Philadelphia Flyers: Danny Briere Part of Organizational Rebuild

Daniel Briere is the Philadelphia Flyers' new interim General Manager. As the Gatineau, Quebec, native said in today's press conference, he did not expect to gain this responsibility two days ago. 

Fans of this storied franchise and others across the hockey world know Briere by his nickname, Danny. The goodwill he earned appears more likely than not to lead to him being named the organization's full-time general manager in the near future. 

The Flyers are in the early stages of head coach John Tortorella correctly labeled a rebuild earlier this season. Chuck Fletcher, the recently relieved President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, was not hired in 2018 to rebuild the team but to quickly make it a Stanley Cup contender. 

Many factors caused the team to regress. What was seen as a one-person operation, led by former General Manager Ron Hextall, was replaced with a multi-person corporate effort. Neither formation worked. 

So, an announced split of Fletcher's positions into a President of Hockey Operations and a General Manager will happen. Briere's task, assuming he becomes the GM under whoever the new President of Hockey Operations is, will be to make steady progress and not backslide. 

Tortorella's praise for Briere during the season signaled organizational confidence. That, along with Comcast Spectacor's hire of Dan Hilferty as Chief Executive Officer, furthers significant internal changes to restore the Flyers to an elite team in the National Hockey League. 

Founder and Chairman Ed Snider died in 2016. No one and no internal group can ever replace what Snider created or become what he and those who worked for him represent. But all involved are striving toward restoring the reputation the Flyers held. 

Briere wore the Flyers uniform and various hats in the organization after he retired. He raised his sons in this area and made Philadelphia his home. Now, like others before him, Briere must translate his passion for the game, background in it, and a solid work ethic into achieving success on the ice and, eventually, in raising the ever-elusive third Stanley Cup.

The following was provided by the Flyers media relations department: 

Philadelphia Flyers Interim General Manager Daniel Briere

 

Hi everyone, Danny Briere here. First of all, I want to start by thanking Dave Scott for trusting me and giving me this opportunity. I had the chance to work with Dave closely with the Mariners when I started my career, my second career after stepping off the ice and then in the last couple of years too with the Flyers. I want to thank Chuck Fletcher as well for the chance, the opportunity of including me on the staff in the past season. It is a true honor to be in this role. I've been a Flyer for a big part of my career. I love the Flyers. I love the logo. I spent a lot of days, a lot of sweat, a lot of sacrifice here for this organization. It's a true honor to be in this position. It's also the city I call home. I've raised my kids here; that's what they consider their home. I'm very proud to be here, to live here, and to be part of this. All I can say at this point is that I want to do whatever I can to help finish the season and help prepare the right way. Put a plan in place hopefully for an important summer ahead of us.

 

Over the last couple of days, how have you navigated the emotions of Chuck getting fired, someone you work with closely, and earning the interim role?

It's been a little bittersweet, to be honest. I have so much respect for Chuck Fletcher. Anybody that has had the chance to work with him and under him the last few years will tell you, he is true gentleman. One of the nicest person in the hockey world. You know that side is tough. It's also the business of hockey. That's what we're in. I have a lot of respect for Chuck and I, again, thank him for giving me the opportunity. Then on the flip side, it's the excitement of being here, of representing the Flyers as Interim GM. It's a pretty cool moment. It's something that I'm extremely proud of. To be honest with you, it's something that will stay with me for a long, long time. This emotion of having that title is pretty special, to be honest.

 

With regards to the Flyers roster as a whole, over the last few weeks, John Tortorella and Chuck mentioned the importance of taking this slow and doing this the right way. In his comments about Chuck being removed, Dave Scott knew this is going to be a multiyear process. Obviously, you're the Interim GM. You're not the full time GM as of yet. Do you agree that fixing this and getting the Flyers on the right path is a multiyear process?

Yes, I do. That's my belief. It needs to be done the right way. At this point, I think that's what's needed. That's what's going to be important moving forward and not rushing to things. We're going to keep evaluating players. We’ll have a lot of discussions in which direction we're going to move, but there's no doubt that this is not a quick fix in my mind. I believe it's going to take a little while, but at the same time, it doesn't mean that we're going to do a full fire sale and have a complete new team next year. There's a lot of good players. There's a lot of good young players on this team. We've definitely gone on the younger side and I think it shows at times. It showed this year and it's going to show until the end of the year. We're a younger team. We maybe lack a little bit of experience. I think it's the right way to go at this time.

 

When we were talking to John Tortorella yesterday, he said that you have some pretty strong opinions about where you think this organization needs to go. What are some of the strong beliefs that you have and that you're able to do as you move forward here?

Well, I'm not going to get into player’s names and stuff like that at this point. I think it's a little too early for that. I have my own way of seeing things, obviously. I have my own opinions. I'm not gonna lie about that. Everybody sees things their own way differently and I do as well. I'm really looking forward to spending more time with the coaches, get their thoughts, and also our staff here on the second floor. I have some good people around me that I want their opinion and I'm going to talk to a lot of different people, moving forward, evaluating, and deciding on what the next few steps will be at this point. It's only been 48 hours. To be honest, we haven't dived really deep into any of that at this point. I'm just trying to survive those last 48 hours. My phone hasn't stopped buzzing for more than about three seconds. It was a little bit of survival mode the last couple of days.

 

I know you were involved in the interview process with John Tortorella when you guys were hiring this head coach. What did you like about his interview and what you've learned about him?

