VOORHEES, N.J. – When it comes to upcoming contracts to be signed, the Flyers appear to be in pretty good shape.
Of the big names, forward Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale are restricted free agents, while goaltender Dan Vladar still has a year to go on his contract but has made it known he would like to sign a multi-year deal if it’s offered.
General manager Daniel Briere expressed confidence at Thursday’s end-of-season press conference at the Flyers Training Center that everything will get done in time.
It doesn’t sound like he’s approaching these players in any particular order.
“There’s not an order for me,” he said. “Negotiating contracts is a process, it takes time. I don’t negotiate in public. When it gets done, it gets done. It all depends on the synergy, things change along the way. It depends on the traction. I have nothing that really worries me, that we’re not going to see those guys come back. I have no worries.”
>Briere’s take on Michkov
Back in February, Briere confirmed he planned to stick with 21-year-old Matvei Michkov through thick and thin. And there was a lot of thin in Michkov’s second season.
No matter. Briere is confident the young Russian can get things turned around.
“Matvei’s a great talent,” Briere said. “We see him being part of the picture for years to come. That hasn’t changed. Not because he was scratched in that last game (Game 4 vs. Carolina) that it changes everything.
“The coaches wanted to put the best lineup to give them a chance to win that last game. It’s no secret it had been tough, Carolina is a skating team which puts a lot of pressure, there wasn’t a lot of room to create. They decided they would like to have a little bit more speed. You have to go with the best team that can make you win but it doesn’t change anything for the future.”
Briere rattled off the names of Oliver Bonk, Jett Luchanko, Jack Nesbitt as young players looking to push their way onto the roster.
“There are guys who are going to put pressure and Matvei is part of that,” the GM said. “We hope he’s part of that future. It’s no secret he’s made some mistakes along the way. I made some mistakes in my career and I was older than him.”
Briere said Michkov knows what he has to work on.
“It’s finding another gear, he knows he needs to improve off the ice in his training,” he said. “That’s not a secret. The big thing for Matvei is adapting. He will adapt. He learned from this year.”
>Favorable destination
During some of the Flyers’ lean years, general managers from other teams were kind of reluctant to deal with the orange and black because potential trade pieces had no interest in playing for Philly and weren’t willing to waive their no-trade clauses.
Now that’s starting to change.
“One thing I can tell you, just talking to different GMs, this year compared to previous years, I didn’t hear as many ‘No, I can’t send him your way because of trade protection’. . .I didn’t hear as much of that,” Briere said with a grin. “Which was nice.”
The prospect of future playoff appearances probably plays into that as well.
“I don’t know exactly how they (players from other teams) feel,” Briere said. “But just talking to our players, the feeling is, yes it’s an exciting place to be. They knew how they were treated here. Now we have a team that’s fighting for a playoff spot. A team that’s on the upswing.
“I assume players around the league are taking notice of that as well.”
The addition of home-developed players such as Porter Martone, Denver Barkey and Alex Bump has changed the landscape as well.
“I have a hard time imagining our lineup without them,” Briere said. “I can’t remember what it was like not having them there to be able to use. It’s not like we have a lot of holes to fill but you’re always looking to improve. I think we’re probably more of a destination than we were a year ago.”
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