Clean-up in Aisle '26: Flyers' draft looks more like shopping list

by Bob Herpen

Phanatic Hockey Editor

At this weekend’s NHL Entry Draft in Buffalo, Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere and assistant GM Brent Flahr identified needs and selected players which best fit their profile and ready-made template across six picks through seven rounds.

Among the haul were multiple defensemen and a pair of goaltenders. Only one of the bunch were under 6 feet tall and just three picks were under 200 pounds – even as teenagers. No wingers, no centers, no scoring. No chances. No risks. Just purchasing in bulk.

When asked on Friday night why they passed on a puck mover with the first-round slot, Briere had this strange, cryptic response: “I think it’s knowing the board and there’s more out there, too. It doesn’t mean that we’re done, that we’re not gonna draft a puck moving defenseman.”

Even stranger, he cracked a crooked smile and forced a laugh at the reporter who asked the question, then added, “We’d like to have that as well. Let’s see what tomorrow brings, hopefully we can bring you a smaller puck defenseman after losing Emil (Andrae) obviously. At the moment, we felt the value was more on that side.”

Spoiler alert: they did not.

Even if head coach Rick Tocchet continues to pine for bigger, tougher bodies – which is a bit of an oxymoron since he’s publicly come out *against* scrums and other after-the-whistle nonsense but actually makes sense if you want to play a bunch of dudes who can pound the opposition – their choices are as specific as they are bizarre. 

Maksim Sokolovskii from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League was taken as the No. 27 pick after Briere chose to punt on the verge of making the 21st overall selection. Built like an AT-AT at only 17 years old. 6-foot-7, 240 pounds. 

Even the pair of goalies had significant bulk behind them as teenagers: Martin Psohlavec from Czechia clocks in at 6-foot-5 despite his 185-pound frame, while fellow netminder hopeful Marek Sklenicka from Seattle of the Western Hockey League stands 6-foot-3 on a wiry 175-pound body.

It’s like Briere and Flahr wanted less to conduct a draft and instead opted to spend some quality time together gossiping and browsing in the supermarket and it just took some time to come upon the right aisle. Over 6-foot? Check. Over 200 pounds? Check. Another NHL-ready body in the mid-range of the first round? Check. Just like Porter Martone, Jack Nesbitt, Oliver Bonk, Carson Bjarnasson. 

Grab your coupons, ladies. Head to checkout.

For the first time in the 4-year Briere regime, no players were selected who are either currently on D1 college rosters or would head there in the fall. It was also the first time since 2008 (under Paul Holmgren) there were no wingers selected – that year it was 2 defensemen, 2 goalies and 1 center with just 5 picks. 

It may be the first time EVER not a single offensive player was chosen in the 60-year history of the franchise – if you believe one prospect site, Kent Sauer is a center and another says he’s a d-man.

Humangous Beeg

How ridiculous was the scope of the Sokolovskii pick? BoopStats himself, Bob Vetrone, Jr. tweeted that, for just the 6th time since 1967 and first since 2003, the Flyers’ first pick of the draft was actually taller than the Sixers’ first selection. 

With the draft complete, here’s a brief rundown at a majority of the club’s rostered and prospective defensemen and their respective dimensions:

Rasmus Ristolainen: 6-foot-4, 208 pounds Travis Sanheim: 6-foot-4, 222 pounds Simon Benoit: 6-foot-4, 210 pounds Nick Seeler: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds David Jiricek: 6-foot-4, 205 pounds Helge Grans: 6-foot-4, 205 pounds Adam Ginning: 6-foot-3, 200 pounds Oliver Bonk: 6-foot-2, 185 pounds Maksim Sokolovskii: 6-foot-7, 240 pounds Carter Amico: 6-foot-5, 225 pounds Spencer Gill: 6-foot-4, 213 pounds Kent Sauer, 6-foot-3, 200 pounds The only outliers in the bunch are: Cam York: 5-foot-11, 195 pounds Jamie Drysdale: 5-foot-11, 185 pounds Brek Liske: 6-foot-4, 190 pounds Max Laaitikainen: 5-foot-11, 173 pounds Paradoxically, when asked on Saturday about the continued size differential on the back end, Flahr said, “I don’t think it’s as much of a focus any more. I think we’re a smaller team and I think we addressed that last year and some of that was just circumstance.”

