PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Flyers are adding a popular former player to their hockey operations department. The team announced they are moving Danny Briere into the role of special assistant to the Flyers’ General Manager Chuck Fletcher.
Briere says he was happy to formally return to a place that he has called home for years.
It has been a while since the Flyers were consistently competitive. Briere was a player on those teams, when they last gave the impression they could win the Stanley Cup. He was an absolute stud during their unlikely 2010 postseason run. Now, he has been promoted in the Flyers’ front office as the hockey operations department tries to fix what has been a very mediocre team over the past decade.
"It's tough to tell how long it can take for that turnaround," Briere said Wednesday at a press briefing at Wells Fargo Center. "Obviously, we'd like to see the turnaround starting tonight [against the Red Wings.] Being realistic, it might be next year, or the following. Who knows? I think there's a lot that comes into play."
Those things include the March 21 trade deadline (the Flyers are likely to be sellers) and the upcoming 2022 amateur draft (a tool the Flyers haven't used well enough for a long time). When a team is bad, regardless of the sport, trade deadlines and drafts are essential. They become the most important part of the year and supersede the games.
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But at the same time, the Flyers’ 15-22-8 record doesn't tell the whole story, Briere said.
"One thing I know is that there's a lot of good players, and I don't think we're a team that's as bad as what the standings are showing it at this point," he said. Briere pointed to injuries for key players including Sean Couturier and Kevin Hayes.
"We're definitely not as bad as what's showing on paper."
Maybe not as bad as 38 points through 45 games, however, definitely not good enough to be considered contenders. Barring an epic comeback, the Flyers are going to miss the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time since 1994.
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So, what do the Flyers need?
"I agree with Chuck when he said high-end talent. Difference makers,” Briere said. “[Claude] Giroux pulled more than his weight, and he's been awesome, but they'll need support.”
Giroux is on an expiring contract and may not be a Flyer beyond this season — possibly even beyond the trade deadline, if he agrees to let the Flyers deal him.
And Couturier has been dealing with injuries for much of the season — and who knows how that will affect the 29-year-old moving forward.
The bottom line: Briere is right. The Flyers need difference makers. They need to draft better. Briere now has a larger role in a front office that will be tasked with doing just that, to get the Flyers back to their glory days, which have been so very much in the past.
His promotion comes after spending two seasons part-time in the Flyers player development department and parts of five years in the hockey operations department for the Maine Mariners, Comcast Spectacor's ECHL team.