The New Old Flyers Brass
Will Keith Jones and Danny Briere Lead Real Change?
The Flyers have always been an organization that isn’t afraid to hire their own. After the 19 years of Bobby Clarke as the Flyers’ general manager, and successive tenures with Paul Holmgren and Ron Hextall, hiring Chuck Fletcher was as close as the Flyers could get to a departure. Chuck Fletcher was the first non-Flyer to hold the office since 1990 and has now yielded both of his jobs (President and General Manager) to former Flyers.
Danny Briere is officially moving from interim GM to the fully titled job and Keith Jones is coming out of the broadcast booth to be the team’s President. With coach John Tortorella coming back the Flyers have formed a triumvirate that has as much hockey knowledge and experience as any lead three in the league. What they’ll now have to answer is can the Flyers officially rebuild and be (as Jonesy so eloquently puts it) “Back”.
We know that Briere was the GM in waiting and is ready to bring fresh ideas and perspective. He was a different kind of player in his era and now hopes to lead a similar new arrival for the Flyers. Keith Jones is a wild card, from unknown candidate to President of Hockey Operations. The former Flyer kept his interviews quiet but has an incredible reputation around the league as a broadcaster. He’s been on the media inside for a long time and was at the top of the NHL experts list. Stepping away from the lifestyle shows a genuine desire for the job and a connection to the team and city. He’s also a personality bridge between coach Tortorella and Briere, who appear to be natural opposites in both demeanor and hockey styling.
This will be a real rebuild, at least according to the promises made in early press conferences. The good news is that the Flyers appear to have some pieces in place with players like Joel Farabee, Owen Tippett, Cam York, Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, Wade Allison, and others. The next ups in Tyson Forester and Cutter Gauthier are ready to turn the offense from anemic to awe-inspiring, though Forester will get first dibs with Gauthier returning to college hockey at BC for a sophomore season Carter Hart appears to truly be the guy in the net. That’s what is already set for the Flyers.
What isn’t set is the veterans. Sean Couturier will probably be back and part of the leadership core. Travis Konecny is coming off of a career year and could build on his performance if he manages to stay healthy. Also coming off of career highs is Scott Laughton. Nic Deslauriers is possibly the most secure 4th liner in the league. Cam Atkinson had a season off and his healthy return could be a big offensive bump. Nick Seeler probably sticks as a 7th defender, but other than those listed, nobody on the team should feel comfortable in their spots.
The culture reset will likely come first as the talent reset happens on the fly. With the 7th pick in the NHL draft, the Flyers’ brass can bring in top-end talent to help sooner rather than later. John Tortorella will need to show that he can handle the maturation of this team without losing the locker room if he wants to be the long-term solution behind the bench as well. The process could easily get messy and feel complicated. It has taken the franchise over 51 years, but it is finally time for a rebuild.
We’ll see how long it takes to be back.