Danny Brière won’t say whether the Flyers will draft a center with the No. 6 pick, but it sure looks that way

The Flyers’ offseason is in full swing.

In 10 days, all eyes will be on the Flyers’ NHL draft headquarters in Atlantic City as they prepare to make three selections in the first round.

Or will they?

The stakes are high for the Flyers, who, as of Tuesday have three picks in the top 32 before another eight in Rounds 2-7 on June 28. Of course, general manager Danny Brière and assistant general manager Brent Flahr didn’t show their cards on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t have a few stashed up their sleeves.

Before they go all-in, let’s delve into what they did — and did not say — to the media on Tuesday and answer three big questions.

Brière said he was “bummed” at the team falling two spots after the draft lottery moved the New York Islanders up to No. 1 and the Utah Mammoth to No. 4. However, after spending the last six weeks watching tape and speaking to about 60 players at the NHL scouting combine, he is confident the Flyers will get a top player when they select sixth overall.

Whom that will be is, obviously, still up in the air because “it almost feels like someone else is going to make the decision for us,” he said.

Fair point.

After Matthew Schaefer at No. 1 and Michael Misa is expected to go second overall, how the chips fall for picks three, four, and five is a crapshoot. Who will be left among top-rated Anton Frondell, Caleb Desnoyers, James Hagens, Porter Martone, and Roger McQueen? Could Jake O’Brien or Brady Martin jump into the top five?

All but Martone are centers.

“At the top of the draft, it will definitely be the best player available for us,” Brière said matter-of-factly. “Then, as you go down the draft, if we take, for example, three centers with our first three picks after that, we’re probably going to ease up a little bit and start looking at positional needs or different positions at that point. But at the top, especially at No. 6, we’re looking at the best player available.”

So, is that a center?

“Yeah, it’s pretty well talked-about early in the draft, in the top 10, there are a number of centermen, which isn’t always the case,” said Flahr, before raising eyebrows by adding: “There are a few defensemen, a couple of high-end wingers. There’s obviously a lot of different options there. We are well aware of our own needs, but at the same time, there’s some players, especially at No. 6, we’re going to get the best player on our board.”

» READ MORE: NHL draft: Could the Flyers keep it in the family with two-way ace Caleb Desnoyers?

Victor Eklund and Justin Carbonneau are the other wingers who are considered high-end, and the top-ranked defensemen in the draft include Kashawn Aitcheson, Jackson Smith, and Radim Mrtka. The Flyers need centers in the system, but do they go off the board like last season, when they took Jett Luchanko at No. 13?

“I think we’ve shown that we’re not afraid to do that, but we’re going to do what we feel is the best player. It doesn’t mean we’re just going to swing for the fun of it and keep you guys on your toes,” Brière said with a chuckle. “We’re going to go with who we think the best player is. And look, our guys [on the scouting staff] have done a lot of work.

“I rely on our guys who go out in the field and have done hundreds of reports and seen those guys 100 times live. And no offense to all the experts out there that watch these players on tape once or twice and they make their own rankings, and it’s great, and it works for them, but I’m going to trust our guys that I’ve worked with for a lot of years.”

Flahr, however, said that a big swing is probably out of the question at No. 6, adding: “There’s a number of players there that are in that range that aren’t really swings for me. There’s different strengths and weaknesses and different types of players, maybe, but they’re all going to be good players down the road.”

Are the Flyers required to take a center? No, but you can never have too many, and this class is center-heavy. Brière noted that the Flyers have the recently re-signed Noah Cates, Karsen Dorwart, Jacob Gaucher, Luchanko, Jack Berglund, Heikki Ruohonen, and Cole Knuble. But those are, for the most part, down-the-road options. What about today? With 11 picks, including seven in the top 48, the Flyers have the capital to trade for NHL-ready players, especially at center.

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.

