do when we had our pro scouts in town. I think it's a process that may be a little bit more experienced, but we had more time to prepare. Again, I think our list is pretty straightforward.

 

You mentioned about the protection and asset trades. Do you think it's likely that you might look to work out a side deal with them to steer them in a specific direction? Are you more leaning towards just submitting your list and letting them pick and choose with you leave available?

 

CF: I'm open to either. I've had several conversations with Ron going back a few months now. We'll probably take guidance from them if there's something that they think would make sense for them and would make sense for us. My expectation is we’ll submit the list and if whether there'll be conversations after we submit the list or not, time will tell. We're certainly comfortable to submitting the list and having them select a player. I've just indicated to them if they have ideas on something else they want to accomplish to let us know.

 

What is the chatter for you and other GMs? Unless you're talking to Ron Francis, there's not a lot going on kind of right now. He's anticipating waiting till the Expansion Draft for stuff to happen. Is that a fair read on what's going on right now?

 

CF: Probably every team is different. Certainly, the phones have been busy. I've been receiving calls. I've been making calls. We're all speaking with each other. Every team's in a little bit different spot. For some teams, they can acquire a player now, and it doesn't impact their lists that much. There’s other teams that would much rather wait until after the Expansion Draft to make a trade to upgrade their clubs. I think everybody's different. It seems like more teams would prefer to wait until after Seattle makes their decisions. But there is a lot of dialogue. Teams are, I think, trying to get a read of the room right now and see who's available, what other teams are trying to do and what options we all may have once we get closer to the draft and free agency. So a lot of chatter. From our standpoint, we certainly aren't going to be making a trade today or tomorrow, unless something unexpected breaks right now.

 

Have you informed the players that you are exposing in the expansion draft? Is that an awkward conversation or is that business as usual?

 

CF: I haven't officially have informed them. I've had conversations with a few of them. Several conversations with a couple of them about the likelihood of it, about what we're trying to do and why. As we get closer to Saturday, whether it's Friday or Saturday, I will reach out to some of the players for sure to give them a courtesy heads up. Things could still change, so I don't want to jump the gun too much. I think a few of them are aware of what our position is, and we've had good conversations.

 

How are you looking at these next few weeks? Is it more crunch time for being proactive for major moves or are you looking at it as you have a long time until rosters are submitted?

 

CF: This summer to me is similar to every summer, every offseason. The goal is to try to be as competitive as we can next year and yet, we want to make sure we keep a large quantity of future assets that can continue to help us get better as we move forward. We're looking at everything. It's an exciting time, in a sense that with the Seattle Expansion Draft, with the flat cap, you might see maybe a few more trades, a few more hockey trades throughout the week. The draft is always an exciting time. We're picking higher than where we want to pick yet having the 13th selection will give us an opportunity to get a pretty good player. There's going to be hopefully some exciting additions to our club over the next couple months. And probably a few moves around the league that you normally wouldn't see because of expansion and because of the flat cap. We're going to continue to try to make moves and make us better. We know we have a lot of work ahead of us. And we'll do the best we can.

 

When you look at the draft this year, you have two very highly rated goaltenders. Do you see that potentially playing into who you might be picking as best available player?

 

BF: It's going to be a really interesting draft, I think. It's probably been written about the top eight or nine guys. Teams will have them in different orders, but it's probably going to be the same names. What you're going to see is it goes all over the board. I think there's a number of players that probably media outlets and whatnot have not seen a lot of, but teams have done their homework on certain players. Some players haven't played at all this year, which is unique for us and for everybody. You're going to see some variances as the draft expands. It’ll be interesting to see how it works. We're going to be working up right through next week to finalize everything and tighten everything up, but it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

You have some players that have big contracts. Does that make it easier for you to not protect them in the expansion draft?

 

CF: I think right now with the flat cap, it's difficult to move players with high salaries in general. I don't know if it makes it easier for the list or not. Ultimately, Seattle's coming in with zero cap dollars, so certainly, they have the ability to add good players, regardless of contract if they choose. I think you're always trying to make decisions where you're protecting the players you feel you need to protect for the short and long term good of your franchise. I think, generally speaking, in this environment, it goes without saying that it's difficult to move money right now and cheaper contracts are probably more valuable in that sense.

 

Is your number one draft pick in play for a trade or do you plan on keeping it?

 

BF: Depends on who you ask.

 

CF: Yeah, Brent wants me to keep it. Look, it's a really good asset. If we use our first round pick to select a player, we're obviously going to be able to draft a high quality player that'll help us. Yet, because it's of high asset value, I think we have to explore what we can do with it. The likelihood is you normally end up keeping your first round picks, but this offseason, in particular, I think I'm more willing to look at moving it. If there's some way we can help our team, not just in the short term, but more over several years over the longer term and it cost me the first round pick, if I can get that type of asset, I'll certainly look at doing it.

