Trade talk? More picks? 5 Flyers takeaways ahead of NHL draft

VOORHEES, N.J. — Danny Briere, the young, entrusted architect of the Flyers’ rebuild, is set for his first NHL draft as the club’s general manager.

He landed another first-round pick for his amateur scouting staff over two weeks ago when he moved Ivan Provorov to the Blue Jackets, a tone-setting trade to Briere’s offseason work.

We’ll soon see what else he may have in store before free agency arrives July 1. The 2023 draft is Wednesday and Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Flyers hold 10 picks, two of which are in the first round. More future-centric trades for the Flyers could materialize.

How is Briere feeling less than a week out from this busy stretch?

“Well, I don't know any better,” he joked. “It's my first time. It has been exciting. There has been a lot of activity and I'm excited.”

The 45-year-old Briere addressed the media last Thursday at Flyers Training Center, alongside assistant general manager Brent Flahr, who oversees the club’s amateur scouting efforts.

Flahr is running his fifth draft with the Flyers, his first with Briere as his GM. Briere has been involved in the Flyers’ draft operation since 2020, but now he’s signing off on decisions.

“It hasn’t really changed much, to be honest with you,” Flahr said of their dynamic. “Danny has spent a lot of time, we’ve been on the road together a lot over the last couple of years evaluating the same players.

“Even when he took over, he had a pretty good idea where we each stand, especially on the players at the top of the draft that he was aware of, and we have a similar philosophy. He has some different ideas of approaches that he has addressed with our staff and scouts on what he thinks. But as far as our amateur scouting side, it has been a pretty easy transition.”

As the Flyers prepare for Nashville, let's get into five pre-draft takeaways from Thursday.

1. What's next after Hayes trade?

At his end-of-the-season press conference, Kevin Hayes said he "picked up the message that was sent months ago" about whether he was wanted in the Flyers' rebuilding direction.

“Their decisions have probably already been made,” the 31-year-old center said in April. “We don't know them yet. I'm sure I'll find out around the draft.”

Hayes was a first-time All-Star in 2022-23 but saw his role diminish down the stretch. John Tortorella, who hasn’t exactly clicked with Hayes, focused on featuring his younger players more starting in late-February. Then in March, the head coach was honest about the Flyers’ need for subtraction this offseason. The organization was beginning to embrace the rebuild mantra.

For those reasons, and others, Hayes started to look like an obvious summer trade candidate.

Briere spoke highly of Hayes in April. Six days before the draft, the GM remained diplomatic on Hayes, who has three years left on a seven-year, $50 million deal.

“We still value Kevin, we still think he can help," Briere said. "It’s tough to tell at this point. He’s a big, 6-foot-5 centerman — they’re not easy to find. It’s not like free agency is really deep there with centermen, so to replace him would be tough, as well. Right now, my stance hasn’t changed on that.”

Just a day prior to the draft, Hayes was traded to the Blues for a 2024 sixth-round pick. It's no secret the Flyers did not make out the way they had probably hoped on trading Hayes. Here's why the return was ultimately their reality.

2. ‘Getting more return calls’

Going back to March, just two days into his role as interim GM, Briere mentioned how the Flyers were not in the position to have any untouchables. That they were going to listen on any player if a team came calling with trade interest.

He has reiterated that mindset over the course of the offseason. After trading Provorov earlier this month in a three-team deal, Briere said the Flyers were open for business.

Have the phone calls picked up since then?

“I’ve seen an uptick probably this week,” Briere said. “I think it felt like the guys are getting down to business a little bit more, getting inside the 10-day window to the draft. I’d have to say this week was probably a time where I started getting more return calls.”

Clearly, Briere is being active and there’s interest.

The Flyers are going to hold players like Carter Hart, Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton in high regard. Hart is a 24-year-old No. 1 goalie. Konecny is 26 and coming off a 31-goal, 61-point season in 60 games. Laughton also had a career year in 2022-23, is a heart-and-soul guy and has a team-friendly contract.

Briere should listen on everyone, but the Flyers will likely have to be blown away by a trade offer if they’re to move any of those three.

No doubt, though, just about anything could happen for the Flyers leading into and at the draft.

Briere has been open-minded from Day 1. More on that and the trade picture here.

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3. Outlook at Nos. 7 and 22

The Flyers have the seventh overall pick and acquired the No. 22 selection from Columbus in the Provorov trade.

On Day 2 of the draft Thursday, the Flyers own two picks in the third round, two in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the sixth and another in the seventh.

Here’s a full breakdown of their selections:

• Round 1 — No. 7 overall
• Round 1 — No. 22 overall
• Round 3 — No. 87 overall
• Round 3 — No. 95 overall
• Round 4 — No. 103 overall
• Round 4 — No. 120 overall
• Round 5 — No. 135 overall
• Round 6 — No. 167 overall
• Round 6 — No. 172 overall
• Round 7 — No. 199 overall

This year’s draft is considered a strong one and it’s top-heavy with forwards.

