NHL Draft
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.”
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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.
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