Instant Analysis: LeClair Brings Team-First Mentality to Front Office

Earlier this week, the Flyers announced the hiring of Patrick Sharp as a special advisor to the hockey operations department, reporting to general manager Danny Briere. On Thursday, the organization supplemented it with the hiring of John LeClair to work side-by-side with Sharp. Both will be involved in all aspects of hockey ops with a primary focus on player development..

"John's hockey resume speaks for itself. His passion for the city of Philadelphia along with his strong leadership skills will be a key component to building our team back into its winning ways," said general manager Danny Briere.

Although LeClair's storied playing career in Philadelphia ended in 2004, the Flyers Hall of Fame and U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame inductee has never lost either his caring for the Flyers team or his connection with the Delaware Valley.

LeClair has made the greater Philadelphia area his permanent home since his playing days. He has kept close tabs on the Flyers organization, agonizing over the downturn of the team's fortunes over the last decade. He has also been an active member of the Flyers Alumni Association, most notably as a frequent coach at the annual Alumni Fantasy Camp. He's also been an ardent supporter and occasional guest instructor of the Flyers Warriors. Along with Mark Howe and Paul Holmgren, LeClair served as a co-chairman of the 2021 USA Hockey Warrior Classic when Philadelphia hosted the national tournament in Voorhees.

LeClair, who spent a stint working as a player agent, has long privately held strong opinions on the right and wrong ways to go about roster construction and player development. Just as he conducted himself as a player, LeClair is not one to say much publicly. He believes in the sanctity of the dressing room and the need for candor behind closed doors. It's all about the team for LeClair: always has been and always will be.

"Adding in John LeClair to work in conjunction with Patrick Sharp and the rest of our hockey operations group will be a powerful combination with their vast hockey knowledge and a 'team-first' mentality," said President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones, LeClair former Flyers teammate and frequent linemate in the late 1990s to early 2000s.

Added Jones, "John has been around the NHL and the game for a long time and knows what it takes to bring the core ethics of our foundation to the Philadelphia Flyers."

LeClair was a vital figure in the Flyers' dramatic turnaround in the mid-1990s. A Stanley Cup winner with the 1992-93 Canadiens who scored a pair of overtime winners in the Final against the LA Kings,LeClair came to the Flyers in the blockbuster Feb. 1995 trade for Mark Recchi that also brought Eric Desjardins and Gilbert Dionne to Philadelphia.

When he arrived in Philadelphia, LeClair was switched from center to left wing and placed on a line with Eric Lindros and Mikael Renberg to form the original incarnation of what became known as the "Legion of Doom". LeClair went on to post three straight 50-goal seasons and five straight campaigns with 40-plus goals.

As a Flyer, LeClair was a crucial contributor to the team's run to the 1997 Stanley Cup Final. He was also a big part of the 1995, 2000 and 2004 clubs that reached Game 6 (1995) or Game 7 (2000 and 2004) of the Easter Conference Final, as well as the 1995-96 team that posted the top record in the Eastern Conference in the regular second before losing to the Florida Panthers in the second round.

Coinciding with his Flyers playing career, LeClair represented championship-winning Team USA in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey (six goals and 10 points in seven games). He also played in the 1998 and 2002 Olympics.

A serious back injury, resulting in surgery, afflicted LeClair and marked a downturn in his effectiveness. Nonetheless, he had two 20-plus goal seasons left in the tank. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2014, side-by-side with fellow inductee Lindros, LeClair became a member of the Flyers Hall of Fame.

As a player, LeClair was slow to anger and generally laid-back off the ice. Almost nothing rattled him.

Nonetheless, a fiercely competitive drive bubbled just below the surface. He was like a machine in winning board battles. was almost impossible to knock off the puck legally (despite playing with an almost absurd stick blade curve that was great for shoveling loose puck over the goalie but would have made stickhandling a real challenge for most players). LeClair was a master of the reverse hit. Scores of opponents came in to deliver a body check, only to wind up on the seat of their pants as LeClair dipped his shoulder and didn't budge an inch. Those traits, along with a slap shot that flirted with 100 miles per hour, made LeClair a force to be reckoned with.

As a hockey operations advisor focusing largely on player development, LeClair also brings the acquired wisdom of personal experience that Sharp and Briere also acquired in their playing days. All three were late bloomers as players.

In LeClair's case, the player was cut from his high school hockey team the first time he tried out. At the pro level, he was hardly an overnight sensation in Montreal. When the Flyers first acquired a 25-year-old LeClair from Montreal, head coach Terry Murray had no idea of the goal-scoring prowess he'd unleash by turning the player from a third-line center to top-line left wing. The idea was to take advantage of LeClair's forechecking prowess and create time and space for Lindros and Renberg. The deluge of goals was a happy accident.

LeClair is now 53 years old (he'll turn 54 on July 5) but is still defined by the same placid exterior and ultra-competitive drive on the inside.

A couple of years ago, while serving as a guest instructor for the Flyers Warriors, LeClair admonished players for putting warm-up shots on net to allow their goalie, Bill Duffy, to get loose for a game.

"Let a goalie warm himself up," LeClair said. "Whenever you shoot, shoot to score!"

Flyers Alumni often recount two other post-retirement stories that shows LeClair's competitiveness. He hates to lose, even in an Alumni game.

In 2017, the Flyers Alumni players resented how the Penguins Alumni double shifted their youngest players in the third period to come back from a multi-goal deficit and emerge from the 50th Anniversary Alumni Game at the Wells Fargo Center with a tie.

Six weeks later, the Flyers Alumni rematched with the Penguins Alumni at Santander Arena in Reading. By the time the game was 80 seconds old, Lindros and LeClair already had three points apiece. The game was a blowout, with linemate Daniel Carcillo ultimately scoring four goals.

Afterwards, LeClair said simply, "Yeah, it's an Alumni Game but winning is more fun."

In the summer of 2021, the Flyers Alumni played a fundraising benefit game against the Flyers Warriors. With less than 10 minutes left in the game against the Warriors "A" squad, the Alumni trailed by a goal. LeClair's competitive instincts kicked in.

"We can't let these [bleeping] guys beat us!" LeClair said. "Stop screwing around and get serious."

The Flyers Alumni proceeded to score three goals in the next 90 seconds: two by LeClair, one by Briere. Thereafter, the Alumni side kept their foot on the gas pedal.

It is exactly this mentality that has led LeClair to return to the Flyers organization in his new hockey ops advisory role. He shares a vision with Briere, Jones and new colleague andf former teammate Sharp. Being a professional -- and being a Flyer -- is as much about attitude, commitment and internal drive as it is about raw skill. As Flyers Hall of Fame defenseman Joe Watson often explains it, "Anyone can lose. Not anyone can win."

LeClair embodied that as a player: he was a proven winner. He now aspires to help restore that mindset, which won't happen overnight but it is ultimate goal of all involved.

"I'm extremely excited and honored to be named a Special Advisor to Hockey Operations," LeClair said. "I'm most looking forward to being a part of this group and ensuring our number one priority is to bring the Stanley Cup to Philadelphia."