Flyers general manager Danny Briere addressed the media after the National Hockey League trade deadline on Friday afternoon. Briere spoke about a number of topics including the additions the club made through trades and the waiver wire as well as those who were shipped out of town to other teams. However perhaps the biggest elephant in the room was the status of Rasmus Ristolainen, the veteran Philadelphia defenseman who was considered to be one of the top blueliners who would’ve been traded today. It didn’t happen. And Briere seemed a bit surprised by all the hullabaloo about the player and the widespread speculation.
“You guys made a big story, I didn’t know I was trying to sell him,” Briere said with a laugh. “You guys made it sound like we were dumping Risto for next to nothing. Look, at the end of the day, Risto has a lot of value to our team. I wasn’t trying to dump Risto, I wasn’t trying to get rid of him. I think the media turned it into a little bit of a circus to be honest. And that’s okay. I get it. It’s part of the job, part of my job to deal with that. But the reality is Risto is an important part of our defense. He’s still under contract next season. So we weren’t looking to dump him.”
Briere wouldn’t get into specifics in terms of what teams offered what possible packages for Ristolainen, but said he felt the offers were not up to the value they felt they needed to let him go. He also said having the defenseman around for another season — assuming he’s not traded before September — isn’t a huge issue in terms of hindering the team or blocking a prospect from a spot on the back end.
“Where do you find a 6’4″ physical, top 4 right shot defenseman?” Briere continued in his defense of not shipping Ristolainen out of town. “There’s not a lot. And we saw on the market when that came out we did get a lot of calls. And we took him seriously, we went through all the teams that were serious. But at the of the day it just did not make sense value-wise. There’s nothing that made more sense to trade him for what he brings. Risto’s an important leader in our room. I can promise you that our guys prefer having him on our side than playing against him. He’s the type of defenseman that brings guys to the fight because he runs around, he hits guys, and he pisses off the opponents. There’s a lot of value to that. And at the end of the day it just made more sense. We listened but it made more sense to have Risto with us.”
Goodbye Bobby Brink, hello David Jiricek
Perhaps the other big transaction for the Flyers Friday was seeing them send Bobby Brink to Minnesota in exchange for defenseman David Jiricek. Jiricek, the sixth overall pick in the 2022 draft, has been in and out of the lineup with the Wild but also spent time with Iowa in the American Hockey League. Briere said as difficult as it was to see Brink — who Briere was with on the ground floor as part of Philadelphia’s developmental group — go, the fact the Flyers look to be quite stocked in terms of wingers made the move more realistic. The fact they were able to acquire Jiricek — who they inquired about two seasons ago — was too good to pass up. It also appeared to be something that materialized rather quickly.
“That kind of came in yesterday,” Briere said. “We started thinking of the chance to add a big young, strong defenseman like David. We felt that was a good opportunity for us to look towards the future, add hopefully another big piece down the road to our D corps. Adding the size and we’ve talked about that — you guys have asked me the questions about the smallish defensemen before — and I get it too, it’s reality. That was we felt a good swing to take on a promising young defenseman. So that was the reason behind the Bobby Brink trade.
“We were in the mix before before he was traded to Minnesota, we were interested. I didn’t think he was going to be available and all of a sudden we started talking with Minnesota and they liked Bobby, he’s from there too, so there’s something special there. They knew Bobby very well from being from Minnesota. And all of a sudden the conversation turned to that. If you think about it, they paid a huge price for David when they acquired him. I think he was supposed to be part of their future and all of a sudden they resign Kaprizov, they trade for Quinn Hughes and everything opens up for them. And they become contenders this year.
“David was a piece for them because they felt he was not ready to play a big heavy role that we just talked about. So he became a piece they could go out and use to acquire something that could help them when it came around. The price we felt was reasonable at this point because we had so many wingers.
Although Briere was asked about Jiricek — who’s a right-handed shot — possibly being called up to the Flyers before the season ends, the general manager said it’s possible. However it appears that the biggest factor in the big picture is ensuring Jiricek gets the playing time and reps needed to regain some confidence in his game. Most of that will come in Lehigh Valley for the time being. But Briere said part of what made Jiricek so enticing was how Philadelphia was able to take a rather young blueliner in Jamie Drysdale and turn him into a capable, quality, and blossoming blueliner. They feel the same trajectory could be in store for Jiricek’s future. He also said assistant coach Todd Reirden as well as head coach Rick Tocchet should be able to hopefully hone Jiricek’s game much like they did with the former Anaheim Duck.
