In a press conference on Friday afternoon, General Manager Daniel Briere discussed how the departures of Scott Laughton, Andrei Kuzmenko and Erik Johnson creates opportunity and draft pick flexibility for the Flyers in the future.
Briere on the difficulty of parting ways with Laughton
“Trading Scott Laughton was one of the most difficult things I’ve probably ever had to do as a GM. What he means to the Flyers, always being here, the type of person that he is, the teammate that he is, how helpful he was to not just his teammates, to the coaching staff and to the community.”
“At the end, it’s kind of a cool ending for him, having a chance to go back home with the tragedy that they’ve had to endure this season as a family.”
“It’s tough to let him go. The return was amazing. And on top of it, giving him the chance to go play for his hometown team I think is pretty cool.”
Briere on the culture of the room without Laughton
“He was a big part of the culture that we’ve been re-establishing the last couple of years. He was a big part of that. At some point, too, you’ve got to let some of the young guys start to take over. We thank Scott for everything he’s done and hopefully he leaves a print on our locker room.
“And you see some of the young guys start taking a step this year. You think about Noah Cates, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, they’ve all elevated their play. And you hope that they can use what they’ve learned from Scott.”
Briere on the addition of F Nikita Grebenkin
“He was one of their prospects that we really liked. … Our guys were really high on him. We got excited when his name started being mentioned as a possibility. So yeah, he was definitely a target for us. They valued him at more than a third-round pick. So that’s how this one got done.”
“He seems very energetic. Big body that’s strong on the puck. He can make plays. What I was told is, he needs to learn to work within a structure. But there’s a lot there. The size, the energy, the competitiveness is what I’m told is high end.”
Briere on Grebenkin starting in the AHL
“To start with, that’s the plan. I don’t know how soon he’s going to play. But we certainly see him as a future Flyer.”
Briere on trading Erik Johnson to familar spot in Colorado
“It’s more of a favor to him to give him a chance to go chase the cup in a place that he played a lot of years and where he still has lots of friends. It’s not something that we were really looking forward to do, it was more for him. To give the chance to chase it one more time or maybe more.”
Briere on trading Andrei Kuzmenko to Los Angeles
“To be honest with you, Kuzmenko kind of came out of the blue today. That just made sense. It’s not like we were shopping him but he’s an unrestricted free agent. There’s a need and a fit there with LA and it kind of worked for us as well. So that one got done pretty quick.”
Briere on what makes Rasmus Ristolainen so valuable to the Flyers
“It’s just his play. His play just keeps improving. We feel that if we traded him out of our top six or, you could say our top four, it would leave a huge hole. That’s why we never considered anything serious. Teams weren’t able to pay what we felt the return is on him for us.”
Briere on when the Flyers can become buyers at the trade deadline
“I wish it was now. …I think we’re getting closer and closer. And we’re looking into it now, we started doing that at this trade deadline. It wasn’t quite the right time but more importantly, it’s finding the right player. It’s not just the timing of it.”
Briere on if the team will look to spend on free agents this summer
“It’s possible. It’s too early to tell who’s there and who’s not. We definitely have a little more flexibility. …Realistically, down the road it’s going to open up even more when some of the dead money comes off the books. But yeah, there’s going to be a little opening this year and it’s possible we’re going to be able to do some things this year.”
Briere on how he sees the team progressing over the coming years
“We’re in a really good spot. Probably progressing a little quicker than I even expected. Some of our young guys are stepping up. You look at the play of Michkov, Cates’ line, and I know Ersson had a bad game against Calgary but he’s taken a step since Christmas. There’s a lot of positives.”
“We’re getting younger and younger as a team. I’m scared to look at our age group after today. But we’re definitely going to be near the top of the youngest group in the NHL. To me, that’s exciting. We’re going into the offseason with seven picks in the top 50, at this point. That’s exciting.”
“There’s three groups of drafts starting with Michkov’s draft, Luchanko and then this year’s draft. Those guys are going to be the bulk of our core players we hope in five years from now. So, we’re going in the right direction. We’re really excited about that. The way I see it, we’re just going to get better and better. It’s not going to happen overnight. And that’s probably the toughest part, the patience needed to get there. But I’m really excited about the way things are evolving.”
