What Flyers’ GM Daniel Briere Looks For In Draft Picks

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Daniel Briere outlined exactly who he wants in the NHL Draft.

“We want the 6-foot-6 centerman that can skate like the wind, hit everybody on the ice, and score 50 goals a year,” Briere said with a smile.

Nice player, if you can get him.

Briere and Philadelphia Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr talked about what kind of players they hope to select when the draft begins tonight in Nashville.

If they can’t get the big, fast, physical guy who scores 50 goals a season, that is.

“There’s not too many of those, but hockey sense is an important one for us, character is an important one,” Briere said at a pre-draft news conference.

“You could go down the list. There’s lots of traits, and there’s no perfect players out there. You try to find the players that maybe have the most of those traits.

“It could be physicality, speed, or important hockey sense. We talked about skill level, character is a big one.

“We’re at – I wouldn’t say the start of a rebuild – but we’re pretty early on in our process, so there’s a lot of things that we need. That’s just a reality. So, we’ll try to find the best player for us at that spot.”

Strong Draft

The Flyers have the 7 and 22 picks in the first round. They have eight additional picks, though none in the second round. The draft is thought to be talent-heavy, especially among forwards.

Philadelphia is coming off a 31-38-13 season. The Flyers have missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons and four of the last five seasons.

While Briere and Flahr say they want to select the best player available, they also are willing to take a riskier player if the potential upside makes sense.

“In some cases, yeah. I think you got to measure it,” Flahr said.

“It depends where you pick, too. I think there’s certain players where it depends what the risk is.

“If the risk is character and lack of drive or lack of compete, that’s a big risk for me, and those are risks that tend to work against you down the road even if they do play.

“But the risk, if it’s just a player needs to get stronger, or there are skating issues that our staff feel like can be addressed, or whatever the issue is, that’s a thing that we can help with and fix, then we’re willing to take those swings if we think the ceiling is that much higher for a particular player.”

There is always risk in drafting players — in hockey, in any sport. Sometimes you draft future Hall of Famer Bill Barber at 7, and sometimes you draft Ryan Sittler at 7, who never played an NHL game.

“We’re not the NFL, so we’re drafting kids when they’re 17-18 years old, and you’ve seen them all,” Flahr said. “Some of these kids are boys.”

————

NHL Draft At A Glance

• What: NHL Draft
• Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville
• When: Wednesday, 7 p.m. (Round 1); Thursday, 11 a.m. (Rounds 2-7)
• TV: ESPN/ESPN+ (Round 1); NHL Network (Rounds 2-7)

Flyers’ Picks:

Round 1

No. 7

No. 22. Acquired from Kings via Blue Jackets in Ivan Provorov trade.

Round 3

No. 87. Acquired from Rangers in Justin Braun trade.

No. 95. Acquired from Panthers in Claude Giroux trade.

Round 4

No. 103

No. 120. Acquired in Derick Brassard trade

Round 5

No. 135

Round 6

No. 167

No. 172. Acquired in Patrick Brown trade.

Round 7

No. 199

Draft Order (Round 1):

1. Chicago Blackhawks

2. Anaheim Ducks

3. Columbus Blue Jackets

4. San Jose Sharks

5. Montreal Canadiens

6. Arizona Coyotes

7. Flyers

8. Washington Capitals

9. Detroit Red Wings

10. St. Louis Blues

11. Vancouver Canucks

12. Arizona Coyotes (from Ottawa Senators)

13. Buffalo Sabres

14. Pittsburgh Penguins

15. Nashville Predators

16. Calgary Flames

17. Detroit Red Wings (from New York Islanders via Vancouver Canucks)

18. Winnipeg Jets

19. Chicago Blackhawks (from Tampa Bay Lightning)

20. Seattle Kraken

21. Minnesota Wild

22. Flyers (from Los Angeles Kings via Columbus Blue Jackets)

23. New York Rangers

24. Nashville Predators (from Edmonton Oilers)

25. St. Louis Blues (from Toronto Maple Leafs)

26. San Jose Sharks (from New Jersey Devils)

27. Colorado Avalanche

28. Toronto Maple Leafs (from Boston Bruins via Washington Capitals)

29. St. Louis Blues (from Dallas Stars via New York Rangers)

30. Carolina Hurricanes

31. Montreal Canadiens (from Florida Panthers)

32. Vegas Golden Knights

Philly Hockey Now Draft Prep:

National Hockey Now’s Round 1 mock draft.

Flyers well positioned in a well-stocked draft.

Opinion: Flyers want to draft Matvei Michkov and are willing to trade up to get him.

Ryan Leonard at 7?

Defenseman David Reinbacher at 7?

Ryan Leonard or Matvei Michkov at 7?

Also, Flyers release 2023-24 schedule.

Flyers have struck gold in previous picks at 22 — and failed, too.

Around The National Hockey Network:

Boston Hockey Now: Bruins expect captain Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to retire this summer.

Buffalo Hockey Now: Sabres defenseman Owen Power finishes third in Calder Trophy race.

Calgary Hockey Now: Flames’ Mikael Backlund wins King Clancy Memorial Trophy, faces uncertain future in Calgary.

Chicago Hockey Now: It’s Happy Connor Bedard Day in Chicagoland.

Colorado Hockey Now: Alex Newhook trade to Canadiens could be start of something big for Avalanche.

Detroit Hockey Now: Left wing Colby Barlow could be on Red Wings’ radar for the 9 pick.

Florida Hockey Now: Could the Panthers trade Anthony Duclair?

Los Angeles Hockey Now: Kings acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois from Jets in exchange for Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and a 2024 second-round pick.

Montreal Hockey Now: Canadiens wisely kept their distance in Pierre-Luc Dubois negotiations.

Nashville Hockey Now: Predators re-sign defenseman Jake Livingstone.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Devils acquire Tyler Toffoli for Yegor Sharangovich and a draft pick.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: For Penguins, Zach Benson is small risk, high reward.

San Jose Hockey Now: Sharks trade for Devils goaltender MacKenzie Blackwood.

Vegas Hockey Now: Golden Knights don’t win Cup unless the following happens.

Washington Hockey Now: Capitals host Penguins to open season.