“I think about the development of Jamie Drysdale, they both came in at 18 years old,” Briere said. “They were probably a little too early to turn pro yet, go through some ups and downs, probably lose their confidence along the way. So he’s going to need some love, he’s going to need some reps obviously. He needs time. He needs to play a lot of minutes to build his confidence. The talent is there. It’s working with him. And defenseman it seems they need time. We saw it with Jamie who kind of came into his own this year is really exciting. But we went through a learning curve with Jamie. I expect kind of the same thing with David. We’re going to give him the chance to build his game, we’re going to work with him.”
Obviously, with Jiricek’s stock rather low, Briere sees a huge upside to his career. It’s just a matter of taking the time and having patience to see him develop. With the Flyers currently still quite deep in the rebuilding phase, it appears Jiricek is going to be given that time to improve, getting back to the level he was when he was drafted so high a few years ago.
“The potential is high,” Briere said. “A 21, 22-year-old 6’4″ defenseman of his caliber are tough to find. We know we have to work with him. We have to be patient, we have to give him a bit of rope to develop him. But that’s why I could back to Jamie Drysdale’s learning curve gives up hope he can get on the same track and be a difference-maker for us.”
Nic Deslauriers off to Carolina
One of the other bits of business Philadelphia did was sending veteran Nic Deslauriers to Carolina, giving him a chance to play some playoff hockey while also possibly having a chance to win a Stanley Cup with one of the Eastern Conference contenders. It wasn’t a trade that was on Briere’s to-do list, but after a heart-to-heart conversation between the general manager and forward, Briere tried to accommodate Deslauriers as best he could.
“Nic has been a great teammate, a great protector for our guys for the last few years,” Briere said of the tough guy. “We had a discussion him and I, he wasn’t looking to leave. He loves it here. I think he even said his family is not going anywhere, they’re staying in the area. But he said, ‘If you need to trade me I’m open to it. I don’t have a problem.’ I said, ‘Look, we’re not trying to trade you, but if you want to have a chance to chase a Cup we would give you that opportunity.’
“I had a chat with Carolina, they were interested and Nic was interested in chasing that as well. It’s one of those things Nic has earned that right for everything he’s done for his teammates and our organization it was the right thing to do for him.”
Other tidbits
Briere addressed a few other things that transpired during the day, including claiming center Luke Glendening from the New Jersey Devils. Glendening, a 36-year-old veteran, will help the dearth down the middle by adding a bit of stability to the fourth line. Briere added the forward should offset the loss the Flyers have felt on that line since Rodrigo Abols was injured earlier in the year.
And speaking of centers, Briere essentially conceded the fact that the Trevor Zegras notion of being a center is essentially over. Briere admitted Zegras did play center this season but looked far better and more comfortable on the wing alongside Travis Konecny and Christian Dvorak, the team’s most consistent line all year. So, while adding Glendening, the Flyers are still needing center depth. It’s a topic Briere said was discussed with some teams in recent days. And could be something that Philadelphia revisits at the NHL Draft or in the summer. Citing the fact Philadelphia was interested in Zegras 18 to 24 months before he landed with the Flyers, Briere said initial conversations with teams now could result in landing a high-end center on the horizon.
In non-trade related news, Briere said Tyson Foerster is on schedule and might be banging on Briere’s door in the hopes he plays a few games before the season ends. Or if the Flyers somehow get to the post-season. Foerster and Matvei Michkov were two of several Flyers Briere noted when discussing the club’s current crop of prospects and how vastly different the proverbial cupboards are from when he first became Philadelphia’s general manager.
“Three years ago we almost had nothing to work with as far as good young players coming,” he said. “So it wasn’t enticing for teams to trade guys to us. But, more and more, the way our young guys are coming along — and a lot of centers — those are always a lot of value. We have more and more assets that are hopefully going to give us a chance to get in on a play or one of those players come and take it. Maybe kind of like Barkey did this year, surprised us a bit. There’s going to be opportunities for our guys to come and do that as well.”
