The Philadelphia Flyers enter the 2026 NHL Draft next week in Buffalo with four picks in total. They did have five on Monday. Does that change any of their strategy? Flyers general manager Danny Briere and assistant general manager Brent Flahr spoke with the media on Tuesday afternoon.
The trade Tuesday between Toronto and Philadelphia saw the Flyers acquire defenseman Simon Benoit and goalie Joseph Woll in exchange for Sam Ersson, Emil Andrae and a third-round pick in this upcoming draft. But it seems that Flyers general manager Danny Briere isn’t keen on giving up his first-round pick. And that possibly means this year’s first-round, or the two the Flyers hold in 2027, won’t likely be on the table or part of a package should a top-line center looking for a new start be up for grabs.
Although a portion of the 20-minute press conference Tuesday morning dealt with the recent trade, Briere discussed the first-round pick. The Flyers are currently selecting twenty-first, a slot that doesn’t exactly scream a future top-line center in the making. Regardless, Briere said while nothing is completely off the table, he’s rather reluctant to part with a top-round pick down the road in any trade.
“We’re getting closer to that,” Briere said regarding that possibility in the future. “I don’t know that we’re quite there yet. But we’re certainly willing to listen on different ideas. I’m not too keen on trading future first-round picks because you never know where it can go. And we’re not a Colorado or Carolina at this point where you know you’re going to be finishing and picking late in the first. I don’t think we’re quite there yet.”
This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise but it should be noteworthy in terms of trying to land a number one center through a trade. Should the likes of Blues center Robert Thomas, or some other quality middleman be available, Briere wouldn’t be eager to have a first-round pick this year or any year on the table leaving town. As a result, that most likely means any acquisition for a high-end center will be through either a high-end prospect or players on the current roster being the package. Simply put, unless Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon were up for grabs, Briere is keeping those first-rounders.
Danny Briere talks 2026 NHL Draft strategy and center prospects
This upcoming draft sees Philadelphia with a pick in the first, second, sixth, and seventh round. That’s four picks, and not a lot compared to previous seasons where the Flyers regularly had a surplus of picks. It’s something Briere is well aware of, but he’s not going to do anything rash to increase that number, particularly with the talent in the Flyers’ pipeline.
“We’d love to have 15 picks in every draft, it’s not realistic,” Briere said. “The fact is we’ve drafted a lot of players the last few years. We’ve had some extra picks. This year we still have the first and the second and right now that are the key I would think. All those draft picks that we had in, the past we have to make room for them eventually, they have to play. There’s a balance too. Having only four picks this year I’m okay with because we’ve drafted so much the last few years. It might not be quite a bad thing to not have as many this year. But if I had the choice, I would rather have more picks.”
The Flyers have tried to flesh out their center depth the last few drafts, choosing eight of them over that span: Ryan MacPherson, Cole Knuble, Jett Luchanko, Jack Berglund, Heikki Ruohonen, Nathan Quinn, Matthew Gard, and Jack Nesbitt. Although none of those players are projected to be franchise-altering centers, the cupboards aren’t quite as bare as a few years ago. However, Briere said the goal is to pick the best player available, not making their position the top criteria.
“The one area we would like to find is a number one center,” he said. “Where we’re picking we’re probably not going to find a number one center. But at the same time it’s nice to have all of those players starting to turn pro now and see where they go, it’s nice to have centers. I don’t feel like you can have too many centers because it’s easier, it’s much easier to move a center to the wing. The Noah Cates of this world don’t happen too often where they switch from a wing to the middle. It’s nice to have, that group of centermen.
“You look at last year, Cole Knuble played at center, came up in the minors and we drafted him as a center but last year he played both center and wing in Lehigh he played the wing but we also know he can play the middle. If something happens. Last year in the playoffs you saw Denver Barkey come in and play mostly wing but came in and played a few games in the middle. So it’s nice to have guys who can play both positions.”
Philadelphia’s assistant general manager Brent Flahr agreed with Briere, adding that the center depth is a good problem to have.
“A lot of times you draft centermen and sometimes they become wingers too,” Flahr said. “And vice versa. Particularly in junior, the best players are often times centermen. So we’ll continue to target centermen. Obviously we have a certain number of players that are maybe a little bit similar as far as potential roles but we have strong feelings about a couple of them and where they’re going to get to. We’re happy with their upside. That’s a position it takes time and you can’t have too many of them that’s for sure.”
So, for now, the first-round picks will be tough for Briere to part with. While nothing is written in stone, and things can change, Briere said the Flyers aren’t on a level with teams like Carolina and Colorado. Those teams are deep and talented enough to see a first-round pick go elsewhere if it means they’re filling an immediate need for a deep playoff run.
“Absolutely, absolutely, everything is on the table,” Briere said. “It has to make sense, that’s the thing. We want to make sure it helps us for the future and not just for one season or a few months. I don’t feel we’re quite there yet. So the trade today we feel those two guys hopefully will be able to help us for many years to come and it was worth trading a third-round pick for them.”
