Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere had his year-end interview on Thursday. He had a lot to say about a variety of topics. Here’s what he offered up on those, ranging from re-signing current restricted free agents to the goaltending situation, to how the young crop of players helped the team down the stretch.
Note: the following doesn’t cover anything with Matvei Michkov as you can find that news here.
On whether achieving a first-round playoff victory over Pittsburgh alters the team’s plans heading into the summer
“It doesn’t. Look, from the time we started, we said it was going to be a rebuild and we needed patience. I think we’ve shown that’s what we’ve done. Now if there’s a chance to help improve the team, and it makes sense for long run, yes we will jump on it. But as far as I’m concerned, it’s the same thing. We’re still in the growth part of the rebuild. What has changed is the experience our guys have gotten. You can’t buy experience for 19, 20, 21-year-olds. That I’m really, really excited about.
“The good thing is we’re in a good spot as far as the salary cap goes, as far as our picks go, as far as our prospects go. There’s a lot of upsides there. If there’s an opportunity to jump on something that will help us, yeah it’s my job to look at everything. But I don’t feel that I’m forced to make just to make a move just because we’ve made it into the playoffs this year. We’ve said it for a long time. We wanted to build a team that was going to be here for a long time, not just to go for it for a year or two. So that’s still the same approach on my end.”
On the team’s biggest needs heading into the summer
“I don’t think it has changed a lot from last summer. I think last summer we had said goalie was probably in that mix. I think we have to give credit there to our goalies. They were excellent. We’d probably like to improve everywhere else, the center position. And here’s the thing, we haven’t sat down yet to go over a review of the season. We’re going to do that later in the next few hours actually, to have a full evaluation of the players, the team and where we want to go from there. I’d like to have the coaches’ input on that as well.
“We’ve talked about the center position before, probably still there. Although it was interesting to see Zegras play there down the stretch, he performed well into the playoffs. Denver Barkey stepped up and played a couple of games in the middle as well. Coots, in the role that he played, was really impressive for him to accept that role, take maybe less responsibilities on offense. But really become a force shutting down opponents. And physicality-wise taking a step there. So the center position is something that we’re probably going to look at. If we could improve on defense we’re probably going to look at that too. Like I said not much has changed from years past other than maybe the goaltending position.”
On how the season’s success changed the outlook from the outside regarding luring both restricted and unrestricted free agents moving forward
“Well one thing I can tell you just talking to different GMs this year compared to previous years, I didn’t hear as many, ‘No, I can’t send him your way because of trade protection.’ So I didn’t hear as much of that which was nice. Obviously I can’t talk to players on other teams, I don’t know exactly how they feel. But just talking to our players, the feeling is, ‘Yes, it’s an exciting place to be.’ They realize even before they knew how well they were treated here. But now that we have a team that is fighting for a playoff spot, a team that’s on the upswing, I think that has them excited. And I assume that players around the league are taking notice of that as well.
“But our young players are taking some of those spots. It’s not like we have a lot of holes that we had the last few years. Just coming down the stretch, you look at adding three players in Bump, Barkey, and Martone that didn’t start the year with us. I have a hard time imagining our lineup without them. I can’t remember what it was like not having them there to be able to use. So just those three names coming late in the season and filling up roles, your lineup looks a lot better all of a sudden. So it’s not like we have a lot of holes to fill. You’re always looking to improve a little bit. I think we’re probably more of a destination than we were even a year ago.”
On the status of negotiations with Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Dan Vladar
“I heard his answer (regarding Vladar’s willingness to resign). I’ll talk to you guys later about that. There’s not an order for me. Negotiating contracts is a process, it takes time. As you know, I don’t negotiate in public. But there’s no order. When it gets done, it gets done. It all depends sometime on the synergy, sometimes you make ground faster with one than the other, things change along the way. It depends on the traction. I have nothing that really worries me at this point to say we’re not going to see those guys come back. So I have no worries at this point in that regard. Hopefully it keeps going in that direction and we get them done later this summer.”
