The Flyers and Blackhawks chose different paths to rebuild. Which team is closer to contending lies in the eyes of the beholder.

It has been just over three years since Danny Brière uttered a word that was not only long overdue but up until that point seemed prohibited when it came to the Flyers.

That word, of course, was “rebuild,” and it was largely met with cautious optimism by fans the second it reverberated from the then-interim general manager’s mouth on March 12, 2023. Someone had finally acknowledged the obvious: The Flyers needed to start over to move forward.

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“It needs to be done the right way. At this point, I think that’s what needed, that’s what is going to be important moving forward, and not rushing into things,” Brière said that day when asked if this was a multiyear process. ”We’re going to keep evaluating players, we’re going to have a lot of discussions [about] in which direction we’re going to move, but there’s no doubt this is not a quick fix."

After years of refusing to look in the mirror and throwing money at problems or slapping flimsy Band-Aids on deep-rooted wounds to futilely try to remain competitive, the Flyers decided that things were going to be different. They were officially rebuilding in earnest for the first time in franchise history.

Fast forward three years, and Brière has largely followed through on that promise, albeit not totally. While the Flyers have stripped their roster of veterans like Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes, and Scott Laughton along the way, and have made 26 draft picks over the last three years, the organization’s pipeline is still missing two of the most important pieces of any Stanley Cup contender: a No. 1 center and a surefire top-pair blueliner.

Many will point to the team’s unwillingness to go full Sam Hinkie and “Trust the Process” as the biggest reason. It is a fair assessment. While the Flyers have been mostly patient, embraced playing younger players, and accumulated draft picks, they also have never completely knocked the house down — a la trading the likes of Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, and Rasmus Ristolainen — and fully tanked.

The Flyers haven’t drafted higher than sixth since Brière took over, and have finished 21st, 29th, and are currently 15th in the standings during his three seasons. While the Flyers have been bad, they haven’t ensured they would be quite bad enough to land a phenom like Connor Bedard, Macklin Celebrini, Matthew Schaefer, Leo Carlsson, or even Adam Fantilli at one of those two premium positions.

On Thursday night, they will host another once-proud organization in the midst of a rebuild in the Chicago Blackhawks. But while the Flyers have been hesitant to jump two feet in, Chicago has taken the far more conventional path of trying to build a consistent contender in the NHL, and frankly, sports in general these days.

As with the Flyers, the ultimate success of the Blackhawks’ rebuild remains to be seen, but their decision to go with substandard teams and bottom out — they’ve finished 30th, 30th, 31st, and are currently 30th — since 2022-23 has borne fruit. Compiling top-five picks has landed them several potential franchise cornerstones, including Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the top-heavy 2023 draft. In Bedard, who is already approaching superstar level, and defenseman Artyom Levshunov (No. 2 in 2024), sniper Anton Frondell (No. 3 in 2025), and 2022 first-round picks Kevin Korchinski, Frank Nazar, and Sam Rinzel, the Blackhawks have completely restocked at center and defense.

The Flyers’ future down the middle and on the blue line is far less certain, as Jett Luchanko’s post-draft years have underwhelmed, while towering Jack Nesbitt and Jack Berglund probably max out as 2Cs even in the best of outcomes. On defense, 2023-first-rounder Oliver Bonk remains a solid defensive prospect, albeit not the dynamic, needle-moving offensive blueliner that teams covet. And behind Bonk, the team’s other defensive prospects — David Jiříček, Carter Amico, Spencer Gill — have either largely been injured or enigmas to this point.

Sure, the Flyers landed two wingers — three if you include the since-gone Cutter Gauthier in 2022 — with legitimate star potential in Matvei Michkov, whom they only landed because of geopolitical concerns in 2023, and Porter Martone, whom they took sixth last June, during their “rebuild.” But are those two, added to the likes of Konecny, Sanheim, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, and Cam York, really enough to constitute turning the page from rebuilding toward contention?

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Based on how the Flyers have acted the last few seasons, they seem to think so. Most rebuilding teams tank to build down the middle with stars and then add around them. But the Flyers have done the opposite by loading up on the wing, with the expectation that they can either make do at those positions or add their No. 1 center and No. 1 defenseman, likely via trade, at a later date.

“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,” Brière told The Inquirer earlier this month.

But with high-end centers so rarely available, and free agency dead as we know it, is that strategy viable?

Former Flyers defenseman and current TV analyst Chris Pronger doesn’t think so. “I don’t know any team — any team — that rebuilds with a winger,” he said of the Flyers on a recent episode of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. “I don’t know one good team who rebuilt with a winger. You don’t rebuild with a winger, you rebuild up the middle — center, defense, goalie."

The Flyers seem resigned to try, and while they enter Thursday’s game 13 points ahead of Chicago in the standings, it’s fair to wonder whether the Blackhawks are closer to truly contending again.