 

Going back to March with regards to the blueline corps, you thought the makeup wasn’t right and you needed to address that. Does that still remain a top priority for you after talking to the coaches and staff in your offseason meetings?

 

CF: I think there's been a lot of focus on the blue line. To me, the number one priority is our goals-against. It was just ridiculous how many goals we gave up last year. That goes back to everything. It goes back to the coaches having a great training camp and using the practice time early in the season to reinforce our systems and our structure. It's our goaltenders playing better. It's our defenseman playing better. It's our forwards managing the puck better. We're going to need to look at upgrades to our roster. There's no question. We're also going to need the players that are returning to play better, in particular, without the puck and structurally. We’re going to need our coaches to get our players back in that structure and reinforce the system. It's not just one thing that led us to fall from seventh in the league defensively to the bottom of the pile. You have no chance, no chance to win in this league unless you're at least in the top half of the league defensively. We have a lot of work to do. Again, we have holes we need to fill and we have players that are currently on our roster that need to play much better. It's got to be a holistic approach. It's not just one player that's going to turn it around. It's everybody, starting with me that has to be much better this year and that has been conveyed to everybody in the organization.

 

You mentioned the pandemic very briefly. Does that factor into your decision? You had a lot of younger players who didn't play as well this season. Does that factor into your evaluation, the pandemic and all the challenges that brought this year?

 

CF: It's a bit. It's hard to say for sure what caused some of our young players not to play at the same level. The pandemic would be one logical reason. Maybe expectations for some of them coming off a strong year and just assuming you'd be able to come back and do the same thing. I do think it's certainly is a reason to give pause. Some of our young players, at least in my opinion, are better than how they performed last year. I think you need to be a little bit careful overreacting to one year, particularly in one year, as crazy as last year was. We know they have to be better and we have to be better. I think we just want to be a little bit careful here. We've worked hard as an organization for the last seven, eight years to patiently add and draft and develop a lot of young players. It's kind of been the focus of the franchise, going back to 2014 probably. You got to be a little bit careful that you don't change course and start moving by good young players that maybe struggled for a little bit last year. We have to find a way to make them better. We have to get better and we'll work very hard at that. We'll probably get into this later on in the summer, but we’ve spent an awful lot of time this summer looking at our staff, our structure. I think we've made some really meaningful changes and improvements to how we do things, not just from a coaching standpoint, but from a development standpoint, a scouting standpoint, and a data standpoint. We put a lot of time and effort this summer and fixing some things off the ice that we think will lead to better on ice results. We've looked at everything. Last year was unacceptable. It's been a busy offseason behind the scenes and I'm really happy with some of the moves we made. Now we have to find a way to get better on the ice and that'll be the focus from here on out.

 

Have you zeroed in on candidates for your assistant position on the big club and the two assistants down on Lehigh Valley?

 

CF: Yeah, we've made a lot of personnel moves that we'll announce in short order. We've spent two months doing this stuff, so we will have a lot of changes to announce here in the new in the near future. We've worked pretty hard to that. I think we're in pretty good position going forward.

 

Is there a certain type of elite player that you consider moving that 13^th pick? Is there a certain type of elite play or a certain position that you're focused on, if a player of one position comes up that you consider or moving for our other areas of need that you would consider, and it has to be in a certain elite type of player?

 

CF: Well, I think the second part of it would be the more important part. You know, if you're going to move the 13th overall pick, either by itself or as part of the package, you better be getting a really good player that can help you for a few years. I'm not sure that it has to be position specific. Certainly you want to make sure you're getting a good player that can help you in the short and long term.

 

With regards to Cam York, what difference did you notice after his second year of college? In general, what does that second year of college do to benefit the prospect?

 

BF: First of all, every player is different, especially coming up after you draft them, both physical maturity and mental maturity. Obviously staying in college for an extra year is beneficial in a lot of cases. Some players are ready after their freshman year but playing another year of college never hurts. I think in Cam's case in particular, allowed him to grow physically. He got invaluable experience coming in playing some games in American League, getting his feet wet in the NHL at the end of the year to see where he needs to get to physically to see how playing in the NHL every day works. Cam is obviously a very intelligent player. His skill set is very good. Knowing now for him to what he needs to do this offseason to get ready for this year really helped him and he’s prepared for his offseason here.

 

How would you categorize this draft overall? In the past, you have gone for the next best player available. Is that still the strategy this year?

 

BF: Well, first of all this draft, I think it's been well publicized. I don't think there's any generational players in it. However, there are some quality players at the top end and there is some depth to the draft. There are some different tiers like every year. Our group has done a pretty good job identifying those, but I do think there's some depth through the second and third round this year that our guys are excited about and even beyond. We'll continue to work through that this next week and be ready for next Friday. And then as far as the strengths of the draft, I think there's some quality defenseman at the top of the draft. There's some quality centerman. There's wingers. It's publicized that there's a couple goalies that'll likely get into the first round here. Should be an interesting and we'll see how it plays out.

