The newly-constructed front office continues to dominate the conversation in the world of the Philadelphia Flyers, as Keith Jones and Danny Briere have made the rounds to major media outlets over the past three weeks. As the NHL turns its attention to the Stanley Cup Final, the city of Brotherly Love has amplified the Carter Hart trade speculation because of recent comments made by the team’s new general manager (GM).
Briere Speaks on Hart Trade Rumors
Briere spoke on 94 WIP about the future of Hart in response to a question about the possibility of entertaining trade offers for the young goaltender.
“It’s a position that we’re in right now. We have to listen. There’s a lot of good young players on our team, but at the same time, if it’s better for the organization to move in a different direction, we have to listen. There’s noone that’s above the team,” Briere said.
He spoke with the intention of staying true to the mentality of a rebuild with no guarantee for a roster currently in flux. His words might’ve generated a lot of speculation surrounding an important piece within the organization, but he didn’t make a solid commitment to trading or retaining Hart. Briere also spoke highly of goaltenders Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, Alexei Kolosov, and Felix Sandström.
“It’s been a while since the Flyers have had a plethora of good young goalies coming up through the ranks, so I’m really excited. It’s probably one of the strongest parts of our young players coming up is the goaltending department. I want to keep developing that. I want to keep grooming some good young goalies for the future,” he said.
Trading Carter Hart would require the Flyers to give up the player that was supposed to solve their seemingly endless label as the goalie graveyard of the NHL. The 24-year-old has already played over 200 games in parts of five seasons, and his status as a legitimate starting goaltender should translate into excellent trade value that’s nearly unprecedented in recent NHL history.
Related: History of Conn Smythe Winners in Losing Efforts
Briere and the Flyers need to weigh their options with possibly the most impactful decision of the looming rebuild. If they decide to keep Hart, they must establish that he is willing to stick out the tough years of the rebuild beyond his current contract that runs through the 2023-24 season. They must plan to allocate money toward the position to keep him in Philadelphia into his late 20s or early 30s when the Flyers are ready to be more aggressive building a roster that can contend for a Stanley Cup.
If they decide to move Hart, they will need to execute a trade that properly changes the conversation about the organization’s lack of top-end talent who can play on the first unit for a team in Stanley Cup contention. The ability to find a trade partner willing to give up the necessary package of young talent for Hart won’t be easy, and it would define the early stages of Briere and Jones in the front office.
Briere Speaks on Cutter Gauthier
Briere appeared on The John Kincade Show on 97.5 The Fanatic on June 2. He discussed the lack of fight the Flyers showed in 2020-21 and 2021-22, the improvement they showed under John Tortorella in 2022-23, his beliefs against the idea of tanking, and his confidence in top prospect Cutter Gauthier.
“We hope he’s (Gauthier is) going to be a centerman for us, but we know he can also play left wing. There’s so many good options with him. As far as a timeline (to break into the NHL), he’s going to decide that. The one thing I can tell you is I don’t want to have Cutter Gauthier in a fourth-line role playing for weeks at a time here with the Flyers. To me, it’s really important that he keeps developing, (that) he keeps playing 22-25 minutes a night, that he gets to play center as much as possible, that he gets power-play time, that he gets PK (penalty killing) time, that he gets to face the best players at whatever level,” Briere said.
Gauthier will play for Boston College in 2023-24. He will likely turn pro to finish the season when the NCAA season ends, whether it’s for a short stint in the NHL or in the American Hockey League (AHL) to preserve a year of his entry-level contract. The Flyers hope to continue to restock their prospect pool at the 2023 NHL Entry Draft after selecting Gauthier with the fifth-overall pick in 2022.
Keith Jones
Jones also spoke on 97.5 The Fanatic on May 30. He discussed the aura of Flyers history, the importance of strong defensemen as the foundation of NHL teams, and the need to adjust properly to the salary cap era of the NHL.
“We have the resources to do what we need to do. We’re going to spend. So in a cap world, you can spend on different things, right? Even when you’re bumping up against the cap, which we have been for a long time, we’re going to reduce that. That is going to change, but at the same time, we have and I’ve been given the okay to do whatever it takes to get us better,” Jones said.
The Flyers have consistently waned away from the success that made them one of the most prominent franchises in the NHL during the 1970s all the way through the canceled 2004-05 season at the beginning of the cap era. Their franchise founder Ed Snider built a successful operation with aggressive spending that helped the Flyers stay at the top of the league. However, the Orange and Black now find themselves with an expensive roster and an unfavorable cap situation that can’t be fixed only by deep pockets.
Jones has his work cut out for him if he wants to free the organization from the handcuffs of a salary cap mess. He’ll need to draw up a plan that helps the Flyers modernize their approach to acquiring and developing first-line talent. The deep pockets of Comcast Spectacor will still help provide the resources in other areas of hockey operations, most notably scouting.
Stanley Cup Final
The Flyers became a mainstay in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 16 appearances in 17 tries from 1995-2012. However, Philadelphia hasn’t hosted a playoff game since April 22, 2018. Fans have watched rival teams, big-name former Flyers, and teams from “non-traditional hockey markets” lift Lord Stanley. All they can do is find some other rooting interest and long for the past whenever a memorable anniversary from 1974, 2010, or another legendary playoff run pops up on their social media feeds.
This year, fans will watch Radko Gudas and Nick Cousins play contributing roles for the Florida Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky, the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, is the latest former Flyer with a “what could’ve been” story.
“That was a big mistake by the organization, and letting him go is one that you wish we could get back, but we can’t,” Jones said about the decision to trade the Russian goaltender in 2012.
At some point after the Panthers face off against the Vegas Golden Knights, you’ll surely hear about two former Flyers who are part of a timeless piece of sports trivia. Reggie Leach and Ron Hextall are two of only five NHL players ever to win the Conn Smythe Trophy for a team that lost the Stanley Cup Final. Roger Crozier, Glenn Hall, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are the others. Leach is the only non-goaltender to win the playoff MVP award in a losing effort.
Loose Pucks
Scott Laughton put the finishing touch on a gold medal effort with an empty-net goal that put Team Canada ahead 5-2 in the final minutes against Team Germany for the IIHF World Championship. He finished the tournament with three goals and five assists in 10 games. Gauthier and the Americans lost 4-3 in overtime in the semifinal round to Germany and 4-3 in overtime in the bronze medal game against Latvia.
The Washington Capitals hired Spencer Carbery as their new head coach. They were previously considered a possible destination for Flyers associate head coach Brad Shaw.