Danny Brière’s offseason checklist: How Flyers’ broken power play, center help, goaltending clarity fit into GM’s priorities

The Flyers’ season ended just 19 days ago. That’s it. A littleunder three weeks.

By May 28 of last year, a topsy-turvy season was 41 days in the past. Making the playoffs, and the second round to boot, brings quite a difference in timing and preparation ahead of an offseason that has been long earmarked to be a big one for the Flyers.

Back in June 2024, Flyers general manager Danny Brière was optimistic about the summer of ‘26, when things would “ease up a little bit more.” Aside from the salary cap rising from $95.5 million to $104 million, the organization would be done paying millions in dead money to Cam Atkinson, Kevin Hayes, and Scott Laughton on July 1 — and he said those words even before the Flyers traded away the hefty contract of Ryan Ellis.

» READ MORE: Your guide to a critical Flyers offseason: Draft picks, cap space, free agency targets, and more

Unfortunately, a few John Hancocks later, and the big free-agent fish they thought they could reel in are staying with their current teams for a little job security. So, where does that leave the Flyers, who are still in the growth phase of their rebuild after making their first postseason appearance since 2020?

“We’re in a good spot as far as the salary cap goes, as far as our picks goes, as far as our prospect[s] goes. So there’s a lot of upside there,” Brière said at his end-of-season availability. “And if there’s an opportunity to jump on something that could help us, yeah, it’s my job to look at everything. But I don’t feel that I’m forced to make a move just to make a move, because we’ve made it into the playoffs this year.

“We’ve said it for a long time, we wanted to build a team that was going to be here for a long time, not just to go for it for a year or two. So that’s still the same approach on my end.”

Brière may not feel like he’s forced to make a move, but he did acknowledge that “I don’t think it has changed a lot from last summer.” As he said, they have some improvements to make:

🔲 Fix the power play

🔲 Add a center

🔲 Finalize the goaltending duo

🔲 Top pair defenseman

Rinse and repeat the last few checklists because back on top with a bullet is the power play.

Coach Rick Tocchet joked — or maybe it wasn’t a joke — that he would spend all summer working on figuring out how to get the power play out of the NHL’s basement. That’s a tall task, Rick, considering it’s a problem that has persisted for five years and across three coaching staffs. But now it’s become critical to fix, because an effective power play could have helped the Flyers win playoff games instead of contributing to losses.

» READ MORE: Five questions for Danny Brière and the Flyers as they embark on their first offseason with expectations

There were a couple of things the bench boss thought were issues, from players tensing up or clenching their sticks to retrievals and reads. So is it personnel? Is it the strategy? Who knows, but maybe it’s time to throw the baby out with the bathwater and start from scratch.

While it’s not all broken — Trevor Zegras had 23 points, tied with names like Sidney Crosby, Jack Hughes, and Artemi Panarin — they need to bolster their units. And they have several intriguing options, whether internally or via free agency.

Tocchet likes a big shot from the point, which was why the Big Finn, Rasmus Ristolainen, was utilized from that spot; however, he had zero goals and one assist across the regular season and playoffs. New Jersey’s John Carlson, who played for assistant coach Todd Reirden in Washington, and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s point man, Darren Raddysh, are two big-time options.

Carlson, 36, is one of the best American-born defensemen in history and put up 60 points in 71 regular-season games this season between the Washington Capitals and Anaheim Ducks. He had a combined 14 power-play points, which would have tied Travis Konecny for No. 2 on the team. Raddysh is considered a threat and had a breakout year with 70 points in 73 games, 26 on the power play.

But could the answer already be in-house? Acquired at the trade deadline, defenseman David Jiříček posted 13 points in 15 games with Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, with his two goals and three of his assists coming on the power play.

“He’s a dangerous player on power play. … You have to respect his ability to shoot the puck. He’s got an absolute missile," Phantoms coach John Snowden told The Inquirer.

» READ MORE: Q&A: Phantoms coach John Snowden on developing young Flyers, David Jiříček’s power-play prowess, and more

When Brière spoke to the media on May 14, he hadn’t yet sat down and evaluated the roster with Tocchet. But from everything the GM said, they still want to get better at center.

“We’ve talked about the center position before. That’s probably still there,” he said.

