Q&A: Flyers GM Danny Brière talks trade deadline, Scott Laughton’s future, and the team’s upcoming RFAs
Brière, who is in his second deadline as the team's shot caller, has tough decisions to make regarding Laughton, Rasmus Ristolainen, and others.
To trade or not to trade, that is the question.
As the clock ticks closer and closer to 3 p.m. on Friday, Flyers general manager Danny Brière is racking up the Comcast phone bill ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline. The Flyers, who have consistently said they are prioritizing the future, sit in a rather interesting position among the league’s 32 teams, as they remain in playoff contention — four points out of the second wild-card spot — but also have veteran players like Scott Laughton who are in-demand around the league.
Will Brière and the Flyers’ brass stick or twist? The Inquirer caught up with the Flyers GM late last week in Pittsburgh for a wide-ranging interview. Part 1 will focus on the upcoming trade deadline while Part 2 will get into some bigger-picture topics like the team’s future, the idea of “big-game hunting,” and updates on prospects like Aleksei Kolosov.
While Brière says the Flyers aren’t shopping Laughton, he says he has received plenty of interest in the versatile forward.
Brière again hesitated to label any Flyers “untouchable,” before adding the caveats that some players would be largely unattainable due to asking price and others due to no-trade clauses.
The Flyers GM also revealed that the team hasn’t gotten too far with any of the team’s key restricted free agents — Cam York, Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, etc. — and that those talks will ramp up after Friday’s deadline.
As the clock ticks closer and closer to 3 p.m. on Friday, Flyers general manager Danny Brière is racking up the Comcast phone bill ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline.
Will Brière and the Flyers’ brass stick or twist with veterans like Scott Laughton and Rasmus Ristolainen? The Inquirer caught up with the Flyers GM late last week in Pittsburgh to talk all things trade deadline.
Q: This is now your second trade deadline as GM. What did you learn from the first one that could help you this year?
A: I’ve been around the trade deadline my whole life, not in this position, but as a fan, then as a player — my name had been in the mix — and then again as a fan and then in the front office in different roles. Now, in this role, I think one of the biggest differences is you’re really controlling everything that’s going on.
So I think the biggest difference is the experience that I’ve acquired in the past year, building relationships, and understanding the other GMs a little better and the way they do business because everybody’s different.
Q: You already traded Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. Are you starting to see the roster take the shape of your vision?
A: Not just my vision. I don’t work alone. I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t pretend to. I have a lot of good people around me that I trust, that I rely on, and it’s done as a team. But definitely, I think it’s slowly the vision that we see for the future, that it is starting to take shape more and more. The patience is the toughest part — even for me — the patience to do it the right way, and we all try to keep each other in check.
Q: Once again there’s been a lot of talk about Scott Laughton. Where do things stand with him? Are you getting phone calls?
A: Well, I can’t give you much one week to the trade deadline. What I can tell you is, we’re not actively shopping him. But there’s teams that would love to have a Scott Laughton on their roster come playoff time. But on our end, we also feel he’s an important part of our team. So we’re trying to figure out — you know everything has a price in life — what’s the price that we feel we can’t turn down.
It’s still a little too early to tell. Nobody’s under pressure at this time; I expect that to start happening probably Tuesday or Wednesday, when things will start heating up on that front, as far as the pressures around the league. And a lot will depend, too, on which players other teams are willing to put on the market and who decides to be sellers and buyers. So I’m not quite sure yet where the market is going.
Q: Is it the same for Rasmus Ristolainen?
A: Yeah, absolutely. Both of these guys, it worries you to remove them from this roster for what they bring. They’re a big part of our identity, the way they play, the way they carry themselves. So yeah, it’s fair to say they’re in a similar position.
Q: Where do things stand with contract negotiations with the restricted free agents: Cam York, Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Jakob Pelletier?
A: It’s very quiet at this time. There’s not much going on there. There’s just been a lot going on with the 4 Nations tournament and now the trade deadline. And you try to be careful, too, in season, to not mess too much with the guys. So it’s been quiet. We’ll probably start opening discussions some time after the trade deadline has passed.
Q: Are you open to trading anyone on the roster at this point — outside of one or two untouchables — to move this team forward and to get better?
A: That has not changed from Day 1 since this new management came in. We’ve been very open, our door’s open. We have to listen. It’s our duty to listen. We would not be doing this organization a service if we closed doors. As I said earlier, everything has a price but obviously there’s players that probably have more value and they’re much more unattainable than others. But there’s not enough value elsewhere sometimes that makes sense to trade. And then there are a few guys that have a no-trade clauses, so those are usually off the market as well.
To trade or not to trade, that is the question.
As the clock ticks closer and closer to 3 p.m. on Friday, Flyers general manager Danny Brière is racking up the Comcast phone bill ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline. The Flyers, who have consistently said they are prioritizing the future, sit in a rather interesting position among the league’s 32 teams, as they remain in playoff contention — four points out of the second wild-card spot — but also have veteran players like Scott Laughton who are in-demand around the league.
Will Brière and the Flyers’ brass stick or twist? The Inquirer caught up with the Flyers GM late last week in Pittsburgh for a wide-ranging interview. Part 1 will focus on the upcoming trade deadline while Part 2 will get into some bigger-picture topics like the team’s future, the idea of “big-game hunting,” and updates on prospects like Aleksei Kolosov.
Q: This is now your second trade deadline as GM. What did you learn from the first one that could help you this year?
