Flyers ‘not tanking,’ says Danny Brière, but how will the rebuild impact roster decisions?

The Flyers have, to their credit, been very open about what’s going on here. It’s the “new era of orange,” they’ve dubbed it. And despite the connotations that might come with the sound of the new slogan, this new era isn’t necessarily about winning, at least not right away.

But two days before the start of training camp, general manager Danny Brière went out of his way to use a word this town knows well — Philadelphia once being home to the guy, former 76ers GM Sam Hinkie, who is most synonymous with its usage.

“We’re not tanking any games,” Brière said Tuesday at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. “We’re not trying to lose on purpose.”

That line came during an answer to a question about whether the first-year GM thought it might be difficult for the coaching staff to motivate veterans when the team has been so open about its plans and after two questions about what success looks like.

“We’re going to do things, obviously, for the future, but at the same time we expect these guys to go out and win every game and I hope they know that,” Brière said. “I’ve told them that and I’m going to reinforce that before camp starts as well.”

» READ MORE: ‘It’s all big camp’: For Flyers prospects on the cusp, the real evaluation starts Thursday

This is where the fine line exists for Brière, coach John Tortorella, and Keith Jones, the president of hockey operations: How do you balance wanting to win with wanting to focus on development? How do you balance wanting to develop young players with also putting them in the best position to succeed?

There are some young players at the edges of the roster who will make a strong push this week and in the weeks that follow to make the NHL club. There are some veterans at the edges of the roster whose presence might help win an extra game or two, and will also be beneficial for leadership.

So, who’s in and who’s out, and what will go into those decisions?

“It’s a fine line where you want to give the young guys a chance — and Torts did a tremendous job of that last year — but at the same time not putting them in position to fail,” Brière said. “That’s the part that we have to gauge. Put them in good positions so they can grow and get better.”

Brière pointed to the addition of veteran defenseman Marc Staal, who is 36 and entering his 17th NHL season. He fits into the bucket of guys who will help younger players along the way. Brière said Staal can “help cool the temperature at times” and help the younger defensemen both on and off the ice.

Look no further than Cam York for an example of how this philosophy works. The Flyers, Tortorella especially, didn’t think the then-21-year-old was ready for the NHL out of training camp last year.

“He went back to Lehigh Valley where he was able to get a lot of confidence and he came back and was one of our best defensemen from the time he came back to the end of the year and we’re expecting him to almost be like a veteran this year,” Brière said.

» READ MORE: Inside Flyers star Sean Couturier’s 21-month journey to get back on the ice

On the other side of that, Brière pointed to Noah Cates, Morgan Frost, and Owen Tippett as players who made the club out of camp and thrived.

“At the end of the day, the players are going to decide that,” Brière said of deciding who is ready. “If they’re not ready to play, we’re not going to keep forcing them back into the lineup. We’re going to give them the chance to maybe get their confidence back somehow. Depending on who they are, some guys can go down to the minors, some guys will need a little bit more practice time. We’ll try to gauge the temperature. There’s no doubt that it’s critical to develop our young guys and think about the long-term prospects for this organization.”

Keep all of this in mind over the next few weeks when watching players like Tyson Foerster, Elliot Desnoyers, Bobby Brink, Emil Andrae, and Adam Ginning — the five prospects with arguably the best chance at cracking the NHL roster — in camp and exhibition games. The decision on where they end up come early October likely won’t have a sizable impact on how many points the Flyers finish with in the standings.

But those decisions, and how the Flyers go about them, have an impact on where the Flyers’ main focus is, and how they’ll be judging success.

“It’s about the future,” Brière said when asked what success this season looks like. “It’s about the development and how we come together as a team.

“We’re not trying to lose. We’re trying to develop our guys in, hopefully, a winning culture but [also] an environment where they leave everything they have on the ice every single night. And I hope and think that our fans will respect that.”

As the Master of the Tank knows, the honeymoon period only lasts so long.