‘Getting younger’ comes into focus after Flyers trade Erik Johnson, Scott Laughton, and Andrei Kuzmenko at deadline

Speaking to The Inquirer on Feb. 27 in Pittsburgh, Flyers general manager Danny Brière said his vision for the Flyers’ future is slowly starting to take shape.

Slow may be an understatement.

The second-year GM made several moves on Friday that have considerably shifted the needle. Out are forwards Scott Laughton and Andrei Kuzmenko, and defenseman Erik Johnson — the Flyers are retaining 50% of the forwards’ contracts — and in come forwards Givani Smith and Nikita Grebenkin, and the key to it all, a first-round pick in 2027.

“We hope to be one of those teams on the other side of the fence that is looking to acquire players. … Those first-round picks you saw today, you see on draft day, they’re so valuable,” said Brière, who stuck to his guns for the second-straight year; he got a 2025 first-round pick for Sean Walker during last year’s trade deadline.

» READ MORE: Flyers trade Scott Laughton to Maple Leafs

The deadline moves come after homegrown forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee were traded to the Calgary Flames in late January.

The message is clear: it’s all about the future for the Flyers.

“I would say [to fans] that we’re in a really good spot, probably progressing a little quicker than I even expected,” he said. “Some of our young guys are stepping up. … So there’s a lot of positives. We’re getting younger and younger as a team and I think — I’m almost scared to look at our age group after today — but we’re definitely going to be near the top of the youngest group in the NHL. So to me, that’s exciting.”

Brière did sneak in during his press conference that he hopes the team makes the Stanley Cup playoffs this year — they are five points out of a wild-card spot entering Friday night, although after the last two games that may be a pipe dream — but “hopefully next year we can, we can take a run at it,” he added.

Although he has used the term “big-game hunting” more than once in recent interviews, he wouldn’t commit to the summer being the dividing line.

“The team will let us know. I think we’re getting closer and closer,” he said. “We’re looking into it now. We started doing that this trade deadline. It wasn’t quite the right time. But, more importantly, it’s finding the right player.”

Time will tell who that will be. But the Flyers did send one message with the retention of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. A coveted right-shot blueliner, who coach John Tortorella recently said that if you trade on Friday you’ll wish you had him on Saturday, the 30-year-old will continue to wear orange and black and is part of building toward a postseason run in the future.

» READ MORE: Flyers trade Andrei Kuzmenko to Kings, and Erik Johnson to the Avalanche

“We see him as a guy that if you get in the playoffs, he becomes very, very valuable,” Brière said. “I know he’s never played there, but the type of hockey that he plays, the physicality, the size that he brings, and now on top of it, the way he kills plays with his stick, the way he skates the puck out of trouble, he’s chipping in offensively. … We feel if we traded him out of our top six, or you could say top four, it would leave a huge hole.”

There is now a huge hole in the room, however, with the loss of Laughton, 30, and Johnson, 36. The pair were critical to building up the room and bringing in a healthier culture. Laughton was called the glue to it all by several teammates, including captain Sean Couturier on Friday, and his loss may be felt for a while.

“There’s no doubt that it’s a little scary. He was a big part of the culture that we’ve been reestablishing the last couple of years,” Brière said. “He was a big part of that, but at some point, too, you got to let some of the young guys start to take over.”

Those young guys are now in charge. The future is certainly bright with Matvei Michkov, Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and Sam Ersson, and soon-to-be NHLers Jett Luchanko and Oliver Bonk. They will make up the core, and while the rest of the season may be a wash, the new era is taking shape.

“The way I see it, we’re just going to keep getting better and better,” Brière said. “It’s not going to happen overnight. And that’s probably the toughest part is the patience needed to get there. But I’m really excited about the way things are evolving.”