On whether players are looking for short-term or long-term extensions
“I think it’s a little different for everybody. Everybody has different ways to look at it. Some players prefer the security. Some players are comfortable with gambling a little bit more on it. Sometimes I think a lot of it is a personality trait. So we’ll see where it goes. I’ve seen a couple of guys, the top guys like McDavid and Auston Matthews take shorter deals. It’s going to be interesting to see. I’m not sure that there’s one way or the other yet. But we thought there would be more guys available for free agency this year, and there’s actually less. The guys took the security. So I think it’s more on an individual case when it comes to that.”
On how both Flyer goaltenders fared and what the future holds in that position
“With Sam we have to evaluate, and look it was a tough start for Sam. But we also have to give him credit. The way he stuck with it. The way he found a way to bounce back to win some really big games down the road to get into the playoffs, that was impressive. That wasn’t easy. Sam, first of all, he’s a great teammate. The guys love him, he’s been here for a while. We’ve invested a lot of years in him. We want to sit down and discuss. He was a big part of this team this year and we’ll see where it leads.
“Dan Vladar, he blew the expectations that we had on him. Going into the season you guys all wrote about that or spoke about it how he had never played more than 30 games in a season in the NHL. So obviously that was a worry for us. That’s why we thought it was going to be a good tandem with Sam. But he really took over and earned more starts. And to see him, I think he had 52 starts of 52 games he played in this year — which exceeded his previous number by a lot — so that gives you confidence because of the way he played in the playoffs. He didn’t slow down, he was just as good or better in the playoffs. So that’s exciting to see. It makes us believe that he could be the answer here for hopefully a few more years.”
On head coach Rick Tocchet’s first season in Philadelphia
“I think he did a great job. It was fun to see, and I knew him as a teammate. I watched from afar when he was coaching. I was really impressed with how involved he was with the players. He almost kind of became a skills coach as well as a head coach for us. And don’t tell him I said that because he’s going to want more money in his next contract. It’s almost as if he was filling in different boxes. The amount of time he’s spending on the ice after practise when it’s over and most coaches are…he worked with guys individually.
“The relationship he had with the players, you saw some of the clips that were played in the dressing room after games. There’s a connection there. He’s known as a player’s coach. I’ve heard that from many agents. In relation to your question earlier, I know I’ve gotten a lot of comments from agents that their players would certainly be open to playing here because of Rick Tocchet. But it’s more than that. It’s the effort that he’s put in, and how he’s building this team, and getting them to believe.
“I love how he uses his experience also as a player to relate to our guys. Rick Tocchet, everything he earned in his playing career, he earned the hard way. Nothing was ever given to him. That’s kind of the mentality that he brought on with our guys. So it was pretty cool to see that. I was really impressed with his first season here.”
On trying to temper expectations for next season based on what Philadelphia achieved this season
“I could tell you no. But I know all the players are going to come back and that’s going to be their goal. I don’t want to lower expectations either. I think they believe they could make the playoffs again, they want another taste of it. So I would think so, I would think that tasting it, getting the experience that all our guys. Going back into next year you got to be careful in how much pressure you put on (the team) obviously. But I think that was such a fun run and the guys want to experience that again.”
On how Denver Barkey, Alex Bump, and Porter Martone contributed to the team’s success down the stretch
“I mean it was a big plus. You never know how they’re going to react. I called Denver Barkey, and I told Denver, ‘You’re just going to be here for the weekend, get a couple of games, and then you’re going back. We plan on playing you in this game in Lehigh.’ Then he had the big game in New York, then we had a couple of injuries, then it was, ‘You’re going to stick around for another week.’ Then it was, ‘We’re going to send you for the Olympic break, we’re going to send you before that.’ He was playing so well he had earned it. The next thing you know Denver never returned. So I’m sure the guys in Lehigh were not too happy with me.
“With Bump it was kind of the same thing. We called him in, we wanted to give him a game. But then he played so well and the coaches wanted him back in the lineup. There was a game I was going to send him and Tocc said, ‘I want to use him tomorrow in the game. Can you keep him here for one more day?’ He ended up scoring and stayed for the rest of the way.
“At first Martone, we weren’t even sure if we’re in the playoff hunt is it like we are in the playoff hunt, is it fair to play him? Is it fair to put him in that position with our guys that are fighting for a spot? Next thing you know he had such a big impact. I almost forget about those things, those little moments because we get into the playoffs and those guys play such a big role. I kind of forgot that they made it and just hung around. Their play kind of dictated that they stay around and they played more.
