At the end of the first day of free agent frenzy Wednesday, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere re-signed goaltender Dan Vladar and winger Tyson Foerster to sizeable contract extensions, added some depth in fourth-line center Noel Acciari, and fleshed out the roster somewhat with players seemingly destined for Lehigh Valley. However, the big move or signing some had anticipated never materialized. As of Monday evening, John Carlson is not in Philadelphia. Nor was current Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski. And the rampant speculation regarding Darnell Nurse was for not as he was sent off to San Jose.
Still, Briere is pleased with what he’s done, but in the short-term and the bigger picture. He says it’s slow, but there’s a steady change in the perspective the Flyers have around league circle. Simply put, it’s gone from a destination to avoid to one that is showing some definite upside.
“We’re working on making it a destination, that’s our goal,” Briere said during a presser Wednesday afternoon. “And I know for probably the whole league it was a little bit of a surprise the way we played down the stretch and winning a round against Pittsburgh and I think the league is starting to take notice. They’re starting to realize that there are some good players, some good young players on this team and it’s a good mix. You’re seeing a lot more interest than we’ve ever had. Two years ago we were on most players’ no-trade lists, even the players that had limited no trade, we were on them. That’s starting to change, the league is starting to take notice, but you got to start from the inside. That’s really encouraging for me that our guys want to be here and want to be a part of it.”
Although the door hasn’t been closed on Philadelphia still landing one of those aforementioned stars, Briere says the success of last year has to be tempered with the fact the team’s trajectory might not be on the same gradual incline it was the last third of the season and into the playofs.
“I think that’s dangerous because I’m talking from the fans standpoint, it was so good the way the season ended, and it was on a high. So you got to be careful even from our side not to get disappointed because there was nothing that happened today that was a huge flash. If we have a chance, we’ll jump on it. But I think this team is going in the right direction. I’m really excited about the future of this team. We’re still one of the youngest teams in the NHL, we took a big step forward last year. There’s a chance and a good chance that we take a little bit of a step back this year. And we’re ready for that. But I’m excited where this young group of guys are going.”
Dan Vladar very much wanted to be a Flyer
The presser covered a variety of topics, and one of the more important topics concerned Vladar’s extension. Briere praised Vladar for both his play on the ice but also his demeanor and what he brought to the club during stoppages and in the locker room. The stellar play in 2025-26 obviously played a crucial role in the five-year extension, but Briere sees the contract as something that should provide a lot of value moving forward.
“He’s just a good human being, it’s good to have him around,” he said. “We hope he keeps playing the way he did last year and we certainly believe he can for those next six years. That was really the first year that he exploded, last year and he’s still young. It’s the first time he had the chance to play as much as he did and he responded well. So that’s really exciting and leads us to believe he can keep leading the way.
“What encourages me even more is now with Woll (Flyers goaltender Joseph Woll) to help him, it’s not just him. Now he’s got a really strong helper right beside him. So my hope is that both of those guys we can keep them fresh along the way too. You don’t have to overplay one or the other. I think they’ll support each other really well. I think that ups the chances that both of these guys will stay fresh and play well throughout the year.”
Of course, the biggest concern was the timing of the extension. Hindsight of course is 20/20, so nobody knows what the future holds. Briere said had he waited to see how this year plays out, and Vladar posted similar numbers this coming season, then the $5.5 million average annual value for the extension would’ve been much higher, possibly a “crazy number” that might have been a stumbling block in negotiations. Signing him now, at least to the organization, seems to be the right move given last year and Vladar’s desire to remain in Philadelphia.
“We’re at a time where a lot of players are dictating where they want to go,” Briere said. “They want to leave their team, you’re seeing it all over the place. It’s crazy around the league what’s going on. We have a guy that wants to be here. Tyson Foerster is the same thing, he wants to be here, Travis Konecny when he committed, Cam York. You could go down the line with other guys, Dvorak. Our guys want to stay here. And to me that’s a really good sign. Dan Vladar wanted to be a Flyer, he was adamant.
“Look at the end of the day not everybody that wants to be a Flyer we’re going to give them free passes and a long-term deal. But when you have your MVP from the previous year say, ‘I want to be here. This is my team. I want to lead this team.’ It made it really easy for us. And especially at the number that we got him. He put it on the line and he played ball with us. If we wait, that number gets dramatically higher the following year.”
Tyson Foerster extension a no-brainer for Briere
Tyson Foerster’s eight-year extension was another topic Briere spoke about. Briere praised Foerster for his work ethic and his two-way play, recalling how his “fatal flaw” when he was drafted by Philadelphia was his skating which he improved on. “He’s very important on our team, he’s very respected by his teammates and we see him as the big part and piece of our future,” Briere said. “To get those guys at a respectable number going down years from now you have to jump on them. And we believe he’s going to be a big-time goal scorer and overall player for us. If we didn’t do it now, it’s going to cost us a lot more down the road.”
As for the timing of the extension, Briere said the deal could’ve been done last season, but Briere believes having Foerster for 10 years is a better bargain long-term “at a slight increase” versus just having him for eight years. He prefers having Foerster become an unrestricted free agent when he’s 32 or 33 years old, not when he’s 30 or 31.
Noel Acciari should solidify fourth line
Outside of the extensions, the biggest splash the Flyers made was signing former Penguins center Noel Acciari to a two-year deal worth $5.6 million ($2.8 million AAV). Acciari provides some energy and offensive punch on the fourth line and gives Philadelphia some options in terms of faceoffs given he’s a “right-shot center” who can take faceoffs on the right side. As well, Acciari has some playoff experience which should help should the Flyers get back there this season.
“We were looking for a right shot center and also a guy that brings us a little hardness and a guy that can be versatile as he is and a little offense in the regular season,” Briere said about Acciari. “Last year I think he ended up with 13 goals. So he’s hopefully going to bring some offense as well. In the playoffs with our stingy defense he wasn’t able to do much. But we respect that. The way he played though in the playoffs he was hard to face. Our guys didn’t like playing against him. He completely dominated us in the faceoff circle. And we thought that would be a player that could really help us.”
Additional AHL-leaning players protects Flyers youth
After signing Carl Grundstrom, Briere went about fleshing out the personnel for Lehigh Valley, adding four players (Danila Klimovich, Zach Aston-Reese, Cam Dineen, and Jack Studnicka. Briere said most of those players should find themselves in the American Hockey League as a means to protect some youngsters the Flyers have entering professional hockey for the first time as Oliver Bonk, Cole Knuble, Jett Luchanko, and Spencer Gill did last season with the Phantoms. None of the players signed are expected to stick with the Flyers barring a rash of injuries, but Briere said there’s a chance injuries over the summer to key players could take place, giving Philadelphia a cushion with these four new signees.
The blueprint is similar to what Briere has attempted to build since arriving, namely getting the Flyers youth to develop while insulating them with veterans. The goal isn’t to block their development, but also not let them endure a trial by fire that could derail their growth. And that also takes into account some unrestricted free agents who could impede the development of those youngsters.
“We didn’t feel that we needed to go out and blow our brains out on crazy contracts on the outside,” Briere said. “Nothing has changed, if we have a chance to jump on something that is major and a game-changer, we’re there and we’re exploring that. But our young players deserve the chance to get the first look. And if they can’t do it then we’ll readjust along the way. But we were really happy with how our young guys coming up halfway through the season how they responded and helped us down the stretch and into the playoffs.”
