Newest Flyers GM Addresses The Media on The Organizations Straight-Forward Plans

Briere opened his presser by thanking Dave Scott for trusting him with the (rebuild) process and also thanks Scott and Fletcher for giving him an opportunity in the Flyers front office.

When asked if he dislikes the use of the word "rebuild" he said no. His belief is the team does need to be rebuilt, but there is a bit of an asterisks on the term "rebuild". He pointed out the team does have some talented players and he's not about to just go trade everyone and start from scratch as many seem to believe a "rebuild" is supposed to be. He admitted this will not be a "quick fix", but it also won't be a "fire sale"; however in the same token he also said that no player is "untouchable", so he's perfectly fine with the use of the word rebuild as long as everyone understands there is an asterisks that comes along with it in this case.

Briere said at the moment, it's only been 48-hours, so he's nowhere near ready to get into specific players names. He's still evaluating, but his main goal at the moment is to focus on working with the coaches and getting to know them better as they prepare to work through the process.

That answer of course led to curiosity about his involvement in the hiring process of head coach John Tortorella. Briere said he's going to further talk with the Torts, but both appear to be on the same page. Tortorella has made it clear from day one that he's here to rebuild the team's culture, and Briere mentioned how nobody realizes how important the culture of a team is until it's gone. He believes Tortorella is the perfect guy for the job.

Briere said he has no problem with the "interim" tag in is title at the moment, but he talked to the media much like he IS the (official) General Manager. When it was pointed out the hockey ops job is also up for grabs and was asked which he job title he prefers, GM or President of Hockey Ops, Briere said GM is his current title and that's what he's presently focused on.

He admitted that while he holds a ton of respect for senior advisors(Paul Holmgren, Bob Clarke, Bill Barber, etc) he's not sure what the plan is for them. Though, reading a bit between the lines he hinted at the fact that the decision on their futures isn't necessarily his decision to make, but he stopped just short of actually full on saying it's not his decision.

When asked if Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr will remain in his current role and help run the upcoming draft, Briere said that's his expectation, and went on to praise Flahr's track record with drafting.

Briere admitted the ownership group has not given him a timeline for permanent hires in the GM and President of Hockey Ops roles, but he believes it'll be before next season.

While the ownership group may be keeping mum about their plans for the team moving forward at the moment, as noted before Briere's answers to the questions throughout this press conference seem to suggest the reports and rumors that the decision has already been unofficially and internally made on the GM role are correct, although it has not been publicly announced, and likely won't be for quite some time. Though, it is also possible despite his future plan answers that seem to suggest he's here to stay for awhile, Briere was just "living in the moment" and doesn't have any more knowledge on the matter than we do.