VOORHEES, N.J. – When the drama ended, the Flyers had made almost as much news with the trades they pulled the trigger on as the ones they didn’t.
All that speculation about the team moving veteran defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to a serious contender didn’t materialize.
On the flip side, the Flyers used their surplus of talent on the wings to secure Minnesota Wild defenseman David Jiricek in exchange for right wing Bobby Brink.
After the 3 p.m. NHL trade deadline passed, Flyers general manager Daniel Briere explained why he believed Brink was expendable in order to add some size and depth on the back line.
Jiricek is young (22) and large (6-foot-4, 204 pounds), which a rather diminuitive defense could use. For now, Jiricek will play at the American Hockey League level with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Briere told a gathering of media at the Flyers Training Center he didn’t want to part ways with Brink but sometimes you have to give to get. Hence, a willingness to send Brink back to his native Minnesota.
The decision, said Briere, “was not an easy one.
“I was part of the development staff when Bobby came along. We had some long discussions about his future and his career. To having been part of that, to see him blossom to the player that he has become (I have) selfishly a lot of pride in that.”
Briere suggested the Flyers might be a bit overstocked on the flanks at the moment.
“Our team is coming along and if you look at the depth we’re building on the wings – (Travis) Konecny, (Matvei) Michkov, (Owen) Tippett, (Trevor) Zegras. . .(Tyson) Foerster (injured) coming back next season and (Porter) Martone that’s getting close,” Briere said.
Briere also mentioned the promising Alex Bump, who could be promoted from the Phantoms as early as this weekend for Saturday’s game at Pittsburgh.
“It was tough,” Briere said. “At some point we were going to have to make a change. Trade some wingers for another position. We had a chance to add a big, young, strong defenseman and we felt that was a good opportunity for us to look toward the future, add another big piece down the road. We felt it was a good swing to take at a promising young defenseman.”
Jiricek, a native of Klatovy, Czechia, was originally drafted by Columbus in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. He has appeared in 84 NHL games with the Blue Jackets (2022-25) and Wild (2024-26) with two goals/13 points.
Briere said his interest in Jiricek went all the way back to his trade from Columbus to Minnesota.
“I didn’t think he was going to be available,” Briere said. “And all of a sudden we started talking with Minnesota. They like Bobby, he’s from there, too. The price we felt was reasonable. We have so many wingers.”
Briere compared Jiricek’s development timeline to that of Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale.
“They both came in at 18 years old,” Briere said. “Probably a little too early to turn pro yet. Went through some ups and downs, lost their confidence along the way. So he (Jiricek) is going to need some love, he’s going to need some reps. He needs to build confidence. The talent is there.
“We went through a learning curve with Jamie. We expect the same thing with David.”
The GM believes Jiricek has a bright future.
“The potential is high,” he said. “If his potential was as high as (Islander phenom) Matthew Schaefer, we wouldn’t be talking about him. But we still see high potential.”
As to whether Jiricek will see any action with the Flyers this season, Briere left the door open.
“I didn’t make him any promises,” Briere said. “But yeah at some point we would like to give him a look. Give him a few games.”
>Help for center?
The Flyers are not exactly overstocked at center. Sean Couturier’s offense has tailed off and Noah Cates and Christian Dvorak are both lower-line centers.
Briere said the Flyers did check the availability lists.
“We looked into it,” he said. “We had some discussions. Closer to the draft (this summer) we’ll look into that. We’re aware it’s an area we would like to improve. It’s all about timing, value. We’ve never hid from the fact we would like to improve that position.”
>Multi-player swap
The Flyers picked up forward Brett Harrison and defenseman Jackson Edward from the Boston Bruins in exchange for forwards Alexis Gendron and Massimo Rizzo. Harrison and Edward will report to the Phantoms.
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