I really envy Danny Briere right now.
While I’m sure it was cool to score big playoff goals and have a memorable NHL career, that’s not why. And even though I spend way too much time thinking about my fantasy teams and even more time armchair managing the real teams, I’m not jealous of his job either.
It’s actually just a perk of that job.
It’s July 21, and aside from what is starting to feel like a mythical Erik Karlsson trade, NHL general managers basically take the rest of the summer off.
Maybe I should have been a teacher.
Anyway, with only Morgan Frost’s contract left to sort, Briere’s first offseason is pretty much complete. Barring an unforeseen deal over the next couple of months, we know the team that’ll report to camp in September.
So, how do we feel?
Briere said the team required a rebuild and there were certainly a number of changes.
He reshaped the roster by trading the team’s No. 1 defenseman, Ivan Provorov, and the guy who went into last year as the top center, Kevin Hayes. He bought out the power-play quarterback, Tony DeAngelo. He replaced them with role players in Garnet Hathaway, Ryan Poehling, Marc Staal, and Sean Walker, seemingly leaving the door open for young players to earn roster spots or bigger roles.
With Frost pending, Briere signed restricted free agents Noah Cates and Cam York to two-year bridge deals.
He took the biggest swing of the first round, drafting the talented but controversial Matvei Michkov seventh overall with the expectation that he will not play in Philadelphia for three years.
Undoubtedly, he showed more commitment to a plan than any Flyers general manager since Paul Holmgren. This wasn’t Chuck Fletcher’s aggressive retool, or Ron Hextall’s attempt to get younger while making it clear he wasn’t rebuilding. And after we finally heard a Flyers executive use the word “rebuild” when Briere was introduced as interim GM, his actions spoke even louder this offseason.
The question is whether it was enough.
While the Flyers received a solid return for Provorov, Briere gave away Hayes and tried to give away DeAngelo, who was bought out after a trade fell through. It’s fair to question whether Travis Konecny, 26, or Scott Laughton, 29, fit the Flyers’ timeline to compete, and both remain in Philadelphia despite their team-friendly deals that should make each player even more valuable in a tight-cap league. It was clear the players shipped out needed a change of scenery and Briere obliged. Provorov said he didn’t want to participate in a rebuild in his exit interview, while Hayes and DeAngelo publicly clashed with John Tortorella. But Briere avoided the tough calls on the roster, and it’s fair to question if that will prove to be prudent as the team embarks on a years-long rebuild.
We know Briere wanted to do more. In addition to the dissolution of the DeAngelo deal, Travis Sanheim seemed like a goner until his trade was nixed, though this was the result of Torey Krug’s no-trade clause. Briere alluded to a desire to sign Cates and York to longer deals, but the players weren’t interested.
This isn’t Boston, so I’m not some loser that will glorify a general manager for almost making deals, but the NHL is in something of an offseason stalemate due to a stagnated salary cap. As previously noted, the reigning Norris winner isn’t garnering much interest on the trade market, so maybe the trade deadline (when teams bank space) or next offseason (when the cap goes up) will be a better time to make moves. Seeing the return for Alex DeBrincat didn’t exactly make me check the closet for the pitchforks.
The most important takeaway from Briere’s first summer is that there is legitimate excitement for the Flyers future.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to read Scott Wheeler’s prospects ranking and start dreaming. He had Michkov second and Cutter Gauthier 13th. It doesn’t feel unrealistic to hope they become star-level players. Maybe one or two of the B-level prospects like Emil Andrae, Oliver Bonk, Bobby Brink, or Tyson Foerster become top-of-the-lineup pieces. Maybe Cates, Frost, York, or Owen Tippett take another step. The team should be bad for another two or three seasons, which should give them a chance to add another elite forward prospect and maybe a defenseman to anchor the blue line. I should really save this for another column, especially considering the NHL is inactive for another two months. But it no longer feels insane to daydream about this team developing into a Cup team.
Briere certainly didn’t have a perfect offseason. Some of it was out of his control, but this offseason left some meat on the bone. But when we reflect on this summer in five years, we’re probably not going to remember a DeAngelo deal for a long-shot prospect falling through, or Laughton remaining in Philadelphia instead of getting a late first- or second-round pick. We may even be glad Konecny is still in the top six. We will remember this as the offseason the Flyers acquired one of the sport’s most exciting prospects and Briere had this team poised to draft toward the top of the draft again. And if they don’t, it will likely be because young players exceed expectations in expanded roles. He said the team would rebuild and he delivered on his promise. He’ll have opportunities to further turn over the roster in the future, but showing a commitment to his plan was the most important outcome of his offseason.
I’m sure Briere will spend his summer vacation thinking about some missed opportunities, but, by accomplishing his top goal, it won’t be long until he and his team are the envy of his peers.