There was a lot to like about John. I think what really was striking for me was how he was going to rebuild the culture over here. Looking at the last couple years, it was tough to watch at times. I felt we were an easy team to play against. You don't realize how important culture is until you lose it. We interviewed a lot of great candidates, guys that were probably great coaches and could have done the job. In my mind, I felt John Tortorella was the perfect guy at this time to get us back on track and I really feel we've seen this. We've seen it this year. You look at not just the way we play, but talking also to players around the league, executives around the league, and they all say the same thing: The Flyers are tough to face. They might not have the most talent at this point. They might be a little inexperienced at this point. But man, it's tough to face you guys. We've heard that constantly over the year. I've been really proud of the players and our coaching staff, the way they enforce that and how tough they've made us to face the season. I think it was the right step in the process. The mentality is different around here, from what I've seen from the previous two years. It's really exciting. I think and I still believe that John was the perfect decision at this time for us.

 

Two questions. The first one, you’re obviously talking like someone who's gonna be a part of this decision-making for the long term, why the interim title? What do you do to get it full-time? Is it a try out for a few weeks or what exactly is going on with that?

Well, look, I think it's the right thing to do. I'm okay with it. I don't have a problem with the interim tag. I like that Dave and his staff are going to take the proper time to evaluate who should be full time in that position. You know, I see myself staying here and being part of the future. I hope they believe in me as well. It feels that way. I honestly don't have a problem with the tag. We'll see what happens next. Like I said, I'm honored to be here and to be in this position. I want to do everything possible to help put this this franchise on the right track at this point.

 

A quick follow up, a lot has been made of the senior advisors on the Flyers, the guys who've been around for decades now. Are they part of your decision-making? Do you see them playing kind of the same role in the past with that?

I don't know at this point. I am not sure. What I can tell you is I have a lot of respect for, I assume you're talking about Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, and Paul Holmgren. I have a lot of respect for those guys for what they've accomplished in their career, both on and off the ice. Lots of respect. I've been in this position for 48 hours. I've had a quick chat with them. At this point, that's all that's happened. We'll see moving forward with what happens there.

 

There are two openings right now: President of Hockey Operations and General Manager. Does one of the two jobs appeal to you more than the other?

Well, I have the GM part in my title, so that's kind of what I'm going with at this point. I haven't really thought about President. At this point, I probably see myself as the GM, I would say, but I would be open to whatever Dave and Dan would see fit. It really doesn't matter to me.

 

As a quick follow up, Chuck Fletcher did not like the word rebuild when he talked about the future. Is that something that you don't like to use too? Or do you see this as a rebuild?

Not at all. I believe it's needed. We have to be careful, and I want to make sure that rebuild doesn't mean fire sale. There's a big difference between the two. I want to make that clear. We're not going to get rid of everybody. We have some good players here. Some players that are in certain roles that we're going to keep as well. We're going to look at every possible option out there to improve the team. I don't think this is a quick fix. That's my belief and that's why I'm not afraid to use the word rebuild. As long as you all understand, those little asterix, that it's not a fire sale. It doesn't mean fire sale for me.

 

Danny, what are kind of your primary focuses over the next couple of months heading into the off-season, Draft and does having the interim tag impact any of that?

Well, the next few things, it's helping John, his staff finish the season strong. Obviously, I know a lot of the players, but I'll have the chance to maybe dive a little deeper with his coaching staff and the people upstairs around me. Have deeper discussions on evaluating players and what the next few steps moving forward. At the same time, the draft is going to be a key opportunity for us to improve our team for the future. The reality is, unfortunately, we're not going to make the playoffs most likely this season. We're going to be positioned pretty well to add a key quality player for the future of this franchise. That's going to be important the next couple months to send the proper people in the right place to see us who's out there. Make sure we make the right pick. That's also going to be a key responsibility of my job.

 

You are the interim GM, but are you empowered if there were changes in the front office, either additions or subtractions that you're allowed to make?

That's a discussion that I need to have with Dave and Dan, but I believe so. At this time, it's not about rocking the boat. It's more about evaluating everybody that's in place, evaluating our players, finishing the season strong and being a help to the players and staff and everybody around me. Try to get everything on track finishing off. I'm not looking to change anything drastically right at this moment. I've had this job for 48 hours. It's not going to happen overnight. This is going to be a long process. Just like we've talked about doing things the right way, I think it applies also with everybody on the staff, not just the players.

 

It's pretty clear based on our conversation this morning that you would like to ultimately be named the GM. That said, you've only been an official member on the front office as a special assistant for a little over a year. What gives you the confidence that you have the necessary experience to take on that role for the players?

Oh, there's no doubt in my mind that I can do the job. I'm going to have some great people around me as well. It's not something that I'm going to do alone. I was never a player that worked alone. I always believed in team first, team mentality first, and it's going to be the same approach on this side. I love working with people and it's going to be the same way moving forward now. Even when I played as a player, I was always someone that studied my opponents, also studied my GMs, and what they were doing and whether the other GMs were doing. I probably started doing that a little deeper when I got to Buffalo, the way the Darcy Regier kind of built a young team that went to a couple back-to-back Conference Finals. I came here, learned a lot under Paul Holmgren as well, where we were a lot closer, maybe when I arrived to winning the Stanley Cup, but it was also coming off a year where we finished last, I believe, the year before I got here, and how he was able to rebuild that team. I went to Montreal with Marc Bergevin where he also had to rebuild the character of his team. In the year that I was there, I was able to take a team to the Conference Final as well and then to Joe Sakic in Colorado. I got there early in the process; they were just the latest Stanley Cup Champions. I was there early in the process when that rebuild was being made. Now I like to think that I was able to help some of the young guys because I was at the end of my career. More of in leadership role, little less responsibilities on the ice. I felt that I was there more for leadership, but I also saw how things were being built at that time. Since then, I've tried to follow how teams were building their teams. I've also learned on the business side, different things that you don't realize as a player, how everything works in front offices. It's been a great process. Yeah, maybe I was hired officially under Chuck in the past year, but my journey has started a long, long time ago. I've always been someone that pays attention to what's going on, how processes are being done, and how I could use it if one day I'd be in that position. I'm not gonna lie, it's something that I saw myself do from early on when I was playing. I always believed that I could be in this position one day. Again, it’s why it's so special and so exciting for me.

