10 takeaways from Flyers GM Daniel Briere's press conference

Philadelphia Flyers rookie camp is now officially over. It’s time for main training camp to begin.

Well, not quite yet, as on-ice activities don’t start until Thursday. But with camp looming, Flyers GM Daniel Briere faced the media in Voorhees to discuss where the team stands entering Year 1 of their planned rebuild.

“It’s about the future,” Briere noted. “It’s about the development and how we come together as a team. That’s how we’re going to judge success.”

Briere tackled a number of topics over the course of his 20-ish minute session, so let’s do a quick rundown of the most notable tidbits, from the health of his roster, to looming camp battles, to the impact of head coach John Tortorella.

1. Everyone is healthy (mostly)

It’s become a yearly tradition in Flyers Land — bad injury news with training camp on the horizon. In 2021, it was Kevin Hayes whose status was in question; 2022 saw Sean Couturier re-injure his supposedly repaired back. And that’s not even counting Cam Atkinson, who began camp last season but did not finish it, eventually failing to appear in a single game for the club in 2022-23.

With the start of training camp just two days away, the Flyers — at least so far — appear to be in the clear.

“Knock on wood, so far so good,” Briere noted on Tuesday. “It’s been a good offseason, obviously (Ryan) Ellis is not gonna be on the ice, but otherwise it looks like everyone else is doing well.”

Ellis’ NHL career is basically over at this point, so that’s no surprise. But beyond him, the Flyers look poised to enter camp healthy — including Couturier and Atkinson, who are both fully cleared from their respective ailments and have been full participants in the informal skates and scrimmages run by the veteran players all this month.

“To see them on the ice, to see them skating and participating in all the drills, the contact drills, it’s exciting and hopefully it stays that way,” Briere said.

The Flyers aren’t completely devoid of injuries — Jon-Randall Avon sprained the PCL in his left knee just before rookie camp and is expected to miss the entirety of camp, while Matteo Mann (2023 seventh round pick) got banged up in the second rookie game this weekend and also will miss time. And then, of course, there’s Ellis. But when it comes to the players with an actual chance of making the big club, there are no injuries to report.

Knock on wood.

2. Briere careful not to guarantee kids easy access to roster

At last camp, the Flyers were still clinging to the possibility that a rebuild wouldn’t be necessary, and that the team could turn around their increasingly dismal situation. That’s not the case in 2023. The entire leadership group — from Briere to Keith Jones to even Dan Hilferty — has embraced the concept of a rebuild, officially acknowledging that future development is the primary focus, not squeezing a few extra wins out of an noncompetitive roster.

But Briere was careful to shoot down the idea that they’ll simply be ushering every prospect onto the NHL roster en masse. In Briere’s opinion, that kind of developmental aggressiveness could hurt the progression of certain prospects.

“It’s a fine line where you want to give the young guys a chance, and Torts did a tremendous job of that last year, but at the same time not putting them in position to fail,” he explained.

In other words, Briere is keeping his options open. Had he essentially promised that the final roster come October will be filled with rookies, it would have opened him up to criticism if quite a few of them fail to impress at camp and in preseason and ultimately return to Lehigh Valley. Still, he acknowledged that development is the primary focus of the organization — befitting their status as a rebuilding club.

“There’s no doubt that it’s critical to develop our young guys and think about the long-term prospects for this organization,” he confirmed.

3. Might the kids get blocked?

But what about the possibility that prospects ready for NHL action will simply be unable to earn jobs with the Flyers out of camp because of the bottom-of-the-lineup veterans under contract? The team has quite a few of them — Nicolas Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway at forward, Marc Staal, Sean Walker and Nick Seeler on defense, Cal Petersen in goal.

Could players like Ronnie Attard or Elliot Desnoyers thrive at camp, but still end up on the outside looking in through no fault of their own?

Briere dismissed the notion.

“That’s something we’re going to gauge along the way,” he responded. “We had that last year and guys like Noah Cates and Morgan Frost and Owen Tippett, they were all able to thrive and get better and I felt Torts did a really good job of sensing when and where he could put them in a position to succeed.”