 

With the presence of Carter in the organization, does it make it less likely to pick a goalie in the first round?

 

BF: We have Carter. Obviously, he's a young goaltender and we have a couple goalies outside the NHL that we feel have a chance as good prospects. It's the next best player on our board and we’ll certainly consider it and take them. At the same time, we have a number of different players and positions that we'll look at as well. But no, we're not opposed. If it's clearly the next best player on our draft board, we'll take them. And to the question earlier, as far as position, we don't really draft by position, especially in the first round. We go by our list, the best player available. Realistically, as you've seen in the NHL, a lot of these players don't play next year. Sometimes our needs right now are changed by two years down the road. That's just a reality we're in.

 

With a trade like the Duncan Keith trade yesterday, is there almost a trickle down effect? Is there almost an innate pressure to get the ball-rolling after the first big move of the offseason?

 

CF: I think that move is probably a little bit different. I think the player had reasons for wanting to go and there were certain teams he would go to. Two teams were able to make a trade. I don't know if it's as much that. I think it's just the timing of everything. Between the Expansion Draft, the Entry Draft following that a few days later and then start a free agency, we have all the big events that may involve player movement really happening within literally a 10- or 12-day period. Once you get past the first day of free agency, the amount of players that are available and the amount of cap space that's available probably be much more limited. I think either there's pressure in the sense that if you have moves you want to make, this is when you got to try to make them. Having said all that, this type of environment where there's not a lot of liquidity in the system, it's a flat cap system, moves are a little trickier, in part because the Expansion Draft. There's not a lot of teams that are just able to take on a lot of money. There's a lot more communication about dollar for dollar type of moves, or can you take some money back or can you do this. It makes it a little bit more complicated. In saying that, over the next two weeks, my guess is the majority of player movement that happens this summer will take place.

 

One thing you talked about in your postseason press conference was the importance of workouts, training in the offseason, the struggles that some guys had with the challenge of the pandemic last offseason. What are you guys doing to ensure that doesn't happen again? Are guys going to be coming back to Philly earlier to make sure that they don't run into the same issues again?

 

CF: In terms of the first part of the question, we have our strength coaches. They worked with the players before they left in terms of the summer program they'll follow. Most of our players have trainers that they train with during the offseason. It seems to be a fact of life now for most pro athletes. This summer obviously, gyms are open and trainers are able to train the players in person where last offseason was maybe a little bit more problematic in some locations. The players have a good idea of what's expected of them. Our strength coaches stay in touch with them. Our team nutritionist has reached out to them. We stay in contact with them regularly through the summer. And as the summer moves on, our coaches will follow up with them. There's a lot of follow up and these guys are professionals. They know what they need to do. They will work hard. I think it'll be easier for every athlete, not just our players to have access to ice rinks, gyms and everything that maybe in the previous offseason was more limited. There's a pretty good plan in place for that. In terms of guys coming back early, that's really up to them. I know some of the players. Shayne Gostisbehere is obviously here. Provorov has been here for a while and then he just went back home. We'll have some players that will come in as the summer moves on and and train here, but that's really up to them. My expectation is by Labor Day, we'll have a lot of people here in terms of our veteran players. Typically, it's pretty quiet around here in July for the veteran players.

 

Is there any progress made in your negotiations with the RFAs, specifically Carter Hart, Nolan Patrick and Travis Sanheim? Also, have you talked about re-signing UFAs, such as Sam Morin, Brian Elliott, and Alex Lyon?

 

CF: I don't know that I really want to get into updates on signings. I usually try to keep that stuff pretty quiet. I will say that with the RFAs, it hasn't been a front burner issue. There's plenty of time to get to those. We have to make the qualifying offers by the Monday after the draft. We'll make those sometime between now and then. Typically, the ball gets rolling from there. I've had some preliminary talks with a few of the guys you've mentioned, but at this point, we have time and we'll get to those in due course.

 

I don’t know if you saw the damage that the Stanley Cup took yesterday. Did you ever worry about damaging the Stanley Cup when you won it in ’09 with the Penguins or back with your dad in ’89?

 

CF: I know the tradition of everybody getting the Cup for a day wasn't enforced back in ‘89. I remember we did have the Cup. My dad brought it to a couple local hospitals. We had a friend that was in a hospital at the time, so I remember bringing the Cup there. Certainly, there weren't a lot of shenanigans with the Cup back then. I've heard various stories over the years, but I don't have any recollections of doing that. Certainly looked like they had a lot of fun yesterday.

---End of transcript.