 

First, as Adam was referencing, the still is relatively new to you in the front office and you were talking about your preparation for it. But in your mind, how important is it as there's a search for a team president is there to have somebody with high degree of experience in a front office role? Or does it really kind of depend on who the candidate is?

Why I think there's many ways to go about that. That would be more of a question for Dave Scott and Dan Hilferty. I don't want to put words in their mouth that whatever they decide. It might be someone that can help in a day-to-day decision, or maybe it's someone else that we find in a different role. I'm not sure. That would be more of a question for them.

 

Chuck in one of his last press conferences was talking about how he's not planning a fire sale. He mentioned a number of young players as a group that in his mind were growing and continue to build on key guys like Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Cam York, Morgan Frost and maybe a couple other guys. In your mind, is that the group that go in each day individually? Are these guys that you're looking to continue to grow as an organization?

Well, what I would say to that is our young guys have a lot of value to us. At the same time, we're not in the position to not listen to anyone. The young guys are not the guys that we would be shopping, obviously. Yes, I have been really impressed in the development of the guys that you've mentioned under John Tortorella. That's the really exciting part for me. Seeing some of the young guys take a step this year. In the last few days seeing also guys like Elliot Desnoyers and Tyson Foerster come up and hold their own. Gives us a lot of hope moving forward. They're all going to be part of the evaluating process. As you've seen, there's no one that's untouchable anywhere. If Wayne Gretzky can be traded, anyone can. But obviously, some players have more value than others and I'm not going to deny that.

 

I don't know if you know this yet or not. As far as Brent Flahr, is he going to be around? Is he going to be the leader of the Draft? And moving forward, is he going to be on the staff here?

That's my expectation. I have a great relationship with Brent. He's been tremendous. He's included me on everything since I started working with Chuck. I have a lot of confidence in Brent. You look at his track record at the draft. It's pretty impressive. So yeah, I would say so.

 

The timing was a bit curious, right after the trade deadline. How active were you in trade discussions? If this was going to happen, would you'd rather had it before the deadline to get a full crack at shaping the roster that way?

I didn't even think of that. I was trying to help as much as I could at the deadline like everybody else. That's really not my decision. It happened 48 hours ago. I'm ecstatic. I'm so happy and honored to be here. I'm not questioning what was done before or when the decisions were made. To me, it's moving forward. Looking to this day and moving forward. That's what I'm excited about.

 

Have you been given any idea what kind of timeframe Dave and Dan have to hire full time people? Obviously, your interview started 48 hours ago and it's going to be ongoing. Have they given you any ideas of when they want to have full time people in those two positions?

No, I don't know what the timeline is at this point. I have the feeling, or I was kind of led to believe that it's not going to be something that's going to drag into next season. I don't know the timeline of things. I'm sure they're going to reach out to people and talk to different people. Hopefully, the decision is made soon.

 

Last year, we were talking about the development. This season has been a big year for the Phantoms with a lot of young players taking bigger bites of the team. Do you feel that that is on the right track? Or do you think that that still needs to be accelerated?

That's a good question. Something we're going to evaluate deeper. At the same time, I think Lappy has done a great job preparing these guys when they were called up. Like you mentioned, they've done a really good job coming up and helping. You look in the case of Cam York, I remember beginning of the year when we sent them down, you would have thought that was the end of his career. Even though it wasn't easy for him, it was a tough time. He battled through. I was really impressed on how he got through that and how Lappy’s staff was able to get him back on track, work with him, and how good he's been since he got called up. He's playing heavy minutes for us in our top four and on the power play. It's been an impressive process, so it's got to be part of the evaluation.

 

You've come across like trying to find your feet a little bit. Were you surprised when you got the call?

A little bit, obviously. You don't go to work expecting the person you work for to be fired. Like I said, the last 48 hours it's been a little crazy. Lots of people reaching out. Lots of friends reaching out. I couldn't keep up and I apologize to everyone if I haven't had the chance to get back to you yet. It's been a little crazy. I know I'm repeating myself and I apologize for that, but it's been pretty amazing. It's quite an honor. I’m trying to survive at this point the last 48 hours.

Philadelphia Flyers: Danny Briere's Elevation to Interim General Manager Is Step 2

The Philadelphia Flyers hired John Tortorella last year. The ramifications of that internal decision was detailed heading into the start of this season.

Today's move, relieving President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chuck Fletcher of his duties and naming Danny Briere interim GM, is step 2 in rebuilding the Flyers on and off the ice.  

The organization's decision to split what were Fletcher's positions, since his hire in 2018, into President and GM roles recognizes the complexities of the modern professional sports world. 

Briere has worked for the Flyers for many years following his retirement as a player after the 2014-15 season. He was provided with a comprehensive opportunity to learn all aspects of the organization, and also served in a top role for the Comcast-owned East Coast Hockey League's Mariners of Maine team, which gave him unique and applicable experience he can use now. 

The interviews Briere had in the recent past, including his being a finalist for the Montreal Canadiens GM position, led to the Flyers naming Briere as Special Assistant to the General Manager. 

The Quebec native was drafted in the first round of the National Hockey League's draft in 1996 by the then-Phoenix Coyotes. Brier seems primed to be elevated beyond the interim GM title he earned today. 

And earned is the right adjective to use regarding Step 2, with Step 1 being Tortorella's hire. 

Philadelphia Flyers: Trade Deadline Day and the Hockey Road Ahead

Philadelphia Flyers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Chuck Fletcher, spoke with the media today about the National Hockey League's trade deadline. He fielded questions with an eye toward building the franchise in a measured manner. 

