Flyers Buzz: Front Office Changes, Danny Briere Given The Green Light To Rebuild

The Philadelphia Flyers made some changes to their front office, late Thursday night into early Friday morning. As the organization promoted Alyn McCauley to Assistant General Manager - pro scouting, player personnel and American Hockey League (AHL). Riley Armstrong will be new Director of Player Development moving forward, as Nick Schultz becomes the new Assistant Director of Hockey Operations.

In turn, the Flyers let go Mike O'Connell, John Riley, and Kjell Samuelsson.
Danny Briere's main focus along with coach John Tortorella and company, is changing the culture of the Flyers back to a winning and successful organization.
Briere also stresses the importance of player development, which has lacked in recent years. "For years there was not a lot of development. There was a lot of patch work -- we got a lot of free agents." Briere knows the Flyers development hasn't been pretty, resulting in the team having to go out and pick up free agents or take on a contract they can't afford. This isn't necessarily bad, but an organization should be building around their young players, not trying to flush them out.

A new look in on true player development, begins with the young stars the team has in the system already. Tanner Laczynski who saw a lot of action in the NHL but was unfortunately a healthy scratch in the latter stages of the season, Bobby Brink, Tyson Foerster, Elliott Desneyors, Samuel Ersson (who should backup Hart all season come fall), all players who got time up in the NHL last season and were solid throughout. Not to mention, the teams No. 1 prospect in Cutter Gauthier who is making headlines all over. After a tremendous tournament with Team USA at the IIHF World Championships.

When Danny Briere took over as Interim GM, he knew how important a rebuild would be for the organization as a whole. On 975 The Fanatic he said, "We have the green light to do a rebuild." Knowing he had the support of management was big for Danny, it shows the front office working together instead of pointing fingers.

The Philadelphia Flyers were never in a "full tank", especially with John Tortorella behind the bench. So, when the Flyers hired him as head coach, the Flyers being a true bottom five team was never really in mind. Despite the Flyers not being in a «win now» mode like previous years, GM Danny Briere didn't want to lose the Flyers faithful internally, and make the franchise look bad by losing on purpose. "Tanking for Connor Bedard does not mean you are going to get him (alluding to the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets), so it is a scary way to go about it. And when you go about it by tanking, you kind of lose the culture you are trying to rebuild. Going about a rebuild is difficult, and knowing when you are ready to compete again. It could be anywhere from two to six years, it all depends on how players truly development and if the Flyers management can stick together for more than two seasons.

Unlike other rebuilds, I think the Flyers have to start between the pipes. Typically, teams look for a solid goalie during a rebuild, but the Flyers already have a young netminder in Carter Hart. The struggles the team has faced in recent years is not to be blamed on Hart, it is the team in front of him that is lacking. So, instead of trading away a franchise goalie, build around him and let him succeed in orange and black. «Carter Hart is only 25. Sometimes we forget that because he has been around while. When you look at goalies, a lot of the time they hit their peak around 28."

Daniel Briere doesn't want people to be manganged by him, he would rather hear from everyone and hear their own opinions. Creating an honest front office that is actually all on the same page. "I don't want yes-men around me. I want people that have an opinion and aren't afraid to say it."

Another great interview from Daniel Briere as the Flyers look to turn to a new chapter, to create a successful team once again.