I’m unsure what part of the Flyers’ journey this past season made it a priority in either Tocchet or Briere’s eyes to go this big and this brawny on the blue line. It’s all too reminiscent of the darkest period in modern NHL history, known as the Dead Puck Era.

Or as Tocchet might say, the “Low-Event Period.”

There are many threads which led to the tanking goal totals league wide between 1995 and 2004, but for our purposes the principal reason was the size, strength and skill of the Legion of Doom. Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg were such a menace for a 3-year period that it gave birth to the neutral zone trap but also gave rise to NHL GMs scrambling to draft the biggest, heaviest defenders who could simply impede progress.

First on the slab was Hal Gill. Selected in 1993 out of Providence College, Gill entered the league in 1997 for the Boston Bruins at 6-foot-7 and more than 240 pounds. At the time, then-coach Pat Burns instituted a strict defensive mindset that shrunk the B’s goals-against by 106 goals in one season, thanks in large part to Gill’s ability to get in the way. Then, Zdeno Chara. A true freak of nature at 6-foot-9, 250 pounds, he was taken by the Islanders in the 3rd round back in ‘96 and loosed on the world.

That, in turn, bred the likes of power forwards such as Todd Bertuzzi and Jarome Iginla, while forcing established stars like Keith Tkachuk, Brendan Shanahan and Jeremy Roenick to increase their mass in offseason training.

It was an arms (and hips and legs) race which eventually exploded in the mid 2000s when the league obliterated its 2004-05 season and returned by embracing more opportunistic offense. It took another half decade before touts, scouts and team braintrusts switched to focusing on prospects under 6 foot and under 200 pounds, however.

When assessing this organizational mindset, I couldn’t help but think back to the summer of 2005. Then-GM Bob Clarke took two steps back after the leap forward in bringing 1991 draftee Peter Forsberg home by heralding two major free-agent defensive signings: Derian Hatcher and Mike Rathje – both straight out of the caveman era. Neither player lasted more than 3 years here due to aggressive wear and tear.

It was the signal, before forgetting Claude Giroux’s name at the podium during the next summer’s draft, that Clarke was resistant to change and checked out.

Briere and Flahr look similarly out of step with a league that has done so much to highlight skilled players, embrace more goals, better and more frequent scoring chances alongside increased offense (expansion aside) over the last 10 years.

Yes, the need for defensemen and goaltending was obvious, but what does he and the rest of the Flyers hockey ops expect – that the current bumper crop of winger/centers is going to last forever without injuries or trades?

Or that the guys good enough to advance will either hook on or fade out?

Let’s not forget, it’s a game of Russian roulette to guess which of these prospects, if any, would be ready to be impactful in 3-to-4 years – which is about the typical time Tocchet would wear out his welcome if he’s allowed to stay close to the terminus of his 5-year deal. Then, the next regime is saddled with the previous coach’s wet dreams.

When pressed on the perceived “wide variance” of development projections for his defensive and goaltending picks, Flahr punted on an explanation, instead mumbling nonsense about a clean draft board, the rationale for trading down in the first round and Briere’s desire to keep feeding the pipeline with goalies.

If the strategery works, I’m afraid the Flyers front office may have accidentally kicked off a disturbing league-wide trend. If it fails, well, the worst is that we’ll suffer through some more traffic cones like Randy Jones.

Flyers picks in rounds 2-7 of the NHL Entry Draft

The 2026 NHL Entry Draft  from Buffalo concluded on Saturday with rounds 2 through 7. Here are the remainder of the Philadelphia Flyers' selections:

Another low-range pick, in the second round (No. 53) Brek Liske, defenseman, Everett Silvertips was the choice. 

Liske completed his third season in the Western Hockey League of Canadian juniors by collecting 24 points (7G, 17A) and a plus-36 rating over 52 regular-season games. He added 17 points across 18 playoff games for the WHL champions, including the Memorial Cup, which the Silvertips lost to Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League. A 6-foot-1, 190-pound right-handed shooter, Liske -- apparently a lifelong Flyers fan through his father -- has totaled 10 goals and 27 assists across 121 games in juniors.

