New general manager Briere continuing on with Flyers’ rebuild
If you think the Flyers might suddenly change course just because the team has changed general managers, think again.
At an introductory Zoom media conference call on Sunday morning, new interim GM Danny Briere made it clear he plans to continue a “rebuild” of the Flyers and it’s not going to happen overnight.
Working off his own experience of playing for general managers of other NHL teams, Briere knows any process must go through deliberate steps.
When he was handed the job on Friday, that’s probably the first thing which came to mind.
“That’s my belief,” Briere said. “It needs to be done the right way. At this point, that’s what’s needed moving forward. Not rushing to things. We’re going to keep on evaluating players. Have a lot of dicussion on which direction we’re going to move.
“There’s no doubt this is not a quick fix in my mind. I believe it’s going to take a little while. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean we’re going to do a full fire sale and have a complete new team next year.
“There’s a lot of good young players on the team. We’ve definitely gone on the younger side. And I think it shows at times. It showed this year and it’s going to show until the end of the year. We’re a younger team, we may lack a little experience. But I think it’s the right way to do it at this time.”
While the Flyers have seen the rapid improvement of promising young players such as Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, Cam York, Morgan Frost and Wade Allison, it doesn’t mean the Flyers are just going to pack up veterans such as Travis Konecny, Cam Atkinson, Sean Couturier and Ivan Provorov and send them on their way.
Yes, a modified overhaul of the roster is needed but it can’t be a complete lineup of under-25s.
“I believe it’s needed,” Briere reiterated. “But we have to be careful and I want to make sure: Rebuild doesn’t mean fire sale. There’s a big difference between the two. I want to make sure we’re not going to get rid of everybody. We have some good players here. We’re going to look at every possible option out there.
“I don’t think this is a quick fix. That’s why I’m not afraid to use the word rebuild. But as long as you understand, there’s an asterisk, it’s not a fire sale.”