The Philadelphia Flyers have named Keith Jones as team president of hockey operations and made Daniel Briere the club's permanent GM.
It's the dawn of a new era of hockey in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Flyers officially solidified their brain trust on Thursday, announcing the appointment of Keith Jones to the role of team president of hockey operations, while Daniel Briere's interim tag has been lifted to make him the permanent GM.
Clearly, keeping things in-house was of great importance to the Flyers as they sought to build the leadership structure to navigate their team into the future. Both Jones and Briere are former NHLers who spent notable stints playing for the Flyers and remain well-regarded within the organization and the team's fan base.
Jones played three seasons in Philadelphia from 1998 to 2001 during the final chapter of his career. In 131 games, the former winger racked up 27 goals and 47 assists for 74 points, along with 164 penalty minutes. After retiring in 2001, Jones would enter the broadcasting scene four years later as an analyst for the NHL on NBC while also becoming a color commentator for Flyers games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Jones would then join TNT/TBS as the network's lead "Inside the Glass" reporter in 2021.
Notably, Jones has never held a hockey operations position prior to his appointment today and will now be stepping into as demanding a role as there is as he attempts to lead the Flyers out of their current rebuild.
The good news is that he'll be doing so alongside Briere, who, at the very least, does bring front-office experience from his days running the day-to-do operations of the Flyers' former ECHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners, as well as serving as a special assistant to former GM Chuck Fletcher prior to replacing him.
Needless to say, this next Flyers era will not lack entertainment.