A comprehensive review of the year ahead with the Flyers' boss.
The Philadelphia Flyers and general manager Danny Briere got off to a blazing start to the offseason with their first trade, and the NHL draft and the start of free agency rapidly approach.
With Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit in the fold, the Flyers have already addressed a few immediate needs, and they have a number of prospects still on the way.
In a recent one-on-one with The Hockey News, I had the pleasure of picking Briere's brain, gleaning some insights into the Flyers' plans, how their prospects are coming along, and other odds and ends.
Here, we'll be covering topics like Egor Zavragin, David Jiricek, free agency, Jett Luchanko, former Flyers friends, and more.
Note that some questions and answers in this interview were edited for clarity and brevity.
Jonathan Bailey: "You have Simon Benoit now. You have talked a lot about Hunter McDonald, Ty Murchison, and those guys in the past. Do you think this changed anything for them? Benoit’s got one year on his deal, Seeler’s got a few more, but does that change anything for them now?"
Danny Briere: "You know, the way I see it is, those young guys, they both took a step forward last year. They're going to have to beat someone out of a job, like that's just the reality to make it in the NHL. You have to show that you can beat someone out of their job; that's going to be the challenge for them. So that's always the tough part, you know. Nothing is handed for free. You got to earn it.”
JB: "A few weeks ago, you re-signed Aleksei Kolosov for one year, but his goal was to play in the NHL. Now he’s the No. 3 goalie coming into the year. What's your confidence like in him, because he played pretty well last year?"
DB: "With Aleksei, two years ago, it was kind of a wasted year for him. So spending the year up as a third goalie with the Flyers, it wasn't ideal, and I think it was a little bit of a season that was lost for him last year. He had a good season, stepped back up, so we still see him as a young goalie that's still developing, but he needs more time. We feel it's a good spot for him to be in, as the No. 3. Most likely, there's going to be some injuries along the way, and sometimes he's going to have to play, he’s going to have the chance to play a few games. We don't know how many, and it's kind of the same thing that goes for McDonald and Murchison. You have to beat someone out of the job, so that's going to be the challenge for him."
JB: "Egor Zavragin is off to a new KHL team, maybe a tandem situation, but probably going to play. How optimistic does that make you now after the way this past year went?"
DB: "Yeah, I mean, it was a little disappointing to see, and there was a time where he, early in the year, had the best stats out of the group of three, and I think it almost felt like it was decided before that he was the youngest and he was going to be the one going to the VHL. So it's unfortunate, but we have no control over what they do now. There's a little bit of hope that he's going to be in the KHL the whole year and play some KHL games next year. I think it's going to be great for his development, and there's no rush, especially now knowing and seeing what we have here. We have a good group of four goalies that are under NHL contracts, and hopefully, we don't have to use all four, but we know it's there. And especially in Kolosov and Bjarnason’s cases, it's good to see them developing and playing some games. I think we're comfortable with where it's at, at the moment."
JB: "Jett Luchanko is turning pro this year. He made the team out of training camp both years he’s been here. Is that the expectation now, or do you want to leave that up to him and see where he's at?"
DB: "It’ll be up to him now. We’ll see. I mean, it's a big summer for Jett. Last year was a tough one, missed a lot of training, and he missed development camp. He came in, and he was still a little dinged up. So it's a big summer for him, but there's also no rush if we don't feel he's quite ready. We have Lehigh Valley that's down the road from here, and he's going to play a lot of minutes there, so I don't see us keeping Jett Luchanko as an extra player as a 13th or 14th forward on the team. If he doesn't fit into the top 12, he's most likely going to be in Lehigh so he can play lots of minutes and lots of responsibilities in every situation."
JB: "David Jiricek, I think he needs waivers. All things considered, pretty good in Lehigh, very productive. Where do you see him now that, especially because you have Benoit, is kind of like the insulator? If Juulsen isn’t coming back, that leaves a spot on the right for him… where do you see him right now?"
