Photo Courtesy of Philadelphia Flyers Public Relations
A lot has happened surrounding the Philadelphia Flyers in the last few days. Word began to spread on Thursday night that then-GM Chuck Fletcher would be let go. That happened on Friday, the day after the Flyers lost 1-0 in Carolina. Of course, Danny Briere was named interim GM, presumably for the rest of the season.
After an off day on Friday, the team traveled to Pittsburgh on Saturday where they lost a game in which the score does not accurately reflect the outcome of the game. It was a competitive game for about 50-55 minutes until the Penguins pulled away late.
Sunday was another off day but not for the new interim GM. Briere met with the media via zoom from the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, NJ. He addressed a number of things. Perhaps the most notable is that he plans to rebuild the team. Despite using the term “rebuild,” Briere did explain that there will not be a “firesale.”
On Monday, stallmates Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee were nice enough to share some thoughts about the change made and what it means for them individually moving forward.
Frost, a player who was basically on a one-year, prove you can be part of the solution trial, spoke yesterday about Briere’s new role with the team, saying, “Excited for Danny B. He’s always been really good to me, and been a good mentor for me. Chuck gave me an opportunity here so I’ll always be thankful for that. Sad to see him go but also excited for Danny B.”
Frost also said he feels like he has to keep proving himself, “I’m always trying to prove myself. Unless you’re a superstar in the league, you’re looking to prove yourself. Danny’s seen me for a couple years now but I’m still trying to prove myself to the coaching staff every game.”
“A lot of stuff going on but it’s out of your control. You just try to focus on what you can do on the ice,” was the initial reaction from the Aurora, Ontario native.
Farabee talked about the importance of “proving to your teammates that whether we’re out of the playoffs or not, you’re still giving a full effort and competing as hard as you can.”
Farabee later talked about the switch from Fletcher to Briere, making similar statements as Frost, saying, “We have no control over that. Chuck is a great guy and I have a ton of respect for everything he did for us.”
Travis Konecny had previously shared that Briere worked with him on getting “inside more often” which would result in having more chances. That philosophy has paid off for Konecny, who has set a new career high in goals this season with 27 in just 52 games. It’s a pace of about 42-43 goals over a full season. Farabee said he skated with Briere as well as Konecny and Scott Laughton over the summer while rehabbing his neck surgery, “Just talking to me, he’s a really smart hockey mind. The way he can process a game and process how things happen out there is really special. I think for him to have that swiss-army-knife of being a player and moving into a GM role, I think he’ll be great for the organization and will help us moving forward.”
When all the dust finally seemed like it was beginning to settle, we got another unexpected but not totally surprising bit of news this morning: Sean Couturier was on the ice with the team wearing a non-contact jersey. Couturier, who has been out with a back issue since Dec. of 2021, clarified after the skate that he hopes to get back and play in games this season. The feeling around the building is that if he can get to 100% healthy with no risk of re-injury, the Flyers will not stop him from playing. Obviously, if there is a risk to the player’s health, or if time in the season just runs out, the next time we could see him with the team would be training camp in September.
Getting Couturier games before the end of the year would be a good thing for both him and the team. He gets to finally be back in action with his teammates and have his rehab over the last 15-plus months rewarded. The team benefits by knowing he can suit up and play at full strength (whether he’s back to a 70+ point player or not) while filling a top-six role. Having clarity going into the summer always helps because you know who is and is not going to be available. Couturier was not available at the end of last season and Fletcher named that as a reason why the team was not aggressive in the summer.
Remember, last summer there were more than a few people who expected Couturier to be named captain of the team following the trade of then-captain, Claude Giroux. With Scott Laughton being the only player to wear an “A” so far, Tortorella may see enough from Couturier’s drive to get back and prove he can still play to give him back his “A” – at least for now.