There has been and will continue to be questions about the process that is underway. More answers about players currently in the organization will be determined as this regular season plays out, with various post-season decisions pending and more changes projected this summer. 

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

President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Chuck Fletcher

 

How close were you with JVR?

I didn't have any offers at all until about 1:40. I got a call from a team, and they had a concept that if they were able to move a forward off of their team, then they had interest in in acquiring JVR. We talked about the parameters of what the deal would look like. It made sense from that standpoint, but all along, it was conditional on the other trade going through. Eventually the other deal fell through.

 

That was just minutes before the deadline?

It was probably about 25 minutes before the deadline when I found out that the deal fell through. It was interesting. Interesting market. We've been working the phones hard for three weeks on most of our players on expiring contracts. The one offer that I did get on JVR happened at 1:40 this afternoon and it was a conditional offer. I didn't know what the market would be, but I thought there would at least be some offers that we would have to consider or not consider. So, it's the nature of the business, I guess. It is what it is. We would probably rather have a good pick and allow JVR the opportunity to play in the playoffs, but the market spoke, and it wasn't to be. He's a true professional. He is a good hockey player for us, and he'll be a good mentor down the stretch.

 

Did you have other teams that you went back to when you found that out?

I've been speaking to teams for three weeks; I've spoken to every team.

 

I’m talking about right before the deadline when that deal fell through.

Every team by then had already told me no several times. There was no – that deal didn't hold up anything at all. I never had an offer until that conditional offer at 1:40, which I found out at 2:30 wasn't going to happen.

 

Just to clarify, they acquired somebody else?

No, they didn't acquire somebody else. They were going to move a forward, the other team – I don't know the details of what they were doing, it wasn't really my business – but if they were able to consummate the other trade, then they were going to come back. But we had the framework of the deal done in case they were able to make that trade and they weren't able to make it.

 

There was a report from Elliote Friedman who said that it was pending a physical so that that wasn't true?

No, no, nothing. Routinely when you acquire players, teams ask about the medicals. They did ask and his medicals are fine. You guys have been covering JVR, he has no medical issues. It had nothing to do with us. Again, we agreed to the conditional part of the deal, but I understood the conditions. So, there's nothing untoward here. We understood that if the deal happened, we had a deal. If it didn't happen, we didn't have a deal. It was all up front. At that point, again, we were where we were.

 

You said there were no firm offers on JVR, but obviously, deals have been going on for the past week or so. Do you think that maybe your ask was too high in the early going and then there was no one left that had interest because they had already had their pieces by deadline day?

No, I don't think that at all. Typically, you make an offer and another team counters. if a team has interest, they typically counter. They accept your offer, or they counter your offer. And these are draft picks we're talking about it's not overly complicated. There's no smoking gun here, I guess is all I could say. We certainly made everybody aware he was available. We made everybody aware we would retain 50%. We made everybody aware that we could even take back a contract if that helped a little bit more on the cap or the cash. We talked about a different range and different ways of getting there – prospects, a pick, multiple picks, whatever it would be, conditional pick. We talked about all kinds of different scenarios. But ultimately, again, I can only control my half, and there has to be a willing buyer. Until 1:40 today, we never had any type of offer and the offer we got was conditional.

 

We're talking about a guy who has nearly 300 goals in the NHL. There were many other players that were dealt at this deadline that don't have the same pedigree that he has. How do you explain the lack of interest?

I've been using that line for three days. That's exactly what I've been saying to teams. This guy is a good player, he can help you. Can give him to you at 3.5 million. Let’s cut a fair deal. So, I can't answer that. Obviously, I can't speak for the other teams.

 

How disappointed are you that you couldn't get a draft pick for him? I’m sure going into it you thought you'd get at least a draft pick.

Yeah, that certainly was the hope and to give JVR an opportunity to play in the playoffs. He's a pending UFA, he's been a good pro for us, and I think it would have been a win-win for both sides. I would have much rather had a pick than not, but we never had that opportunity. So, it is what it is. There's only so much you can do. I spoke to every team in the league. Really, there's about 16 teams that were true buyers – I spoke to them multiple times. There was a couple of times I thought there might be a possibility, and then things would veer off. There's not much more I can say. We were willing, and we were accommodating, and we were open to ideas, but you need somebody to be a willing buyer.

 

In your conversations with those potential buyers, what was the biggest sticking point in them not wanting to get over the hump for JVR?

I’m not sure. I'm not sure. Obviously, a $7 million cap hit, you retain 50%, It's still 3.5. You can see some of the teams’ cap situations, I assume that was part of it. There's been some pretty good players moved, probably there's some teams that have preferences, players they preferred above JVR. But I can't speak to that.

 

Did you attempt to get a third party involved to retain some more of his salary?

Well, that would be up to the buying team to do that. Say, for example, you’re a team and you valued JVR as a fourth-round pick. You think he's worth a fourth-round pick, then you're going to give up another third or fourth round pick to have a team retain another 50% - you’ve now doubled your acquisition cost. I'm just trying to be really clear here – I didn't get a firm offer of even a fourth-round pick for JVR. So, just logically, I can't speak for those teams, but obviously, that's more than they wanted to pay.

 

You said that you were willing, if it would help, to take back an NHL level contract. Were there parameters on that?

You guys are going to beat this one up, holy gosh. Yeah, I told teams absolutely I'd take a player on an expiring deal, I would take a one-way contract in the minors, I could help on the cash. I was not interested in taking a player with term, unless that player could help us going forward. So, we tried to be as accommodating as possible. But again, we never had an offer, there was never anything that broke down, there was never anybody that said, “I'm only going to give you a third or a fourth or sixth and take it or leave it”, I never even got that. So, I don't know what to say. Yesterday, for example, I received two calls – one on JVR, one on another player – and I made 17. I just counted my log. We actively did our best to get an asset and to give JVR the opportunity to play in the playoffs and it didn't happen.

