With the Flyers’ drafting of defenseman Brek Liske in the second round of this year’s draft, the circle became full.
Liske’s lifelong Flyers fandom is well-documented, and his landing in this organization has made for, no doubt, a nice moment, and one which has opened the door for quite a bit of reflection. Liske returned to the Flyers practice rink to get his first bit of work in as a member of the organization last month, turning to the next page in his career, but also bringing to mind a reminder of a childhood visit, which ended in him getting a stick signed by fellow defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. It made for a lasting memory, to be sure, but when asked if his admiration for Gostisbehere bled into the formation of his own game, Liske was a bit more reserved.
“I think he’s a little more a little more skilled than me,” Liske acknowledged at last month’s Development Camp, “but… I’ve always really liked his game. Like I think he’s obviously not a bad player. He did pretty, pretty good things this year. Not bad. So, yeah, I just always loved him when I was younger and was fortunate enough to get a stick, and he was great to me.”
Even if Gostisbehere isn’t a direct model for Liske to build and model his game after, as he works to foster a more mature and versatile game, there remain some salient elements that he can take from a player of his style and caliber.
This past season saw Liske making broad and concerted efforts to expand and refine his game. One of the most notable areas in which this process bore out is in his puck moving. It’s a part of his game which is still very much in development — and this is something, as well, that Liske will be quick to acknowledge — but his poise with the puck and his ability to make a quick read to create a transition play with pace has added an extra dynamic element to his game.
“I think the key with that with me,” he said, “is just [that] I learned it this year. I wasn’t as good of a puck mover. I just move my feet and pre-scan, and like it’s cliche, right? Just always know where guys are and I think it helped me a lot and start doing that.”
It’s going to take a while longer before all of the expanding elements of his game come together into something wholly cohesive, but Liske is learning to play smarter, and that’s all making for more of a sound foundation. He’s had challenges placed in front of him — not least of all, being asked to play on his off-side, on the left as a right shooter — but these are all things that he’s been able to take in stride, and to really put his head down and work through the learning curves.
“Yeah, it is a big difference, right? [It’s] a lot of stuff on the backhand. The biggest thing was I just had to learn how to place the puck better, if that makes sense. Have it at my hip more, be ready to open up instead of being able to just snap it. It’s a little harder, but, probably took a couple games of adjustment and figured it out… I, at first when I got played my left side, it was obviously a lot of things I wasn’t good at on it. But as I started to do it, I realized all the skills I was picking up. Even like you said, versatile, it helps a lot, right? Makes you look like you can play a lot of different situations, which it does, right? It helps. So, yeah, lots of lots of skills I picked up. I think it’s, I think it’s a good thing I played [on the opposite side].”
There’s something rewarding in the process of attacking a challenge and seeing results, seeing new elements coming together in his game, and the more tangible result is that of Liske becoming a more versatile player, on the whole. All things considered, he’s still quite early in his developmental process, but his willingness to be placed in a number of different positions and settings, even if they’re difficult for a period of time, and to work the problems until they’re areas of strength has been a real positive to see unfolding. There’s still a ways to go and more to accomplish, still, but that versatility will only grow more valuable to him as he continues to ascend the levels of both competition and the organizational ladder.
