FLYERS EYE ADDING TALENT IN NEXT STAGE OF REBUILD

MONTREAL, QC — Since John Tortorella’s hire as Head Coach ahead of the 2022-23 season, the culture, and standard, has been at the forefront of the Philadelphia Flyers’ rebuild – one that was only vocally acknowledged last spring when the organization and hockey operations department were overhauled following the firing of former President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chuck Fletcher.

The last 18 months has been about recalibrating what it means to be a Flyer. While that may sound cliché, that identity had been lost over the last decade.

The Flyers have made some decisions during their rebuild that have had many fans and pundits questioning their overarching goals during this process. Is this so-called “culture” going to take precedence over the on-ice talent? To be fair, I think it’s a question that’s worth answering.

Why did a rebuilding team re-sign a soon-to-be 31-year-old defenceman in Nick Seeler to a four-year contract? Why has a third line centre in Scott Laughon been arguably overvalued? Why was it necessary to give up a fourth-round draft pick for a past-his-prime defenseman in Erik Johnson ahead of the Trade Deadline?

Here’s the thing: the culture was a major issue following the pandemic. You don’t need to be a fly on the wall or have a wiretap in Voorhess to have seen the on-ice issues post 2019-20. The toxicity behind the scenes were palpable in the final years of the Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek era. As General Manager Daniel Briere alluded to in his media availability post-deadline, you need to have a good culture instilled in addition to talent.

Don’t believe it? Please refer to the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators.

Both teams have been rebuilding in the traditional sense for more than five years; in the case of the Sabres, they are on track to miss the playoffs for the 13th straight season and after two cracks at a rebuild. Despite a plethora of on-paper talent and many pundits (myself included) picking one or both teams as sexy options for playoff contention this season, both remain stuck in the mud.

Is this only due to a lack of “culture” behind the scenes? Hard to say from the outside looking in, but given the on-ice talent both teams boast, it’s a fair conclusion to draw.

From that standpoint, I think Briere, Tortorella and POHO Keith Jones prioritizing culture as a high level of importance in this rebuild was valid – but now it’s time to turn the page.

Make no mistake, the Flyers are well aware the team is still a ways off in the way of high-end talent. Thankfully, despite Fletcher refusing to vocalize the word “rebuild,” the final 12 months of his tenure (save for the Tony DeAngelo debacle) were operated as a team hedging on one.

The Giroux trade effectively pushed things in that direction, bringing in forward Owen Tippett and a 2024 first-round selection. Tippett, a former first round selection, has evolved into one of the more important forwards on the club – his eight-year contract extension being indicative of that.

A positive aspect from the Fletcher era was how the team drafted, though a lot of that should be attributed to current Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr, who still oversees the NHL Draft.

Emil Andrae, Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, Alexei Kolosov and Cam York are all players that were drafted under Flahr, three of which are on the current roster and already making significant contributions at the NHL level. This was not an aging team that Briere and Jones took over – there was already young talent in the pipeline.

What we’ve seen over the last 12 to 18 months is a foundation being laid – something that was non-existent at the end of the 2021-22 season. With the framework of a team in place and a work ethic and unity instilled, it is time for the next phase of this operation and augmenting the talent.

As Briere mentioned in his early days as Interim GM, the best ways to come by talent is via the NHL Draft. The Flyers had two selections (Oliver Bonk and Matvei Michkov) in the first-round last year; they currently sit with two selections in the first and second rounds in each of the next two seasons.

One may argue that, for a rebuilding team, they have not loaded up on enough draft picks in the coming years in the way of quantity. But sheer volume of selections does not automatically equate to successful drafting; please refer to the Arizona Coyotes and the number of draft picks they have obtained over the last several seasons. It is always quality over quantity when drafting, and Flahr (going back to his Minnesota days) has proven to be a strong mind in this department. For the first time in Philadelphia, the Flyers have set Flahr up with more ammunition than ever before in the way of high round picks.

While drafting is the main avenue the organization will take in its quest to augment the on-ice talent, I don’t get the sense that’s the sole avenue.

There were a lot of rumblings leading up the Trade Deadline that the Flyers were scouring the trade market for upgrades at the NHL level. I can tell you that the team has been scouting young centres across the league, mostly those in need of a change of scenery and “buy low” options. He isn’t a centre, but Denis Gurianov (whom the club had targeted in the past) is the type of “high reward” option the Flyers were on the hunt for.

But this isn’t the only type of addition the Flyers were keeping their eyes and ears open for.

One thing the Flyers do not want is a stagnant or regression next season. After a major step forward this year, things need to continue trending upwards to keep the aforementioned culture in the right spot. And if that means swinging big on the trade front, I think that’s absolutely something they will look at doing this summer.

We heard names thrown around as players they were looking at. Anaheim Ducks centre Trevor Zegras and Ottawa Senators defenceman Jakob Chychrun were both names that were thrown out as potential targets. I can’t say one way or another how serious talks ever got with either player, but what I can say with 100% certainty is this: if a deal that makes sense comes along involving either of those players (or ones like them), it is something the Flyers are prepared to jump on.

The Flyers have talent in the pipeline, but much of it is several years away. I’ve been told that Bonk is roughly three years away from being an impactful NHL contributor, while Michkov’s contractual commitment in Russia will have him in North America no sooner than 2025-26. Aside from those two, along with the young players already on the roster, there are few high-end players ready to make the jump in the coming years.

Knowing this and the team’s need for an injection of talent, the trade market will be exhausted for players who not only augment the talent but can fit the age timeline and be part of the solution for years to come. One thing this management group has proven to be is creative trade wise, whether you like the moves or not, the creativity is there. I fully expected Briere and Jones to wheel some more of that creativity this summer in their hunt for talent, while letting Flahr work his magic with (currently) four draft picks in the first two rounds in each of the next two drafts.

This was not a traditional rebuild where the team needed to gut its main roster and restock the pipeline; much of that had already been done by prior regimes. This was about changing the culture first, and then supplementing an existing core with the pieces to push the roster over the edge. More and more you’ve seen teams elect to go this route in favour of a traditional, strip it down rebuild – the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators being current examples.

Is there an inherent risk of this approach? Absolutely, and it’s certainly fair to question some isolated decisions along the way, but just know that this is not a culture-only rebuild. That was step one given the young talent already here – the next phase is talent augmentation, and it’s certainly on the docket for the Flyers’ front office.

Drysdale, Ristolainen Updates

Between the injuries to Jamie Drysdale and Rasmus Ristolainen and the trade of Sean Walker, the right side of the Flyers defence has been decimated over the last several weeks. Couple that with the Seeler injury and the defence as a whole is in dire straits.

In the case of Drysdale and Ristolainen, it doesn’t appear like there is much hope for optimism in the immediate future.

Speaking with a source, it doesn’t sound like there is any guarantee that Drysdale or Ristolainen will return this season, though the team is remaining hopeful. Both are currently rehabbing at the team’s training facility and no surgery is planned for either, at this time.

Ristolainen, 29, has three years remaining on his contract at a $5.1 million AAV. He was the subject of trade discussions a few months back, but it appears none of those gained any traction for something imminent by the summer.

Drysdale, 21, was acquired two months ago in the blockbuster trade that sent Cutter Gauthier to the Anaheim Ducks. A former first-round selection in 2020, Drysdale figures to be a major fixture of the Flyers’ future for the next decade. He has two years remaining on his contract at $2.3 million.