 

Do you think your explanation of this will maybe calm down your fanbase and sort of give them a sense of where you were throughout the process here?

Again, when you're selling at the trade deadline, it's not really a hockey trade. You're selling, you're trying to trade a player and get a draft pick. In order for that to happen, you need a team that's willing to give you a draft pick back. I can't control that end of it. I can only control making sure I talk to everybody, making sure I let everybody know we're willing to retain half, making sure everybody knows that we can take a contract back, let people know we're flexible in terms of what type of – we're not necessarily led to a pick, it could be a prospect, there's different ways to do it. From my experience, and every other deal I've done, typically you come in and say the player, we’re looking for x, and the other team says “well, that might be a little rich, I'll give you y”, and then you haggle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I guess what surprised me was I wasn't even able to get a team to say “I'll give you this”.

 

You talked about retaining salary. Do you think if James was making less than 7 million, he would have more suitors? It seems like money was the biggest obstacle here.

That's my assumption. Probably in the next week or so – we have GM meetings next week, and I can ask a couple of teams what they felt and what happened. Again, there were some good players moved. A couple of teams came online a little bit later in the process and had some pretty good players that ended up getting moved. I'm not sure the exact reason, but certainly the cap hit at seven million is high in this environment, which is why we were willing to work with teams. I'd have to assume that was part of it for some teams.

 

Have you talked to him?

I haven't spoken to him yet. I spoke to his agent. I thought I would let you guys at me first, and then I'll speak with him.

 

The other day you mentioned that you wanted to sell some and get younger. For some of the older guys beyond JVR, did you get offers, and why did you decide ultimately not to deal some of your older players like Kevin, Provorov – the ones that you said you were taking calls on?

Well, you need to get value. I had a lot of conversations. I essentially told teams, look, we have our three pending UFA’s, and we'll listen on anybody. Essentially had conversations with teams and I think there were some good conversations that could be picked up in the summer in certain situations. The goal is certainly to get younger, as I mentioned, but also to make sure you're getting fair value for the players you have. There were a lot of names in the market, there were a lot of sellers, but from our standpoint, there was a couple of situations we looked at and things just didn't make sense at this point in time. That’s not to say they won't in the summer. There’s some things, again, that we can pick up. We were able to pick up a couple of draft picks today. I would have liked to have picked up a third one as we’ve just gone through, but that's what were able to accomplish.

 

You talked to us earlier this week, you said you wanted to get younger. The way today played out with not being able to find something for JVR, Justin Braun is still here, so not all the rentals got moved, how can people have faith that you can actually get this team going, because part of getting it younger is going to be to move out veterans?

Yeah, exactly, and we’re going to certainly look at that this summer. Again, you have to get value when you move guys out. As I mentioned to you guys a few days ago, our goal isn't just to gut the team or to get rid of players, it's to make trades that make you better, and make sure you get value, make sure you get market value for those players with existing contracts. Today is not the only opportunity to move those players. You're going to have an opportunity in the summer, you have an opportunity next year. There's going to be opportunities to make good deals for some of those players. But it didn't happen this time. In terms of players on expiring contracts, we moved two players today and two others we didn’t, and it wasn't for lack of effort. Again, you need to – for the rental type of market – you need a team to want to acquire a player and make you an offer.

 

I guess there's an element here, though, where – yes, these moves can be made in the summer, it can be made next year and whatnot – but the team has struggled for years, and obviously you're trying to stay in your position. Is there a concern that this shows that you aren't able to do the rebuild you guys want to do in terms of how ownership looks at it?

Look, Charlie, I said last time our goal is to get younger. We do want to add more young assets. We are a younger team this year. We do have some pieces in Lehigh Valley and elsewhere that we think could be part of the solution going forward. We do have some veteran players on our team – mid-range age guys – we think can be a part of this too as we go forward. We're going to just continue to look at every opportunity to get better, and the trade deadline was one opportunity. There was not fair deals, in my opinion, to be made. There are some things that potentially could happen in the summer, and as we go forward, we'll just continue to look at those opportunities. But we will get younger, we're going to continue to add more young assets, and we're going to continue to build this up.

 

You’ve expressed the need for high end talent. Cutter Gauthier has had a great season up at Boston College. is there a possibility that the Flyers are willing to extend an ELC to him? I spoke with him last week, he said he was going to sit down with his family and the Flyers. Have the Flyers reached out in any way and does the lack of success this particular trade deadline now force the hand to sign Cutter to at least give the fanbase something to be proud of?

I don't think you want to – even going back to Charlie's last question – I don't think we want to just make moves for the sake of making moves. With Cutter, we have to sit down with Cutter and really have a good conversation with Cutter, with the coaches at BC, with their own development people. Out of respect to the fact that they're starting playoffs next week, it's not a conversation you have during the year. We speak with Cutter all the time. I've been up there a few times, other staff members have been up there. We’ve met with the coaches, I speak with his advisor. Ultimately, the decision we make has to be about what's right for Cutter and his development. He's too important to make a decision not based on what's right for him. I think there's conversations that have to be had, and at the end of the season, we'll certainly sit down and do that.

 

Is Brendan Lemieux a guy you’re going to look at for the future, or was that deal basically for the fifth round pick?

When I when I spoke with Rob Blake, we'd spoke about Zack. They had interest. We talked about a fifth-round pick and we thought that was fair. But he said to me, “I need a little bit of time, I need to move Brendan Lemieux in order to bring in Zack MacEwen”, and I said, “well, I'll just take him – with the fifth – but I'll take Brendan as well”. He agreed to that. Brendan's a pending UFA and we can give him a 20-game tryout here to see what he can do, but the deal was for the fifth. Then, again, Rob had indicated that for whatever his reasons were, that if he could move Brendan, he would do the deal. So, I thought I'd just make it easier.

