Photo Courtesy of Philadelphia Flyers Public Relations
On Friday, March 10th, 2023, the Philadelphia Flyers officially announced they relieved the President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Chuck Fletcher of his duties with the team. An in season firing of a General Manager in the professional sports world is not ordinarily seen very often. Though when assessing the Flyers current circumstances it isn’t an absolute shock.
Professional Sports is a results based business. In the simplest terms the Flyers results under Fletcher were not good enough. The former President and General Manager sported the lowest winning percentage of any Philadelphia Flyers GM in history at 0.434 and an underwhelming record of 129-173-27 during his tenure. When coupling the above with the ever increasing lack of faith from the fan-base in Chuck Fletcher as a GM, the writing was essentially on the wall for the executive in regards to being let go.
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Various media members such as, Anthony DiMarco of The Fourth Period reported the Flyers were likely looking to cut ties with Fletcher presumably after the off-season. Not to mention, Elliotte Friedman divulged similar sentiments. Detailing that there have been rumblings of the Flyers organization being open to making major changes in their Hockey Operations department dating back to early January.
Based on these reports, it’s evident the Flyers senior leadership has been contemplating a structural change of this nature within the Hockey Operations department for quite some time. It’s no surprise the special assistant to the former General Manager, Daniel Briere has been named as the interim GM of the Flyers moving forward. Especially when considering Briere was mainly given the special assistant GM position last season to entice him to remain with the Flyers organization. Instead of pursuing other potential GM or assistant GM opportunities around the NHL.
It’s been apparent for a while that Briere was penciled in to be the likely successor to Fletcher. In terms of the interim tag being removed from Briere’s title that could presumably occur around the NHL Draft or the Free Agency period. I’d be quite shocked if the Flyers went another route than Briere in relation to naming a permanent General Manager. The organization’s plans regarding the construction of their Hockey Operations department plays a key role in the likelihood of Briere sticking around as the GM through the foreseeable future.
Within the franchises official press release Friday, it was relayed the Flyers plan to restructure their Hockey Operations leadership by separating the President and General Manager roles that were both previously held by Chuck Fletcher. Doing so demonstrates the Flyers are adopting a two tiered leadership structure and a model that has shown success in the modern day NHL.
In particular, some of the most successful NHL teams in the modern era structure their Hockey Operations departments with the President and General Manager roles being separate entities. Such teams include the Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
The fact the Flyers are looking to hire a President of Hockey Operations in the coming months points to Briere remaining the General Manager moving ahead. Although Briere is inexperienced in an executive role at the NHL level he does have past experiences in front office positions. Most notably, as the former President and Governor of the ECHL’s Maine Mariners before he was named the special assistant to Chuck Fletcher last season. Additionally, Briere completed a two-year general management program at Penn’s Wharton School of Business in 2021. Clearly exhibiting that despite his lack of NHL experience he has been working towards and preparing to take on management roles at the NHL level.
However, that does not take away from the reality Briere has never been an NHL General Manager before. Effectively making the President of Hockey Operations hire an integral aspect to keep an eye on. As the Philadelphia Flyers continue to rebuild their front office and on ice product simultaneously. The Flyers need to hire a President of Hockey Operations that shares a similar vision to Briere and can assist him or whoever becomes GM in building a team with a strong identity. This should be the most important task for the organization as the season concludes and off-season begins.
Splitting up the President and GM roles leads me to believe the Flyers plan to keep Briere as the permanent General Manager. The first time NHL GM is going to need support and having another executive to rely on and oversee Hockey Operations will only help Briere in his role.
Some candidates rumored to be in the mix as the new Flyers President of Hockey Operations per Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast have been Eric Lindros, Ed Olczyk, and Chris Pronger. Though there’s no telling if others may emerge as the search for a President begins in the coming weeks.Â
Nonetheless, no matter who the Flyers eventually choose as the next President of Hockey Operations it’s paramount it is a candidate that is currently not employed with the organization. A fresh perspective would be a valuable addition to the current front office and situation the organization has found itself in.Â
Bringing in an outsider to the organization to fill the role allows for honest assessments to be made about other potential changes to the structure of the Hockey Operations department. That’s something the Flyers desperately need to accurately identify their internal issues and what hasn’t been working in order to improve overall as an Organization in a top down manner.
Ultimately, it will be fascinating to see the direction the Flyers front office and organization pushes towards during the off-season ahead. One certainty is that more change appears to be on the horizon from the front office to the ice. Only time will tell if the revamp both in management and with the on ice product will result in future successes for the franchise.
