PHILADELPHIA – One could tell by Daniel Briere’s expression things were going much better at the end of November than they were when October came to a close.
The Flyers general manager took time during the first intermission of last Friday afternoon’s game against the New York Rangers at the Wells Fargo Center to give sort of a state of the team address with a little more than a quarter of the season already in the books.
His team was about to win for the sixth time in nine outings and get itself squarely back into the chase for a playoff spot, a place the Flyers haven’t finished a season in since 2019-20.
Yet even with things going decidedly better since an unsteady 1-5-1 start, Briere insists his team is sticking with its plan to develop its youth, rebuild and not worry too much about the standings.
Patience, he says, is important.
“That always a danger, you have to be careful, evaluating and taking everything into consideration,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a tough start. The travel part, the teams (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle) we were playing. Still, we’re a young team (Buffalo is youngest in years at an average 25.4; Montreal second at 26.1; Flyers third at 26.3). That’s the exciting part.
“But at the same time you’re a little less experienced. We brought in more rookies this year. It makes it fun, it makes it exciting. But sometimes you’re going to have to take some licks along the way.”
The Flyers spent 124 days in a playoff spot last year before a late-season eight-game collapse cost them postseason play.
But if nothing else, that performance plus this year’s encouraging start has helped the team’s most loyal followers stay patient and willing to buy into the rebuild.
“The exciting thing is our guys are delivering and working hard,” Briere said. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We know there are going to be some ups and downs along the way. Our eyes are still on the future. We said it last year, the players are going to decide how long it’s going to take and how involved in that race we’re going to be.”
The team’s defense has been hit hard by injuries. At various times, Nick Seeler, Cam York and Jamie Drysdale have all been sidelined.
But there is a silver lining to that situation. Rookie callups from Lehigh Valley such as Emil Andrae and Helge Grans (recently returned to the Phantoms) have performed somewhat beyond expectations.
“It’s been good that we get to see those guys,” Briere commented. “Because sometimes when you go, you like some of the assets that you have in the minors but you don’t get to test them. So you get into the offseason and you still question what you have. This has been a great opportunity for us to see two guys who were knocking on the door, guys that had really good training camps as well.
“It also gives us a chance to be a little more careful with injuries, guys returning. Lately our defense has stepped up and played extremely well.”
Speaking of injuries, the Flyers have to feel fortunate to have two somewhat untested goaltenders – Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov – step in and play well when regular starter Samuel Ersson went down with a couple injuries.
“I think going into the season, we were pretty comfortable with Ersson,” Briere said. “But behind him we didn’t know how it was going to play out.
“It started a little rocky for both guys. But lately they’ve played extremely well. Sam went down and those two guys have held the fort. It’s still early, you can’t jump to conclusions.”
Some things Briere learned as a player have proved invaluable.
“When I was a player, I came to realize, when things are going bad, it’s not as bad as you think,” he said. “And when things are going well, it’s not as good as you think. Finding that even keel is important.”
Briere had extensive scouting reports on the Flyers’ 2023 first-round draft pick, Matvei Michkov, but even the GM has been surprised by how well the rookie has played. He was NHL rookie of the month for October.
What’s surprised Briere the most?
“The knack for the big moment,” he said. “Not being afraid of the big moment at his age is what is surprising. To want to be the difference-maker when the game is on the line, that’s not an easy thing to acquire. He has that knack.
“He’s so competitive. We had heard about that but until you see it live, to see how hard he works makes me excited about his future.”
Travis Konecny is enjoying the best season of his career so far. What’s been the difference?
“He’s definitely taken on more leadership,” Briere said. “We’ve lost some veterans the past couple years. He’s shown more leadership with his play. To have a guy like that; when you bring your young guys in and you see that all over the place, when you decide to rebuild and you don’t have anyone for your young guys to look up to, it gets really dangerous because now there’s nothing to chase. Travis is a role model for a Michkov, a Tyson Foerster.
“It will help when we start using all the (draft) picks we have. And same with (Travis) Sanheim. He’s playing better and better. Along with Konecny, he’s another guy who deserves consideration for Team Canada (in the Four Nations tournament). It’s great to see.”