There are some differences from his chat after the 2024-25 season, with the Flyers having some center depth with Zegras, Noah Cates, Sean Couturier — the captain dropped down to the fourth line but played a big-time role in the playoffs — Christian Dvorak, Luke Glendening, and Denver Barkey all playing the position. And 2024 first-rounder Jett Luchanko will either be playing in the AHL or NHL next season.

But then he added, “The center position is something that we’re probably going to look at.”

“Probably” does leave the door open for things to go either way. In a Q&A with The Inquirer the day after the NHL trade deadline, Brière said, “I don’t think it’s a secret that we’d like to add in the center position.” The follow-up question was, do the Flyers still need a high-end, No. 1 center because they have high-end wingers?

» READ MORE: These are the players Flyers fans most (and least) want back next season — and the one they can’t agree on

“You might be able to get away with No. 2 centers, because down the road, you might have some elite wingers. It might be, how, at the end of the day, we’re built, and it gives you the freedom to maybe spend somewhere else,” he said on the day Alex Bump made his NHL debut.

Maybe the GM was doing some foreshadowing because he also said at one point during the interview that the asking price for those No. 1 centers is “huge” and that they “just haven’t found the right fit for the right price.”

He will have to pay a price, in either draft picks or players, because the only options are trades or offer sheets. The free-agent market will not have a top center — Evgeni Malkin re-signed with Pittsburgh on Tuesday — but it is filled with depth guys like Teddy Blueger, who played for Tocchet in Vancouver. By trade, could someone like Auston Matthews be available? As for restricted free agents, whether through an offer sheet or a sign-and-trade/trade-and-sign, young rising centers like Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger, Cole Perfetti, Mavrik Bourque, and Kirby Dach are all looking for new deals.

Last April, the Flyers were pondering who would tend the twine. Dan Vladař entered the chat on July 1 and not only helped to solidify one of the Flyers’ biggest weaknesses with a spectacular season, but it’s looking like he’ll be extended beyond his two-year deal.

The issue is with his goalie partner.

Sam Ersson’s season did not start great as he went 8-10-5 with a 3.51 goals-against average and .856 save percentage. Then came the Olympic break, and the Swedish netminder told himself the rest of the season would be “a new chapter, a new door opening,” to forget about what happened, and that he was “going to go on a run here.” And he did, going 6-1-0 with the fifth-best GAA (1.99) and 11th-best save percentage (.912) in the NHL among goalies with at least six games played.

But does it mean the Flyers will bring him back? Brière was uncommitted a few weeks ago, saying the team would “sit down and discuss.” So, where does it leave things if Ersson, a restricted free agent, is not given a qualifying offer?

In the minors, Aleksei Kolosov, 24, and Carson Bjarnason, 20, are still marinating with the Phantoms, and career backup Eric Comrie, Vladař’s countryman Vítek Vaněček, and Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner are interesting options as unrestricted free agents.

And finally, “If we could improve on defense, we’re going to look at that too,” Brière said.

What does that mean exactly?

The Flyers are pretty set with Cam York, Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, and restricted free agent Jamie Drysdale. Jiříček, who is no longer waiver-exempt next season, and Oliver Bonk, who had an impressive NHL debut and played in a playoff game, are expected to push for jobs.

Where does it leave the rest?

Emil Andrae is a restricted free agent, and there is a 50-50 chance the Flyers do not retain him. Despite being a puck-moving defenseman, which the Flyers desperately need, he’s been on the third pair, where Tocchet wants a blueliner who can kill penalties. Andrae is more of a power-play guy, so could his days in Philly be numbered?

Noah Juulsen has been a Tocchet guy since their days together in Vancouver; however, could he be gone with the GM saying last July he was signed to a one-year deal because the Flyers wanted size on the blue line, with Ristolainen out for the start of the season, and “to make sure that we don’t block our young guys past next year.”

The young guys may be ready, but will Ristolainen be in orange and black come September? Always a topic of trade talks, the Flyers tried to move him at the deadline, but they didn’t get an offer they liked, with teams wary of his injury history. He proved he can stay somewhat healthy and had a good run down the stretch and into the playoffs. With one year left at $5.1 million, it does make him an intriguing pickup.

And if there is an itch to improve the defense with a veteran, the aforementioned Carlson, Raddysh, and Rasmus Andersson are all interesting options. They also bring the important element of knowing what it takes to win or get deep in the playoffs, with Raddysh a member of the perennial Cup-contending Lightning, Andersson set to play in the Stanley Cup Final with the Vegas Golden Knights, and Carlsson won the Cup with the Capitals.