New GM Daniel Briere said the Philadelphia Flyers are already busy getting to work on trade discussions with other teams. He was asked how busy the offseason might be for the club as their new management team of himself, Keith Jones and John Tortorella try to rebuild the roster into contenders, and he responded, “I’m having discussions with certain teams. As teams get out of the playoffs, there’s going to be more and more discussions leading into the draft.”
As for who Briere is talking to, that’s not known, but speculation is that he’s trying to dump a few contracts, get picks and prospects and give the Flyers cap flexibility as the new GM tries to fall just shy of tearing things down and starting over again.
Briere was asked if he feels he can add pieces to make the Flyers a contender right away and he said he would prefer to err on the side of caution and say no. At the same time, much of how quickly the Flyers can turn things around will be based on the deals that he can make in the summer. “I didn’t hide it. We’re going to younger, probably than we were even last year. The players will decide, but it’s going to depend on their development.”
In other words, can Briere successfully move the contracts of Kevin Hayes, Ivan Provorov, or Rasmus Ristolainen? Can he trade James van Riemsdyk’s rights before the draft? Will he get the chance to move Carter Hart for top dollar, should he want to trade the player? Time will tell. It sounds like he’s trying to give himself as many options as possible.
How Much Turnover Can Be Expected
Briere said things are already busy, but when it comes to roster turnover, he’s not sure how much there will actually be. He noted there will a lot of discussion with different teams and he also hinted that there will be personnel changes behind the scenes. Noting one of the advantages that come with being hired while on the inside if that he’s had about two years to see what’s working and what isn’t.