DB: “Yeah, like you said, he had a really good stint in Lehigh Valley. He proved that he's ready for the next level. For him, it's gonna be a battle for ice time. It's going to be up to him. Big summer for him. Yeah, he needs waivers. We're aware of that, and he's going to get a good look, and we hope that he's ready for it. We feel he's ready for it, but he's going to have to show it on the ice. We know the offense is there, the big shot is there, the size is there, and that's just for him to round out his game, where he becomes a player that the coaches trust every night."
JB: "Are there any players who definitely are, or definitely are not, coming back this summer?"
DB: "[Rodrigo Abols] will most likely not be back. [Luke Glendening] we still have in the mix. Yeah, there's so many moving parts still, right? We're looking at different things, we're exploring. That's our job, to explore what's out there. Look at trades, you know. Three weeks ago, I would be talking about [Emil Andrae] as a guy who has a chance to find his way into the top six, and it'll be up to him, and now today, he's out. Same thing with [Sam Ersson]. So things changed, things evolved. It's a little too early, right? I don't want to pigeonhole myself and say, ‘Oh, this guy's definitely not coming back’ yet. We're keeping the door open, but it's our duty to look at what's out there, and if there’s an improvement that we can make to help the team."
JB: “Coming into this, I had Sergei Bobrovsky and Claude Giroux written down, two of your old teammates who are now free agents.”
DB: Smiles. "Yeah, it's pretty safe to say that there's not much room for Bob. I still have the feeling that Bob will re-sign in Florida. I don't think they have a goalie signed, so, yeah, they're gonna need a goalie, at least one, maybe two. I mean, Bob's a fantastic teammate, and great work ethic. He would have been a really good example for our guys, but no, I don't know how realistic that would have been."
JB: "Giroux, I assume, the same thing? I'm thinking of Rick Tocchet talking about Luke Glendening, having that veteran right-hand center for matchups, making that connection. You never know?"
DB: "Yeah, you never know where it's at. G's had a really good stint in Ottawa. I'm sure they want to keep him there, so I'm not sure he's thinking about going anywhere else. But I think he's been invested in the Senators for a while now, and they have a pretty good team."
JB: "Nick Deslauriers, Stanley Cup champion. You guys gave him the chance to go play for a contender, got nothing back, but showed the young guys they’ll be rewarded for being good teammates and working hard. How nice is it to see him actually go do it from your perspective?"
DB: "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Nick, again, what he did for us, protecting some of our young guys the last few years, it's not an easy job, and you don't play a lot, and you sacrifice, and you do extra work. It's a really tough job to do. So, we're thankful for what he did, and I feel it was the right thing to do, to give him a chance to go somewhere and have a shot at the Cup at the time. If you remember, like, we weren't looking too, too good to have a chance to make the playoffs, so yeah, it was pretty cool to watch him lift when it happened a couple nights ago."
JB: "A bit of a personal one, but Matthew Schaefer has special place in the heart for you, and not to talk about other teams' players too much, but is there a personal sense of pride for you to see him win the Calder Trophy, and then on Good Morning America, where they brought it out to surprise him?"
DB: Smiles. "Yeah, I'm not supposed to talk about players on other teams, but there's a special connection there with the family, not just Matthew, but also his brother and his dad. So it was pretty cool to see that, and a surprise on the show. Yeah, there's a little special place for him, obviously. [New York Islanders GM] Mathieu Darche knows that as well, so it's not a secret. Very proud of him. The only thing I don't like about him is that he plays in our division. That makes it tough. But, otherwise, on most nights, I'm happy for the Schaefer family and Matthew, and he’s a special talent to watch play."
JB: "Anything new on Nikita Grebenkin's injury?"
DB: "No, there's nothing still at this point that we can share. We're still in a holding pattern with him, so I don't have anything to share yet."
JB: "Is he still someone you see, like just the way he plays, his style, his traits, long-term, bottom-six, pushing for that role?
DB: “Yeah, that's what we are hoping for, believing that he can give us. He's just got to get healthy, but yeah, we love his spunk. We love the sandpaper that he brings, great personality, really well-loved, too, in the locker room. So we're just hoping that we can get him to a place where he can provide that feistiness for us every night.”