Basically, Briere is asking fans to take it on faith that they won’t keep prospects out of the NHL lineup if they’re truly ready. He brought up the example of Cam York, who failed to make the Flyers’ roster last year after an underwhelming camp, but once he began to pick up his game with the Phantoms, was quickly brought up, ultimately earning a top-pair role with the big club by the end of the season.

But it remains to be seen if prospects like Attard or Adam Ginning or Emil Andrae actually will be able to push vets like Seeler or Walker to the press box — or even the minors — if they stand out at camp. It will be one of the key questions facing the Flyers braintrust over the next month.

4. Torts’ fit with a rebuilding club

Another question surrounding the Flyers? Whether the notoriously demanding and hyper-competitive John Tortorella will be able to fully accept the organization’s full-fledged pivot to a rebuilding mentality.

Sure, Tortorella was open last year that he believed the Flyers needed to stop taking team-building shortcuts and focus on the development of youth. But will Torts be able to stop himself from leading heavily on, say, Marc Staal late in a Tuesday night December contest instead of allowing a young blueliner the opportunity to take on a high-leverage situation? Will he be willing to sit Deslauriers for a week to get Desnoyers some playing time? Can he approach the daily coaching grind with an eye on the future rather than staying solely focused on the present?

Briere certainly thinks he can, noting that Tortorella made a believer out of him in 2022-23.

“I think (there’s) a perception out there that is not quite right about Torts,” he contended. “We assume Torts — and I’ll be honest, I was one of those too before we hired him. I thought Torts was going to just lean on the vets. You look at what he did last year, he wasn’t afraid to use rookies or young players in tough situations.”

Briere pointed to the example of Noah Cates, who Tortorella deployed as his tough-minutes center last season despite his rookie status. He also praised Tortorella’s deployment of Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost as the year progressed. In Briere’s mind, Tortorella isn’t a potential hindrance for their rebuilding plan — he’s going be a driver of it.

Maybe Torts wouldn’t be too happy to know that the secret is out, though.

“So “I think there’s — don’t tell Torts I said that — I think there’s a wrong perception of him out there,” Briere said with a smile. “I think he likes it, maybe. But I think there’s a wrong perception of Torts out there. He’s great to work with, he wants to work with the young guys. He’s excited about this chance to build a team with young guys.”

5. Torts vs. Babcock

The recent resignation of Mike Babcock as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets — before running even a single day of training camp — has rightfully been the biggest story in hockey this week. The Blue Jackets parted ways with Babcock after an NHLPA investigation into allegations from Spittin’ Chiclets podcaster (and former NHLer) Paul Bissonnette that Babcock had made Columbus players uncomfortable by asking to see pictures and videos from their phones.

When Babcock was hired by the Blue Jackets this summer, he brought with him the reputation of being not just a demanding coach, but also one that mistreated his players; Mike Commodore and Johan Franzen went on record criticizing Babcock’s coaching style, and they surely weren’t the only one who Babcock rubbed the wrong way during his 18-year career. So why did Columbus hire him anyway? In short, they felt that the culture of accountability that had existed for years under John Tortorella had slipped, and Babcock — believing him cut from a similar cloth as Torts — would be able to re-establish it.

Babcock’s quick flame-out in Columbus, therefore, raises an uncomfortable comparison for the Flyers. What makes Tortorella different than Babcock, in their mind? Might he also ultimately alienate his players?

Briere believes there’s one key difference between Babcock and Tortorella. In Babcock’s case, far too many players believe that he doesn’t actually care about them. Tortorella, Briere contended, cares deeply about his players, despite his occasionally abrasive approach.

“Torts is a demanding coach, no doubt about that. He’s fair, he’s to the point,” Briere acknowledged. “But he has a knack to let the players know that he cares about them. He has a knack because it’s genuine. He cares about his players. When you hear him talking about his players, he really cares about them.”

Might some players chafe under Tortorella’s methods? Of course. But in the end, Briere believes, it’s coming from a place of care and not manipulation.

“I think the players, more and more when they get to spend time around him, they realize that he truly cares about them,” Briere said. “He’s tough on them because he knows they have another gear, another place that he can take him to. That’s why he’s respected. That’s why I feel good about him in place and as our head coach.”

