Have Danny Briere, Flyers Adjusted Rebuilding Timeline?
The Philadelphia Flyers openly announced their first full organizational rebuild in May 2023. Their fan base knew the stated goal to build for long-term success and consistent Stanley Cup contention wouldn’t happen overnight.
Danny Briere, Keith Jones, and other key members of the organization have repeatedly declined to set a definitive timeline for the Flyers to reenter the conversation as a playoff contender or a championship contender.
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A once-proud NHL franchise clearly needed years to fill their void of top-end talent, escape salary cap jail, fix internal player development issues, and reestablish a strong organizational culture.
The Flyers will (almost certainly) tie a franchise record in April finishing their fifth consecutive season outside the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, activity off the ice during the 2024-25 season indicates flexibility in the rebuild that affects the franchise’s outlook for the 2025 offseason and their chances to compete in 2025-26.
“It’s (The rebuild is) probably progressing a little quicker than I even expected.” -Danny Briere
Shifted Approach To “Culture”
The Flyers have heavily emphasized rebuilding their organizational culture immediately after hitting the lowest point in franchise history in the final years under Chuck Fletcher.
The priority included player personnel decisions to retain hard-working and respected veterans and avoid tanking to increase NHL Draft Lottery odds. It theoretically lessened the odds of acquiring top-end NHL talent in higher draft position.
Briere’s willingness to trade Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost in January signaled an apparent shift. Was removing two players who fit well in a rebuilding dressing room a serious concern?
“Not anymore, if that trade was made two years ago, maybe (it would’ve been) a little bit more scary. Just not knowing where our room was.” -Danny Briere
The decision to move Scott Laughton at the NHL Trade Deadline more seriously indicated the willingness to move out of an initial rebuilding phase with a top priority of veteran roster players setting a culture.
“There’s no doubt that it’s a little scary. He (Laughton) was a big part of the culture that we’ve been re-establishing the last couple years…but at some point too, you’ve got to let some of the young guys start to take over. We thank Scott for everything that he’s done, and hopefully, he leaves a print on our locker room, and you see some of the young guys taking a step this year… You hope that they can use what they’ve learned from Scott.” -Danny Briere
The decision to move Erik Johnson also aligned with the philosophy. Both veterans had brought value to the rebuild intangibly without playing roles at the top of the NHL lineup.
Briere mentioned Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink as possible developing members of a new leadership group entering their prime seasons.
Sentence in Salary Cap Jail
The current front office inherited lucrative contracts that have forced salary cap gymnastics through the early part of the regime. The Flyers have carried a crucial amount of salary the past two seasons for players who haven’t contributed to the NHL roster.
The Flyers will be free of paying Cal Petersen and Tony DeAngelo by July 1. Kevin Hayes and Cam Atkinson will still count against Philadelphia’s cap in 2025-26. Briere also agreed to retain $1.5 million on the final year of Scott Laughton’s contract next season, and Ryan Ellis will limit Philadelphia’s financial flexibility until his contract expires in 2027.
The cap constraints pushed Briere to estimate the summer of 2026 as a reasonable target to start investing in more impactful free agents who can change the overall outlook an NHL season.
“We want to build it from the inside, and then we want to have some cap availability to recruit. That’s something the Flyers have always been able to do prior to the salary cap was bring in players. It’s a spot that’s desirable to play in. We need room to do that. We need the cap space, and that’s going to be a few years down the road.” –Keith Jones on 97.5 The Fanatic (May 2023)
However, news of the quickly rising NHL salary cap will create a long-term advantage for a major market franchise looking to invest money in key free agents with the advantage of Comcast’s deep ownership pockets.
- NHL Salary Cap for the 2024-25 season: $88 million
- NHL Salary Cap for the 2025-26 season: $95.5 million
- NHL Salary Cap for the 2026-27 season: $104 million
- NHL Salary Cap for the 2027-28 season: $113.5 million
Will the change in the wind enable the Flyers to spend during the summer of 2025 sooner than their originally estimated timeline?
“It’s possible. It’s too early to tell who’s there (in free agency) or who’s not. We definitely have a little bit more flexibility… I think we’re getting closer and closer, and we’re looking into it now. We started doing that (considering more expensive additions) 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.” -Danny Briere
2025 NHL Offseason
The Flyers have placed tremendous faith in John Tortorella to set a better standard for performance on and off the ice during the rebuild. The fiery head coach’s contract expires after the 2025-26 season, and talks about a potential move to an executive role continue to swirl.
A head coaching change after the 2024-25 season would be an even bigger indicator of Briere and the front office’s comfort level moving past the initial phase of the rebuild focused on culture. Tortorella would likely move to another role within the organization if he isn’t coaching.
However, the aggressive pursuit of offseason trade and free agent targets with high-end potential will more appropriately define the expectations for the Flyers to compete in 2025-26.
When the Flyers spent the seventh-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft on Matvei Michkov, they landed the first player who could begin to fill the void of top-liners during the potential Stanley Cup window down the road.
The current roster has no obvious solutions for a future first-line center, a workhorse number one defenseman, or an indisputable long-term starting goaltender. The prospect pipeline has some promising options but no clear individual solution either.
Briere has acknowledged the lack of a top-line center as the most glaring hole. His judgment on the availability of the right player rather than the most sensible addition at the given time will be his most important decision of the 2025 offseason.
If the Flyers fail to upgrade the position this offseason, they’ll enter their third straight season under a new front office without a legitimate opportunity to compete. Michkov will enter his second NHL season still without a suitable option to feed him the puck and enable the highest level of development.
The confluence of financial advantages, ammo for a major trade, and a clear position of weakness have opened the door for the Flyers to make a move this summer.
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The free agent center market looks thin. Tage Thompson and Elias Pettersson appear unlikely to leave their current teams despite hopeful Flyers fans dreaming of a blockbuster trade.
Trevor Zegras and Cole Perfetti could be more reasonable trade targets if the Flyers want to pursue a talented young center who could benefit from a change of scenery.
The most intriguing possibility of the newly-found cap flexibility is the potential for Briere to weaponize the offer sheet and steal away another team’s restricted free agent.
The Flyers could target pending RFA centers Mason MacTavish, Wyatt Johnston, or Marco Rossi with a contract their respective teams can’t match. Landing a player with an offer sheet requires a team to pay draft pick compensation proportional to the newly-signed contract. The rebuilding Flyers have stocked their draft capital in recent years to allow for a big move.
Hope surrounding the New Era of Orange bought the Flyers some understanding throughout two years of mediocrity on the ice. Briere and the front office have maneuvered themselves into a more favorable position to make the key additions that the roster is sorely lacking.
While long-term additions always require patience and selection of moves on a case-by-case basis, Briere and Jones have freed themselves from the handcuffs of the first phase of their rebuild. How will they use their preparation as opportunity presents itself this offseason?
