97.5 The Fanatic Flyers Roundup: Scrutinizing Danny Briere
A 5-0-1 hot streak beginning with the emotional Cutter Gauthier Game had the Philadelphia Flyers feeling confident. However, they hit a speed bump with two regulation losses in New York by a combined score of 9-2.
Danny Briere also held his midseason press conference to recap a first half that landed the Flyers on the Stanley Cup Playoff bubble and preview the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7.
- Saturday 1/18 (at Prudential Center): Flyers 3, New Jersey Devils 1
- Tuesday 1/21 (at the Wells Fargo Center): Flyers 2, Detroit Red Wings 1 (OT)
- Thursday 1/23 (at Madison Square Garden): New York Rangers 6, Flyers 1
- Friday 1/24 (at UBS Arena): New York Islanders 3, Flyers 1
Danny Briere: Midseason Press Conference
The juiciest topics that spur fan debate almost always involve trade speculation. Briere acknowledged the possibility of moving Rasmus Ristolainen to a team with a more immediate timeline for Stanley Cup contention.
The 6-foot-4 defenseman has worked himself into a second-pair role with the Flyers not too far removed from John Tortorella’s serious skepticism during Ristolainen’s first season on a five-year, $25.5 million contract in 2022-23.
“There’s teams that have called to inquire, but Risto has been so good, too, for us. He’s not a rental. Now for us, there’s no rush to trade him. We finally have him healthy. You finally have him playing extremely well. To find a right shot D like that to play in your top four, to play as physical as he does, they’re tough to find.” -Danny Briere
Ristolainen will represent Team Finland at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off from February 12-20. NHL teams will likely wait to acquire players participating in the midseason international showcase to cautiously avoid a new addition suffering an injury in games with (expected) higher stakes than the NHL regular season.
Briere also acknowledged Philadelphia’s most obvious roster hole. How will the Flyers acquire a center to set up budding star rookie Matvei Michkov on a future top line?
“We’re trying, and we’re looking at what’s out there. The reality is there’s not a lot of high-end centermen in this league. When teams have them, they want to keep them, or the price is crazy. We’re not willing to give up on our future at this point. Yes, I realized that it’s a glaring need that we’d like to upgrade, but it has to make sense.” -Danny Briere
Noah Cates, Ryan Poehling, and Scott Laughton play useful bottom-six center minutes. The Flyers won’t count on them as prolific scorers, however.
An aging Sean Couturier plays the most 5-on-5 minutes as the top-line center. Injuries and wear and tear have kept the veteran center from the point pace of his prime NHL seasons.
Morgan Frost hasn’t developed into the NHL scorer the Flyers hoped he’d become after a dynamic junior career. Most prospects experts don’t project top center prospect Jett Luchanko as a first-liner.
Briere also spoke about his confidence in Sam Ersson as the top goalie, the expectation for Oliver Bonk to turn pro after the 2024-25 season, and the likelihood of retaining pending restricted free agents Cam York, Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Morgan Frost.
Noah Cates Centering Tyson Foerster & Bobby Brink
While Danny Briere was never going to tactically break down the 2024-25 team during the midseason press conference, he still praised the line that’s suddenly found excellent chemistry for Tortorella.
Noah Cates has hit a hot streak that’s enabled Bobby Brink and Tyson Foerster to flourish as his wingers. Their success has helped the rest of the forward lineup fall into place with better offensive rhythm in recent weeks.
“I think it’s helped the rest of the lineup having a line like that, and it’s so funny how it happens. Sometimes, you put three guys together. Sometimes, you don’t even expect it to really work, but you kind of put them together, and chemistry instantly comes…They look like they know they’re going to dominate and provide a spark every time they go on the ice.” -Danny Briere
Cates has hit one of the most prolific offensive stretches of his NHL career after a slow start to the 2024-25 season.
- First 24 games (Oct. 12-Dec. 8): 1 goal, 5 assists, 12:47 average ice time
- Last 22 games (beginning Dec. 10): 9 goals, 8 assists, 16:30 average ice time
His elusive ability to win puck battles has forced turnovers that the Flyers have been able to convert into scoring chances. The crafty ability to possess the puck without a dominant physical game was a key root of the organization’s confidence in Cates during an outstanding rookie season in 2022-23.
Brink has developed confidence as a puck carrier with strong vision on the ice. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound right winger has shown the ability to handle physical battles better than in his earliest NHL stints.
Tyson Foerster has regained the goal-scoring pace from his strong rookie season in 2023-24.
While the line’s 57.65% expected goal share has helped the Flyers gain midseason momentum, it’s nothing for the organization to hang its hat on for future seasons (at least not yet).
Cates turns 26 on Feb. 5. It’s hard to call him the shutdown defensive center the Flyers hoped he’d be when Briere first took over the big chair.
The encouraging stretches from Foerster and Brink haven’t blown anyone out of the water with stunning scoring pace either. Briere and the Flyers should proceed with caution and avoid focusing too heavily on a small sample size of games as a key to their long-term future.
Aleksei Kolosov Sent To Phantoms
The Flyers loaned goaltender Aleksei Kolosov to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms after months of speculation about yet another bizarre situation between the pipes in Philadelphia.
Kolosov pushed back against the organization’s preseason plan for him to play in AHL after the Belarusian netminder didn’t enjoy his short stint in Lehigh Valley to finish the 2023-24 season.
The apparent appeasement move to keep three goaltenders on the NHL roster for a long stretch of the season limited Briere’s roster flexibility.
Did Briere delay the decision out of fear Kolosov would return overseas? The second-year GM didn’t admit it during Monday’s availability.
However, the decision to send Kolosov to the AHL ends a long period of the organization contradicting its own messaging about building a culture where players earn their ice time and meet a high standard that corrects the entitlement Tortorella identified early in his tenure.
Kolosov struggled in 15 NHL games with the Flyers. His .870 save percentage and 3.45 goals against average don’t compare well to the .901 and 2.79 league goaltending averages. He also finished with -5.7 goals saved above expected, which is widely considered the NHL’s most comprehensive advanced goaltending stat (via MoneyPuck).
While Kolosov struggled at the NHL level, the reassignment will give him a better opportunity to grow into the North American style after playing professionally in the KHL in Russia.
He appears to have accepted the organization’s decision, at least immediately. He started Lehigh Valley’s first game after the demotion, and he should handle the bulk of the AHL goaltending workload.
The KHL regular season ends in late March, which makes the feared return overseas less likely in 2024-25.
Upcoming Schedule
- Monday 1/27 vs. New Jersey Devils, 7pm on 97.5 The Fanatic
- Wednesday 1/28 @ New Jersey Devils, 7pm on 93.3 WMMR
- Thursday 1/30 @ New York Islanders, 7:30pm on 97.5 The Fanatic
All advanced stats at 5-on-5, courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, unless otherwise noted