 

With Patrick Brown, a lot of times on deadline day, guys who win faceoffs and kill penalties tend to be in demand on deadline day, and they tend to be late in the process kind of deals. How did Patrick’s deal come around?

Again, I've been speaking to teams for a while on all of our players on expiring contracts. I talked to a few teams and just, gave them some of my thoughts. I thought Patrick, actually played really well for Vegas in the playoffs a couple of years ago, and his faceoffs on the right side are excellent, and he can kill and he's willing to block shots, and you can really bring an element that teams might need. A few teams call back and Ottawa was willing to give a pick. Another team was willing to offer a minor league player back, but I would have just kept Patrick in that case. But the pick was worthwhile, and it gives Patrick a chance to push for a playoff spot as well.

 

Charlie, I'll just go back to your last question because I don't know if I answered it as accurately. Look, I understand our fans are really disappointed. The last two, three years, there's no question we've been trying to be a competitive team. We've been trying to be a team – in particular two years ago, going back to the Summer of ‘21 – trying to be a team to maximize the last year of Giroux on his contract, to be a team that could compete and make a playoff spot. Clearly, I haven't done that. I haven't done that job. There's no doubt. Last year we had a couple devastating injuries, absolutely, with Couturier and Ellis, and even Hayesy. This year with Couturier and Atkinson has been very difficult. But that's not the only reason. We need more talent and that's on me. So, I get it. Last Summer I think we were a little tepid. We didn't want to be overly aggressive, in pursuit of talent because we did have some concerns about Couturier in particular, then Farabee had been hurt and we didn't know what we exactly were going to have going into the year. So, we put some kids on the team, we gave them that opportunity. As we go forward, we recognize we have to get more talent and we are going to build it. I'm not worried about my job – whatever happens with me will happen with me. That's up to Dave Scott. But everything I do is about doing what's right for the Philadelphia Flyers and not taking shortcuts, and that's in part why we didn't make any more deals today. The deals that were presented to me were not good deals for the Philadelphia Flyers. Last Summer, being more aggressive was not going to be good for the Philadelphia Flyers. Maybe in the short run it makes me look better, but we don't want band-aids anymore. We want to build this the right way and we're committed to doing it. Those are my words, my actions will have to back it up, but we're committed to doing it.

 

Philadelphia Flyers Prepare To Establish 2022-23 Baseline Standard

The Philadelphia Flyers appear to see the 2022-23 season as one that will establish a baseline standard. The team, led by new head coach, John Tortorella, is not stocked to contend or, realistically, be a .500 team. 

So, an establishment of a what it means to be a Flyer is partially what the upcoming campaign will be about. Tortorella will lead the evaluation of the players who he believes can be part of a future that goes beyond this season. 

President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Chuck Fletcher, spoke to the media on Wednesday morning, with the season's first game being the next day, against the New Jersey Devils, on home ice in Philadelphia. 

The following is courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers media relations department:

President of Hockey Operations & General Manager Chuck Fletcher

Couturier’s been skating off and on, do you have a timetable of when he’ll be able to get in the lineup?

No timetable yet. I think he’s skated six or seven times now, I believe he was going to skate again today. He feels great, he’s progressing. If anything, we’re trying to slow him down from time to time. He’s really anxious to get back, but this is the best he’s felt since pre-surgery last year so we’re cautiously optimistic and hopefully he’ll continue to progress.

 

Where do you think the strengths are for your roster and where do you think the weaknesses are for things you’re going to figure out throughout the year?

Well, the strengths – this is a young, fast team. There’s 12 players on the 23-man roster that are 25 and under, I think 9 of them are 24 and under, so they’re a little bit unproven. That’s something we’re going to have to work through that Torts has been addressing, I think with you guys as well. We have a lot of work to do, but there’s a lot of upside, so I think the youth, the speed, the depth – we have really good depth this year, much better than we have the last two years, so if we do run into injuries, which seem to happen through the course of the season, I think we have a lot of kids down in Lehigh Valley we can call up. We have 23 on our roster now, and even though we’re on LTI, we have $3.9 million in LTI space now, and we can create more, obviously, if we want to carry fewer than 23, so I think we’re set up pretty well from that standpoint. We have a lot of work to do. We know that, we’ve been saying that. The players have been working hard. I’m sure some things, some of the systems play, specialty teams even, early in the season we’re going to have to work through some things. There’s great energy down there right now. I think the players are recharged after last season and I think everyone’s just excited to get playing.

 

It was a little bit of a surprise to see both Ronnie Attard and Egor Zamula on the roster. John had said that you guys weren’t going to keep them if they weren’t playing. Do you expect them to be in the opening night lineup? Where do they fit right now?

That’s what we’re going to see the next few days. If young players are not getting regular ice time here, clearly we’ll get them to Lehigh Valley at the appropriate point. I still think John is looking at the different combinations. I believe Zamula in particular has a strong chance to play tomorrow night, but we’ll see what John does today. I haven’t had a long chat with him yet, but we’ll just see how things play out the first couple games the next few days.

 

When we spoke to you back in September you mentioned that Ryan Ellis hadn’t been progressing. You put him on LTIR, do you have any update on how he’s doing now?

He’s continuing to rehab every day. He’s been in the facility a lot, but there’s been no substantial or substantive change in his situation.

 

Is surgery an option for him? I know you said during the summer it wasn’t, has that changed at all?

At this point, we’re continuing the process that we started a while ago and that Ryan’s been working hard at. We’ll just continue to see how things evolve.

 

Felix has put in a couple practices in a row, he sounded optimistic to be able to start the season on time. Was starting him on Injured Non-Roster just precautionary or did he have a setback?