6. Not worried about the big name prospects

Ian Laperriere didn’t mince words this weekend when asked about some of the Flyers’ top prospects in the rookie games — namely, Tyson Foerster, Elliot Desnoyers and Bobby Brink. Laperriere, who coached all three of them last season in Lehigh Valley, made it clear that he was disappointed in their performances, and that the trio would need to be a lot better at main camp in order to make the NHL roster.

Briere echoed Laperriere’s sentiment. But he also made sure to note that two underwhelming rookie games won’t end their chances of making the Flyers out of camp.

“Yeah, he’s right about that. But at the same time, we have to keep in mind that guys that you mentioned — Brink, Desnoyers, Foerster — they’re trying to get ready for the main camp,” Briere said. “Maybe the timing wasn’t quite right, the bounces didn’t go their way quite right, maybe it’s a little bit of a wake-up call for them, but I’m not worried about them. It’s all for them to get ready for the main camp. They know they’re going to be in the mix to battle for a spot.”

7. Briere praises other prospects

Keeping up with the theme of positivity, Briere brought with him to the press conference a list of prospects who had impressed him during the weekend’s exhibition games. Zayde Wisdom unsurprisingly topped the list, but he wasn’t the only player Briere named.

Samu Tuomaala got a mention. So did 2023 draft picks Oliver Bonk, Denver Barkey and Alex Ciernik. Adam Ginning in Briere’s mind looked “really, really strong.” Emil Andrae earned himself a shoutout, as did his partner on Saturday, Helge Grans.

The “big” names may not have stood out. But there was plenty Briere liked about the weekend’s games.

8. Andrae in the NHL mix this season?

Despite the praise from Briere on Tuesday, Andrae faces an uphill climb to make the Flyers out of camp, given the veteran depth on defense at the NHL level. But Briere didn’t rule out the possibility of Andrae banging the door down right away.

“He is going to get a fair look and then we’ll decide what’s best for him,” Briere said. “He’s only 21 years old. The difference (for him) with some of the young guys coming from juniors, he’s played pro hockey already. He’s built strongly already, but we’ll evaluate if it’s better for him where to start.”

Still, even if Andrae doesn’t make the club for Game 1, Briere is confident that he’ll make his NHL debut in 2023-24.

“I expect to see him play at some point for the Flyers this season, (get in) some games,” Briere confirmed. “I don’t know how many yet, but he’s an impressive young man.”

9. Open competition for the backup goalie spot

Another looming camp battle is the “open” backup netminder job. Felix Sandström served as the primary backup to Carter Hart last season, and he’s still around. But Sam Ersson is held in higher esteem in the organization and is viewed as part of the long-term solution in net, while Cal Petersen — acquired in the Ivan Provorov trade as a cap dump for Los Angeles — has significant NHL experience and will be looking to revitalize his career.

Any of the three could come away with the No. 2 job by the end of camp.

“I mean, Carter is our No. 1. Carter has proven that he’s a No. 1 goalie in the NHL, and he’s still our guy,” Briere explained. “After that, yeah, I think it’s fair to say that it’s wide open, and we’ll see who steps up.”

Ersson would seem to be the clubhouse favorite, given his play last season in the AHL and NHL, and the fact that Tortorella trusted him over Sandström when given the opportunity. But Sandström could easily hold him off, and Petersen could always rebound to his pre-2021-22 form. This battle should last all camp long.

10. Still no resolution to Hockey Canada investigation

Of course, there exists a scenario in which two spots could open up on the NHL goalie depth chart. The Hockey Canada investigation into an alleged 2018 sexual assault involving members of the Canadian junior hockey team remains ongoing, and as of yet, it’s unclear if Hart — a member of that team — could face league discipline, or even if he was involved in the incident at all.

For now, Hart remains available for camp. He’s been practicing with his teammates during their informal sessions, and was included on the training camp roster released by the Flyers on Tuesday night.

Briere, for his part, could provide little in the way of updates on when — if ever — the results of the investigation will be finalized and made public.

“We’ve asked, but we don’t know much. We’re not being told much,” Briere said. “They’re still investigating. I have no clue. I thought something would have been done by the summer.”

However, now camp is on the verge of starting, with still no update from the league. So they’re approaching the season as if Hart will be available. But they know that could change at any time.

“They’ll tell us when they’re ready to tell us something,” he continued. “So right now, we don’t have really much news on that front. We’re like everybody else. We’re waiting to see what happens.”