“Calling around the league and finding centers is almost impossible,” Brière said. “And you’re not going to find a first-line or second-line center. A lot of teams will be willing to entertain a fourth-line center, moving a fourth-line guy, but they will want a second-line winger in return.”

“So, if we have the chance, we want to start … drafting them and grooming them, and hopefully down the road, it might take three, four, five years, but they can turn into good players that we can either use here or for an asset to acquire something that we need,” he added. “It’s just that centers have a lot of value these days.”

That last part hints that they’ll probably go with a center. As of Tuesday, Flahr said there are probably 10-12 players that the Flyers have zeroed in on, but “there’s going to be guys arguing and banging heads all next week.” In the days leading up to the draft, the scouting staff will conduct a few more Zoom calls with players and meetings to create a final list. It’s a vital tool to determine the best player available or positional needs as names are crossed off.

This is the big question, with the possibility that the 5-foot-11 center Hagens will be available when they pick. The Flyers are a small team and, as everyone has seen in the playoffs, size does matter.

“Well, it’s something to consider,” Brière said. “Just like the skating, the hockey sense, the competitive edge, it’s part of it. It probably doesn’t play into it as much as how competitive he is and the hockey sense. I think those things are probably more important, even the skating. We’re aware of it, but at the same time, we want to be careful.

“There are other areas we can protect those guys with the [Garnet] Hathaways of this world that can come in and make sure, the [Nick] Deslauriers, the [Nick] Seelers, like those guys. We’re aware, but at the end of the day, it shouldn’t sway us too much.”

A “high-compete” energy is always something the Flyers crave as they believe it is innate and not teachable. Former coach John Tortorella’s directive at the draft was to ensure the Flyers home in on players who fit this mold. Now that Rick Tocchet is the bench boss, the plan has not changed, as they all “have the same vision.”

Reading between the lines, this screams Hagens, whom The Inquirer tabbed as the Flyers’ pick in our latest mock draft.

Of course, as the GM, who is entering his third season at the helm, knows, you need a dance partner. His phone is on, and there have been some talks with other organizations, but as he noted, things don’t usually pick up until the week of the draft.

“Having so many picks, I would expect it,” Brière said of getting calls. “I’m also going to make a lot of calls, too, to try to gauge what the interest [is]. But so far, it’s been pretty quiet on that front. It feels like everybody’s trying to move up.

“We’ve said from the beginning we’d like to try to move up, if it was possible, but right now, there’s just not a lot of options there. Teams are all looking to move up, so we’ll have to be patient. And maybe there’s an opportunity that comes where we can create value going the other way also.”

How far could the Flyers move up? Drafting Schaefer is out of the question — although Brière would love to snag a fellow No. 48. Some food for thought: The Flyers were one of 13-14 teams that interviewed Misa at the scouting combine.

» READ MORE: Flyers draft: Matthew Schaefer and Danny Brière’s little-known connection and other notes from the NHL combine

But with the draft being decentralized this year, there’s no wandering over to another table to chat about a possible swap. It does afford the Flyers, who have several picks, to make unseen moves, but it also takes away from other teams seeing chatter and wanting in.

“I think it just forces you also to have a lot of potential trades, up and down, probably the night before or that morning, in place if certain things fall a certain way,” said Flahr, who acknowledged that the Flyers have done that in the past. “You’re going to have to do a lot more of that.”

So will they make a trade? Flahr said the Flyers are open for business, whether to move up or down in the draft or to find an NHL-ready player — only if it fits their timeline.

“We’re not going to be throwing away picks for rental older players,” he said. “You can maybe sign one on July 1, but if there’s a younger player that fits in our age group that helps us now, then it’s worth a pick or certain picks, and yeah, certainly. But, no, we are not just going to be throwing picks at older players for short-term gain.”

Intriguing. Could that be someone like Jason Robertson? Time will tell.

» READ MORE: Dallas star Jason Robertson isn’t a center. That shouldn’t deter the Flyers from trading for him if he’s available.