No set back at all. It’s a groin strain. If he was a skater he could probably play, but with goaltenders you always want to be a little bit more careful. In case he had to get into the game as a backup, you’d hate to have him aggravate something. He’s continuing to practice in full. He truly is day-to-day so we’ll see how that plays out, but for right now I believe Sam Ersson will be the backup tomorrow.

 

What would you say the expectations are, and, in your mind, what would make this a good season for you guys?

In terms of expectations, it’s exactly what John and I have been saying. We expect to work hard this season. We expect to work hard at establishing a standard to which we’re going to be held on and off the ice. We’re expecting to defend much better, play harder away from the puck, be a more competitive team. Clearly we got to reduce our goals against. That’s something that you can control through hard work and structure and attention to detail, and that’s an area that coaches have been focused on in camp and we’ve spoken about a lot internally. To me, I’d like to see significant improvement in our compete, in our details, keeping the puck out of our net, allowing our goaltenders to see the puck a little cleaner. If we can do that, we’ll be a pretty competitive team.

 

One thing that John Tortorella said at the start of camp is that one thing that he’s good at as a coach is determining which players fit the program that he’s trying to build. How important of an aspect of this season is that – trying to figure out which guys should be part of this team moving forward?

That’s clearly one of John’s greatest strengths. I think the other one is actually developing young players. There’s no question this season we got to see who’s part of the solution going forward. Whether you’re a veteran player, whether you’re a younger player that’s trying to push and make their way into becoming full time NHLers. There certainly are some question marks in some of these players, and that’s what happens when you have a lot of young players. Again, they’re a little bit unproven, so there could be some ups and downs, but, on the other hand, there’s also potential to improve. Whether it’s as individuals, these players, or even collectively as a team, we feel we will get better as the season goes along.

 

As a follow up on that, how patient do you think you guys are going to be? Specifically with the young players, but also with the veterans in terms of if guys aren’t necessarily buying into what John is selling.

I don’t think there’ll be a lot of patience at all if you’re not buying in. Now, if you’re buying in, playing hard, and the production isn’t quite there, the results aren’t quite there, but you’re doing what’s asked of you, there’ll be a lot of patience, but there won’t be any patience for not buying in.

 

Couple players said over the last year or two that pressure in the offensive zone, attacking the net more, is the key to cutting down on the goals allowed, because you’re spending less time in your own end. Is that something that you and John are in agreement on, that you have to be more proactive here than react so much?

If you look at John’s teams historically, they’re strong puck possession teams. They have the ability to hold the puck in the offensive zone, and when you have the puck, obviously you don’t have to defend. Clearly, we got to get better defending, we got to defend harder, we got to defend faster. And the other part of our game last year that really struggled was our transition game. We weren’t very good at – one of the bottom five teams in the league I think – at getting out of our zone successfully, and that’s where you hope players like Zamula and Tony DeAngelo can really help you get the puck, get going. Clearly if we can have the puck, hold onto the puck, it should improve your offense, but, just as importantly, help you reduce your goals against.

 

You mentioned that Samuel Ersson is going to be the backup for the time being as Sandstrom gets healthy. How do you see – once Sandstrom does get back, and he is healthy, and he returns to the lineup – how do you see that competition? Is it over, how does it play out?

I don’t think the competition’s ever over. Again, there could be moves you have to make short-term, but I think – whether it’s the first month, the first couple months, even the first half of the year – I think you’re going to see a lot of movement between Lehigh Valley and here.

 

John said the other day he expected Cam Atkinson to be on the ice today. How’s he doing, any update on him?

I haven’t seen Cam yet; he is back in the building. He is going to get on the ice today in some fashion, and we’ll just see where he’s at. I know he feels great, he feels much better than he did last week. He’s progressed, and I guess we’ll have to see what that means.

 

How concerned are you that he, Carter Hart, a couple of other guys didn’t play in any preseason games? Does that worry you at all?

It’s sort of the reality. I don’t think there’s much we can do about that now. You’re actually seeing that more and more in other sports as well. I think in the NFL, a lot of the vets don’t even get a snap in preseason anymore. Its probably not ideal, but these guys are professionals, they’re working hard, and I assume over a couple games they’ll get going.

 

How do you think that Ronnie Attard and Egor Zamula improved during the preseason with their decision making, and how did that factor into keeping them on the roster?

Zamula had a really tough first shift in the rookie camp game, and I thought from that point on he actually kept getting better and better. He has great poise with the puck, he sees the ice so well, he’s got great length and reach. He put on about 10 pounds of muscle this summer, he can still continue to get stronger, but for right now, after two years in the American league, I’m kind of excited to see what he can do up here. Let’s see if we can develop him more up here versus just another season in the American league. That’ll be up to him how he plays. Ronnie, similar, I thought he was trying to do a lot early, trying to impact the play all over the ice in every situation early in camp. I know John and Brad Shaw had some good conversations with him. I thought he settled down and still was getting a lot of shots, was still being aggressive, but being a little bit more controlled in his defensive play. He’s a player that’s very close to playing. Whether its right now or whether he needs a little bit of time, we’ll see, but I just love the energy he brings, I love the size he brings. He’s a little bit unpredictable which I think is great. Not a cookie cutter player, but he can impact the game in so many different ways. Again, whether he's ready right now, we’ll see, but he’s here for a reason, because he’s earned the right to be here.

 

We talked to John a few days before the roster was finalized about Hayden Hodgson and he said that his camp was OK. He didn’t seem terribly excited by what he’d seen, but he said that a lot of people in the organization are really high on him. What went into the decision to keep him and keep him on the roster given the fact that it doesn’t sound like he really blew the doors off in camp?