“It’s pretty well-known at the top of the draft you have some elite players,” Flahr said. “It has been known as a deep draft, I think you go right through the second round. I think there are different layers that we’ve identified as far as guys that we feel are potentially top-six forwards or whatever. There are players we’re confident are going to play but might not have the same ceiling. Those are all the things we evaluate.

“But it is a deep draft. We’re confident we’re going to get a good player at 22 and if we add more picks, we’re confident we’re going to get some good players throughout the early rounds. Our guys spend a lot of time trying to identify guys for late-round picks, as well.”

The Flyers will try to best prepare themselves for if Russian prospect Matvei Michkov falls to them at No. 7. The scenario doesn’t seem likely considering the 18-year-old winger is loaded with talent and widely considered a top-five player in this class. However, with the lack of viewings on Russian prospects because of the geopolitical landscape and the uncertainty around when they’ll sign NHL contracts, clubs near the top of the draft may be apprehensive.

Ken Hoodikoff, a Flyers amateur scout, is based in Russia and has watched the prospects there in person, as well as talked with many of them. Briere said the Flyers expect to meet with Michkov in Nashville during the days leading up to the draft.

“We do a lot of background,” Flahr added. “We’ve talked to players on his team, we’ve talked to coaches. We’ve done a lot of our background and we’ll spend time with him and his family, get a comfort level and then make a decision appropriately.”

Four forwards from the U.S. national team development program — Gabe Perreault, Will Smith, Ryan Leonard and Oliver Moore — could all come off the board in the top 15.

“This group, that line especially, has been dynamic,” Flahr said. “They’ve torn apart the USHL, I think they’ve all broken records.

“Each are different. Perreault is an elite hockey sense guy, obviously not a very big body. Smith is highly skilled, makes plays, sees the ice so well. Leonard is more of a power guy but drives, he’s got skill himself, speed. And then Moore is on a second line, which normally a lot of years, he’d be a first-line center.

“It was an exciting group. It’s fun to evaluate top players like that.”

With the firepower at forward, this draft is not heralded for defensemen. It’s possible the Flyers could have a shot at taking whoever they view as the best blueliner in the draft.

“There are some quality defensemen I think in the first round,” Flahr said, “but overall, I don’t think it’s a real deep draft of defensemen.”

We have been profiling targets for the Flyers at No. 7, stories you can find right here.

4. Trading back? Grabbing another first?

The Flyers don’t have a selection in the second round because of the Rasmus Ristolainen trade two summers ago.

Will the Flyers look to acquire a pick in that range?

“We’d like to, we’d like to,” Briere said. “That’s not a secret. We’d like to add. Like Brent said, there’s some depth in this draft. If we have the chance, yes, we would like to add in that gap between 22 and 87.”

If the Flyers are enamored with a player who might slide in the first round, it could give Briere an opportunity to trade back and potentially gain a second-round selection.

Briere noted the Flyers are open to trading up or back in the first round.

“We have layers of players at certain levels,” Flahr said. “Obviously if a player’s falling to a point where you think you have a chance to move up and you feel the price is worth it to move up, then we’ll try it. If our list falls quickly and we feel we can move back and potentially get the same player a little bit later, then we’ll try to do that. That’s what you’re trying to evaluate on the draft floor.”

If the Flyers were to land a third first-round pick for Wednesday night, they’d have to make a significant trade.

“If someone wants to give us another pick, we'd gladly take it,” Briere said with a laugh. “We're having discussions with different teams. I’d probably say it's not likely, but we're definitely looking at every avenue and I would love to give another jolt to our amateur scouts to dive in even deeper in our list. We're trying, no doubt about it, but you need a dancing partner, as well, so I don't know if it's realistic.”

5. Where to replenish?

The Flyers know they need more high-end talent across the board. They bottomed out in 2021-22 and have the missed the playoffs for three straight years. A byproduct of that is greater chances in the entry draft to address their talent deficiency.

An area the Flyers are really thin organizationally is defense. They have used a first-round pick on a blueliner just once over the last seven drafts (Cam York in 2019).

The club will draft the best player available, especially in the higher rounds. But could it look for certain positions in the later rounds?

“We're not that deep in any position,” Flahr said. “Right wing I guess you could say that we have depth, but there are some quality players, and if it's the best player significantly, then we’ll have another right winger. We have some holes to fill and we'll evaluate that. If it comes and the players are equal and our guys are 50/50, maybe we go by position, but we do our list and we try to stick by it as best we can.”

Briere expressed caution about the Flyers focusing their draft motives on present needs.

“We have to be careful, too,” he said. “Three, four, five years down the road, the roster’s going to be completely different, so you have to be careful diving into that too much.”