A: I’ve been around the trade deadline my whole life, not in this position, but as a fan, then as a player — my name had been in the mix — and then again as a fan and then in the front office in different roles. Now, in this role, I think one of the biggest differences is you’re really controlling everything that’s going on.
In the past, you make suggestions like when Chuck [Fletcher] was the GM, but you don’t know what the discussions are about. So last year was my first time in those discussions. It’s like anything else, you acquire experience along the way. Like when another GM tells you, ‘Well, I’m not there yet,’ you know what that means or ‘We need an extra couple days’ or it could be for cap situations, roster situations. There’s so much to inquire and go through.
I think having been through it last year, I feel much more comfortable in it and not chasing the deals quite as much. You kind of know the ebbs and flows of certain parts of the season. ... I feel we’re just starting to ramp up again.
So I think the biggest difference is the experience that I’ve acquired in the past year, building relationships, and understanding the other GMs a little better and the way they do business because everybody’s different.
Q: So what does it mean when a GM says to you, ‘I’m not there yet?’
A: It could be many reasons. It could be because their cap doesn’t allow it, or their roster doesn’t allow it, or they have an injured player that’s about to come back. Sometimes it means that they are checking elsewhere, basically, to see where the price is at elsewhere. So those are the things that I think I probably understand a little better now than I did a year ago.
Q: You already traded Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee. Are you starting to see the roster take the shape of your vision?
A: Not just my vision. I don’t work alone. I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t pretend to. I have a lot of good people around me that I trust, that I rely on, and it’s done as a team. But definitely, I think it’s slowly the vision that we see for the future, that it is starting to take shape more and more. The patience is the toughest part — even for me — the patience to do it the right way, and we all try to keep each other in check.
Q: John Tortorella said the other day he’s still trying to figure out who’s going to be on the bus and who is here for the long haul. What does that mean to you? You probably have a different perspective, correct?
A: Yeah, we all do. And for me, too, the journey there is also important. For example, Sean Walker last year, he was on the bus. He was part of what we were establishing as a culture, and he had a big say in it. Erik Johnson is a big part of it now. In four or five years from now, when hopefully we’re contenders every year, Erik is probably not going to be here. But he’s an important piece at this moment.
» READ MORE: Flyers mailbag: Will the Orange and Black make moves as the trade deadline approaches?
I understand what John is also saying, and I agree with him, but there’s guys that are [meant] to help us get there and there’s guys that will be there for the long haul and the long future, hopefully. We’re figuring out along the way. And there’s probably going to be some guys that we think will be on the bus in three, four, or five years from now, and we’ll get there, and things can change. So there could be some changes along the way as well.
Q: Tortorella has one more year in his contract and has said himself he’s “on the back nine” of his career. So how do you determine who is on the bus when it will probably be a different coach who could have a different style of play down the road?
A: And you don’t know who is going to be that player down the road or that coach. And it’s the same thing that applies here. All I can tell you at this time is we feel Torts is the right person to lead us and lead these guys toward what we’re trying to establish here. Time will tell. I really don’t know.
Q: Do you look far down the road?
A: Everybody has bumps and bruises along the way and some ups and downs in their career. We’re trying to figure out who will be able to lead us down the road. There’s going to be a few players that are going to be probably different than what we feel today. But we can’t really control that, like if a guy gets an injury or is not able to play at the same level down the road. So we’ll have to adjust along the way. It’s like anything else in life. Nothing’s perfect, nothing’s a straight line. We know we’ll have to adjust along the way.
Q: Once again there’s been a lot of talk about Scott Laughton. Where do things stand with him? Are you getting phone calls?
A: Well, I can’t give you much one week to the trade deadline. What I can tell you is, we’re not actively shopping him. But there’s teams that would love to have a Scott Laughton on their roster come playoff time. But on our end, we also feel he’s an important part of our team. So we’re trying to figure out — you know everything has a price in life — what’s the price that we feel we can’t turn down.
It’s still a little too early to tell. Nobody’s under pressure at this time; I expect that to start happening probably Tuesday or Wednesday, when things will start heating up on that front, as far as the pressures around the league. And a lot will depend, too, on which players other teams are willing to put on the market and who decides to be sellers and buyers. So I’m not quite sure yet where the market is going.
Q: Is it the same for Rasmus Ristolainen?
A: Yeah, absolutely. Both of these guys, it worries you to remove them from this roster for what they bring. They’re a big part of our identity, the way they play, the way they carry themselves. So yeah, it’s fair to say they’re in a similar position.
Q: Where do things stand with contract negotiations with the restricted free agents: Cam York, Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Jakob Pelletier?
A: It’s very quiet at this time. There’s not much going on there. There’s just been a lot going on with the 4 Nations tournament and now the trade deadline. And you try to be careful too in season, to not mess too much with the guys. So it’s been quiet. We’ll probably start opening discussions some time after the trade deadline has passed.
» READ MORE: Flyers forward Scott Laughton is having some fun with being the center of trade rumor attention
Q: Are you open to trading anyone on the roster at this point — outside of one or two untouchables — to move this team forward and to get better?
A: That has not changed from Day 1 since this new management came in. We’ve been very open, our door’s open. We have to listen. It’s our duty to listen. We would not be doing this organization a service if we closed doors. As I said earlier, everything has a price but obviously there’s players that probably have more value and they’re much more unattainable than others. But there’s not enough value elsewhere sometimes that makes sense to trade. And then there are a few guys that have a no-trade clauses, so those are usually off the market as well.