I don’t think he had a bad camp. I really liked his first game. I thought the other games he played he was probably a little bit too safe, maybe even a little bit in-between. He wasn’t bringing that physical nature that he has. He’s a big, heavy guy. He can impact the play on the forecheck. He’s got a great shot. He’s just a young man that essentially has been an ECHL player until last year. Even though he’s 27, I still think there’s some untapped potential there. I think playing at a higher level, as he continues to adjust to the pace here, that he can improve and can continue to round out his game. Clearly what we saw last year – whether it was Lappy, Brent, Danny, me – we had a lot of time, and we’re very impressed with what he did last season, so that certainly bought him the opportunity to be here now. He knows he has to step up a bit, and he’ll get that opportunity.

 

Just curious to see if you’ve had any discussions with Ivan Fedotov’s agent and is there any hope that he’ll be here at some point during the season, or is that something that you’re not even worried about now or thinking about?

There’s really been no change. He continues to be under contract to us. He continues to serve his time in the Russian Navy, and other than that there really hasn’t been any change or any update.

 

You’re going to start this season without a Captain. Were you heavily involved in that decision, and how important is it to get the right guys to wear the As, home and away?

I’ve had a few conversations with John on that, and I think even John mentioned it – we have a lot of priorities, that’s just probably not towards the top of the list right now. I think there is some very good leaders in this group, and guys that can certainly wear a letter and have a lot of experience. I think what he wants to do is, let’s just get into the season, let’s see how players adjust, let’s see how players buy-in, and let’s see where we’re at in a little bit of time. And when there’s a decision to be made, we’ll be ready to make it.

 

You got a 14-game look at Noah Cates last year, he had a very impressive camp. One of the areas that John, and before him, Mike Yeo, had said was an area of concern was the young players and the team as a whole wasn’t handling adversity in games. They’d play well when things were going well and then kind of blend in and play the way everybody did when things weren’t going so well. Is Noah, being an exception to that, is that something that other players can look at and think this is how we have to play?

The way he’s played so far, I think every player on our team can look at his habits, his work ethic – his hockey sense is off the charts. Can move him around different positions, move him up and down your lineup. He’s playing a big role right now. That’s, to me, kind of an exciting line for our franchise. With Farabee and Tippett, and right now you got JVR with Frost and Allison, so that’s five younger guys in your middle six group, if you will. I think, not even just Noah, but some of these players now, they’re young, but they’ve had some experience, players like Frost and Tippett for example. Even Allison and Laczynski are 25 now. At some point you got to grab that opportunity and you got to rise above what Mike Yeo spoke about last year, and you hope that with continued experience and getting these reps, that that’s something they can grow into, where their game doesn’t change regardless of the score, and they can continue to take steps forward, and I’d be surprised if many of them don’t. Again, most of them have had very good camps.

 

You mentioned the improvements of Ronnie Attard and Egor Zamula throughout the course of camp, we talked to John about this too, what kind of separated the two of them from Cam York, whether it was buy-in, execution, and ultimately what lead to York being sent down to the AHL?

Cam’s a really good young player and he’s going to be a big part of our future. I spoke to you guys about this earlier in the Summer, the things he does well are the things we need for our group going forward. But he’s 21. His camp was OK. We just felt at this stage, with his age and relative lack of experience, that the best place for him is in Lehigh Valley. Lappy’s going to give him a great chance to play in every situation. Again, it’s going to be a fluid situation, there’s going to be movement, but I think allowing Cam to get big minutes in Lehigh Valley right now is the best thing, not only for him, but for our team if we want him to be that player going forward.

 

John’s a coach that likes to have his input on players and decisions, he’s a pretty fiery guy, just curious as to what your relationship has been like with him and how’s it grown throughout the preseason?

It’s been great. If you see the show The Standard that we put out, I just saw a cut of it, the one that’s going out tonight, I think it’s pretty good, you’ll see a lot of that interaction. He’s been great. He, honestly, hasn’t come in and demanded anything, “you need to get this player, you need to get that”. He wants to work with young players, “whoever you give me I’ll work with”. Now, he has opinions on those players, and you guys will know it without him even saying it, you’ll know how he feels about a player, but I think that’s great. It’s brutal honesty. The players have embraced it, and he never holds a grudge. He could have a confrontation with a player in the morning and that afternoon he’s chatting with them in the lunchroom, and the next day it’s like nothing happened. Everything he does is about making a player better. It’s never personal. I’ve been really impressed with how he ran this camp, I thought it was a great camp, and I’m excited to see what he can do. Again, his track record of bringing along young players and helping veteran players get back to where they need to be is pretty much unparalleled, in my opinion.

 

You mentioned the Eagles and the Phillies at the start, the fact that their fanbase is excited right now, and your attendance was declining the last year or so, what’s your message to the fanbase? That this is a young team that’s going to be exciting to watch? What’s the selling point here?

We’re going to get better. I think we are an exciting young team. We’re going to be fast, we’re going to be aggressive. Right now, we’re working hard to come together as a group. Like everybody, you get your 20-odd days in camp, and you’re throwing line combinations together now, we’re still working on systems, but I see a lot of potential for this group to grow. I think we have some good young talent, and I think we’re going to be an improved team and a team that’s really fun to watch.

 

I know you’re always looking to improve your team in some way, but compared to what you have here, the young guys, what you have at your disposal in Lehigh as well, how active do you intend on being in terms of mining the waiver wire as teams get sorted out over these next couple weeks?

We were watching the waiver wire like everybody, but going back to what I said before, I think our depth is pretty good. You look at D, we’re ten, eleven deep that can play up here. Obviously, a lot of forwards that can play here. A lot of young players that I think need an opportunity. So, I think before we start looking outside the organization, let’s see what we have inside. And again, for the most part, you guys have watched most of camp, I think most of the young players have played pretty well and look like they’re improved. And I think right now, if they continue to work and do what John asks, we need to give them the opportunity to show what they are. Going back to Charlie’s question earlier, this is a year we got to find out who’s part of the solution going forward, and hopefully a lot of these players grab that opportunity.