Danny Brière ushers in a new Flyers era, but ‘it’s not just about making the playoffs’

Before Flyers training camp begins on Thursday, general manager Danny Brière held his annual preseason press conference on Tuesday.

Here are four things we learned:

This camp will be quite different — and not just because there’s a new sheriff in town in Rick Tocchet, who was hired as the Flyers’ bench boss in May. For the first time in a while, roster spots are up for grabs as several youngsters enter camp hungry to make the NHL.

“We expect more of a fight internally, and we hope that it’s going to make us better, it’s going to hopefully make us more competitive throughout the season, and maybe push to get closer to the playoffs,” Brière said. “At the end of the day, we want to make the playoffs. It’s not like, ‘OK, it’s not the priority, but we still want to make the playoffs,’ and I want the players to keep pushing in that direction.”

Brière mentioned several youngsters to keep an eye on, including forwards Alex Bump and Nikita Grebenkin and defensemen Helge Grans, Oliver Bonk, and Emil Andrae. He thought the two forwards, who played in the rookie series against the New York Rangers on Friday and Saturday, looked good before adding Jacob Gaucher, Denver Barkey, and 2025 first-rounder Jack Nesbitt to the mix.

The push comes after Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink took a big step in their games last season. New addition Trevor Zegras also hopes to rediscover his game at center.

» READ MORE: For Trevor Zegras, the trade to the Flyers is not just a refresh, it is also a homecoming of sorts

So, with everything clearer, the goal for the general manager this year is to not subtract players at the trade deadline for the third straight season.

“That’s not the goal going into this year,” he said. “But obviously, [the players] have to hold their end of the bargain, too. … Obviously, we’re going to have to look into it if we’re not where we want it to be, but going into the season, certainly, the message is we expect our team to take a step forward and try to help them, but not at the detriment of the future of this organization.”

The focus remains on building a team that will contend for years.

“The goal is not just to make the playoffs one year, get knocked out, disappear for two years,” Brière said. “We want to build a team, and that’s why it’s not just about making the playoffs. It’s about building a team that eventually will have a shot at winning some rounds and winning a Stanley Cup for years to come and be there year after year.”

Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen continues to recover from surgery to repair a ruptured right triceps tendon. For the second straight season, the Finn’s season was cut short to repair the injury, but in 2024, which arm was injured was not disclosed. The surgery in late March was performed in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Ristolainen is expected to miss training camp and the first six to eight weeks of the season.

Ristolainen has not played an NHL game since March 11 but was spotted late last week skating in a noncontact jersey. A member of the Flyers since he was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in 2021, Ristolainen has played in only one season opener, which was last year.

Foerster has been participating in a noncontact jersey during captain’s practices in Voorhees and will wear purple to start training camp. The forward suffered an elbow injury playing for Hockey Canada at the World Championship in May and dealt with a subsequent infection, which required a procedure. Brière is hopeful the noncontact jersey can be removed within the first week, allowing the forward to get back into form and play in games later in the preseason schedule.

Jett Luchanko, who was held out of rookie camp after not skating at development camp because of a groin injury, will be a full participant in training camp. The 19-year-old forward, who made his NHL debut last season, was mentioned by Brière as a youngster who could push for a roster spot.

Bonk’s participation is, however, to be determined. The 20-year-old, who just turned pro, is dealing with an upper-body injury. Although the defenseman was expected to play in the rookie series against the New York Rangers, “things are not moving out or as quickly as we expected,” Brière said. Bonk underwent medical imaging on Tuesday morning and skated with the rookies in a noncontact jersey.

The trade of Ivan Fedotov on Sunday to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2026 sixth-rounder was about creating salary cap space, roster flexibility, and removing someone who would take playing time away from young goaltenders in the system.

It also solidified the Flyers’ goalie tandems. Sam Ersson and Dan Vladař will be the NHL goalies, and Aleksei Kolosov and Carson Bjarnason will man the crease for Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

“Kolosov, it was a rough season for him last year. [He] didn’t play a lot. I don’t need to go back into that situation. It’s important for him to play a lot of games this year,” said Brière, anointing Kolosov as the No. 3 goalie on the depth chart and Bjarnason as No. 4.

“He’s still young, he’s still a prospect, and it kind of opens the door for him to play more games and to start, probably, in the American League. Just find his game, find his confidence, find the swagger that we had seen from him the previous few seasons in the [Kontinental Hockey League].”

There currently is no concern about Kolosov returning to the KHL, and the Belarusian goalie has been seen at several captain’s practices. He will work with Bjarnason, 20, who turned pro following his tenure with Brandon of the Western Hockey League.

So with the goaltending all but predetermined, Brière again stressed that things need to improve — in between the pipes and in front of them, too. As Kevin Woodley, InGoal Magazine’s senior editor, told The Inquirer in July, “The Flyers had three of the eight hardest environments for their goaltenders last season.”

Woodley, NHL.com’s Vancouver correspondent, also watched a lot of Tocchet’s games the last 2½ seasons with the Canucks and noted that Tocchet stresses limiting east-west play, plays across the slot and limiting turnovers and odd-man rushes.

Tocchet’s system “might protect [the goalies] a little better,” Brière said.

» READ MORE: New Flyers goalie Dan Vladař says he’s coming to compete. His underlying numbers are intriguing.

With a new coaching staff in place and prospects pushing for roster spots, “nobody should be comfortable with what they’ve had in the past,” Brière said. True. But Cam York probably wants the past wiped away, anyway.

The defenseman broke out in 2023-24, when he put up career highs in goals (10), assists (20), points (30), power-play points (six), and time on ice (22 minutes, 37 seconds). But last season, he struggled to find his game after suffering a shoulder injury in late October. He finished with 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) and was minus-8 while playing an average of 20:47 in 66 games. He often was the target of ire from former coach John Tortorella, culminating in the two nearly coming to blows in a heated argument two days before Tortorella was fired in late March.

But the Flyers clearly believe in the 24-year-old Californian, inking him to a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension worth an average annual value of $5.15 million in July.

“We believe there’s more in there. He’s rounded his game nicely,” the GM said. “The first time I saw him, I never thought he’d become as good of a defender as he’s become, and he’s fierce.

“I’ve been really impressed by how brave he is to go retrieve pucks down deep, taking hits, blocking shots, being willing to put his body on the line. I’ve been really impressed with that side of his game, and I think there’s more offensively that hasn’t come out yet.”

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