Briere wasted no time saying that the Flyers are currently enduring a “Rebuild”, and that this is not a short-term fix. He stated it could take several years to get back into to get back on the right track. The word “Rebuild” became a word that the prior regime, to include Dave Scott refused to use, “That’s my belief. It needs to be done the right way. At this point, I think that’s what’s needed,” Briere said. “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.”
“I believe it’s needed. We have to be careful, and I want to make sure that rebuild doesn’t mean fire sale,” Briere said. “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.”
“That’s my belief and that’s why I’m not afraid to use the word rebuild.” – Interim GM Danny Briere
The Flyers finally admit they are in a rebuild with the right verbiages, to which Briere will have the interim tag removed here shortly to be tabbed as the 10th General Manager in Flyers history. Nothing is concrete in hockey ops and the situation remains fluid with lots of rumors, such as, one of Robert Esche, Chris Pronger, Eddie Olscyk, or even Eric Lindros being considered for positions, “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,” Briere said in regards to Brent Flahr remaining in Hockey Ops.
It’s refreshing to hear the word “Rebuild” being coined from someone in the upper echelon of the Flyers organization, especially in what was Briere’s first presser as Interim GM. That was a word that was afraid to be used under the past regime. Let’s see what happens, as the shuffling will begin in the Hockey Ops Department shortly, and of course Briere offloading contracts this Summer.
“There’s going to be some changes. We’re really strong on the right side, obviously, everybody knows that. With Cam Atkinson coming back, and the emergence of many of our right wingers, the right side, that’s a really strong side,” Briere said of a busy Summer. “Coots coming back in the middle, how Cates has played, obviously, helps us down the middle. We’re looking quickly at it. Yeah, on the left side, we might need some help there, but again, we’re not looking out to go sign a big-time free agent with lots of term on a contract at the moment. We want to give our young players the opportunity to develop, and we want to see what we have before kind of blocking some of the young guys.”
Briere continued, “I don’t know if it’s important, but obviously if I make some decisions, I need to have an opinion. My opinion comes from years of playing and looking at how organizations are being built. Having the chance to have been out there, having played the game, understanding how a locker room works, the ins and outs of a locker room, are things that I’m going to try to use, but there’s other areas that I’m going to need help with when it comes to scouting and analytics and stuff like that. That’s where we have, I feel, a lot of good people around to help us. Everybody has strengths, and you’re trying to use everybody’s strengths to the best and the benefits of the organization.”
Briere and Tortorella are on the same page, in a sense there will be limited additions this offseason, unless it’s a cheap one year contract, no long-term contracts will be added this offseason. That means for those Flyers fans wondering, do not expect the Flyers to be in on Alex DeBrincat since he has apparently been made available via a report I read. The Flyers may even bring back Brendan Lemieux according to Briere, “I thought Brendan came in and was great the first 10 games, 12 games that he played, and then he had a little bit of a dip at the end of the season like a few of our guys. So, I’m not sure if it’s just really him, or if it’s more of a team thing – we had a little slump there before the last two regular season games. He brought us a spark. Little bit of physicality as well. I liked what he brought, and again, we’re a little thin on the on the left side. So, he’s definitely going to be part of the discussions,” said Briere.