“It’s not like it was planned that way. But to have them experience it and to have such a big role, that’s what I’m so excited about. Like I said, I think I said that earlier you can’t buy that experience for those guys. Next year coming back, they know what it’s like to play in the playoffs. They’ll know what to expect, they’ll know how tight the game is and how hard the game gets in the playoffs. It’s a huge plus to have had the chance to give them those games.”
On the rash of injuries the Flyers revealed from the playoffs on Thursday and whether any will have players not ready for next season
“Not at the moment. There’s one, maybe Grebenkin depending on how it goes. Initially we thought it was going to be something short and it just never got better. Now we’re looking at different options for him. He’s the only one that I would say that maybe, if it doesn’t improve. But other than that everybody else should be back healthy, 100 per cent for next season. And most of them will have the summer to train. The last couple of summers we’ve had guys that had injuries where they had to change their training. Or weren’t able to completely train the way they wanted to to get ready for the season.
“I think everybody else will be ready to go full out training wise. That’s exciting. That includes Owen as far as I know, there’s nothing else really to worry about, he just needed a little extra time, and things are trending for him in the right direction. You saw him, he was able to do everything on the ice other than contact. If we had kept playing there’s a strong chance that he would’ve been back maybe later in the second round or in the third round.”
On having scoring issues in the second round against Carolina
“That’s part of it, but it’s also the playoffs. Other than Colorado who doesn’t seem to have any issues with offense I think in general in the playoffs it’s a little tougher to create, it’s a little tighter, everybody is playing a little extra hard. Nobody wants to give you an inch. Every shift seems to matter. Even ourselves, I thought for the most part we played a little tighter defensively in the playoffs. That’s all part of it. Yes we would’ve liked to score a few more goals. Carolina has always been a stingy team, they play hard defensively. They rose to the challenge in the playoffs.
“I’m not saying we were the better team, but if we had gotten a break or two here, we certainly could’ve made it to at least Game 5 or Game 6. But that’s how it goes. It’s a great learning experience for our guys on the offensive side of the game too. How it’s played, how tight it is, how the checking goes. I think that was really good for our players, especially our young guys, to realize how hard it is to play in the playoffs. Hopefully it makes us a better team the next time we’re in that position.”
On having some prospects be with the Flyers for the playoff atmosphere
“I mean we didn’t know our fans would react the way they did which was fantastic, that was amazing. But along the way that was. We didn’t know Oliver Bonk or David Jiricek would play games, but they got the chance to go on the ice for a few warmups. It was all part of the experience, giving them a little bit of a taste although maybe not being directly in the action. And the last game for Oliver. Same thing with Jett. We had Jack Nesbitt, Spencer Gill here at the end of the season even though they couldn’t play they came in, spent a few days around the team and got to see what it was like, the atmosphere of the playoffs and get a taste of how exciting it could be. It goes beyond just the guys who were actually playing. A lot of our young guys were here, Jack Berglund was another one that you mentioned. To have them around to experience that we hope will help their development.”
On how proud Briere was of the coaches, the players, and particularly the fans
“I was really how impressed and proud I was of our players and coaching staff for the way they never quit. This team has been known — even the last few years — as a team that’s relentless about never quitting and they showed that again this year. You all heard that number 3.8 per cent, it’s pretty amazing what they were able to do and to keep believing in themselves and keep pushing forward. So I wanted to acknowledge that and how amazing that was, the push that they made, the players and the coaches.
“The other point that I wanted to talk about is the fans. We always ask a lot about our fans, we ask them to invest a lot in our team, to spend money and time to come and see us. What they did last game was truly, truly amazing. And I wanted them to know that. Our players took notice of that. I probably had seven or eight guys in my exit meetings that specifically mentioned how the fans reacted at the end of the game. The comment that kept coming back was they knew how special it was to play in the playoffs in Philadelphia. They didn’t realize how special it was, and the fans really made it that extra special. I wanted our fans to know that, what they did our players noticed. I wanted to share that with all you guys.”