With the 62nd pick (29th in 2nd round), they chose goaltender Martin Psohlavec from Karlovy Vary Jr. in his native Czechia.

In the fourth round, at pick No. 120, the Orange and Black went back into Canadian juniors to snag WHL Seattle Thunderbirds goaltender Marek Sklenicka. Only 17 years old during his first North American season, the lefty-catching native of Czechia posted a 20-12-6 record, 3.21 goals-against average, 3 shutouts and .902 save percentage over 42 regular-season appearances.

At 136 in the 5th round, the Flyers took 18-year-old Kent Sauer, a 6-foot-3, 200-plus-pound right shooting center. Sauer, whose uncle is former NHL defenseman Kurt Sauer, will skate for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL for the upcoming season, per Elite Prospects. Sauer's final high school campaign was delayed until January due to a serious knee injury suffered at the end of his junior season. 

With their final pick on Saturday, the club dipped into the European prospect pool to select 17-year-old defenseman Max Laatikainen from Kiekko-Espoo of Finland's top professional league. A clear work-in-progress, the right-handed shooter -- diminutive compared to the pipeline at 5-foot-11 and 173 pounds -- and who was born more than a month prior to the Phillies winning the 2008 World Series, racked up 2 assists in 6 appearances.

Flyers trade down, select oversized, underage defenseman from Canadian juniors

The Philadelphia Flyers originally held the No. 21 pick heading into Friday night's NHL Entry Draft, but just ahead of making the pick, traded with the San Jose Sharks to move down the board and take the No. 27 spot.

More than 3 hours into the evening, they eventually selected defenseman Maksim Sokolovskii from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League.

Sokolovskii, born in July 2008 in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan, collected 2 goals and 6 assists across 44 games during his first North American season. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound backliner is a left-handed shooter. He has one more season of juniors remaining ahead of committing to the University of Maine for the 2027-28 season. 

"We felt (Sokolovskii) was a guy we could get if we moved back," said Flyers GM Danny Briere late Friday. "There was a little bit of a risk that he could be taken, but we felt it was worth it. Something we don't have, especially, left shots we don't have a lot in the organization so that was a plus."

"We don't expect him to be the next big point producer. That wouldn't be fair. We see him as a big physical force, a defenseman that's gonna be tough to face. What pairing, I don't know yet, it's too early to tell, he could become a top-four defenseman if things fall into place," Briere added. 

Briere cited Sokolovskii's reach as an asset, but noted that his "puck game" needs more improvement. He additionally praised the rangy youngster's skating as a point of improvement over the previous season.

The Flyers previously dipped into the Hunter brothers' blueline largesse in 2023, taking Oliver Bonk with the 22nd overall pick. Since taking the reins in 2002, Knights head coach and former NHL master pest Dale Hunter has led his club to six OHL league championships and three Memorial Cups as the top development franchise in all of major Canadian juniors -- including 2025 when Bonk scored 31 combined goals between the regular season and playoffs.

"It's not a secret, they're one of the better organizations in the CHL. They seem to be able to build winners. There's a lot of guys that go through their program that end up in the NHL. They have a knack for raising those players to become pros," Briere said when asked what drew the front office to consistently choose prospects from London. "For us, it's a no-brainer when we have the chance to take someone, it obviously feels comfortable."

Other defensemen the franchise had previously selected in the first round in recent years include Cam York (14th overall, 2019), Ivan Provorov (No. 5, 2015), Travis Sanheim (No. 7, 2014), Sam Morin (11th overall, 2013) and Luca Sbisa (No. 19, 2008).

Stay tuned for additional coverage of rounds 2-7, which take place on Saturday.

Mattingly tabbed as "honorary" bench coach for NL All-Star squad

Although it might have just been a shoo-in given the game is scheduled for Citizens Bank Park, on Thursday, National League manager Dave Roberts -- from the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers -- named Phillies interim skipper Don Mattingly to be an honorary coach.

Mattingly, who arrived prior to the start of the season as bench coach for Rob Thomson's staff, was himself tabbed as head man on Apr. 28 when the Phils sputtered to a 9-19 record. Since the regime change, the Fightins have compiled a 35-17 mark heading into the finale of a 4-game series with the Washington Nationals.

The All-Star Game is scheduled for July 14. 

Philadelphia previously hosted the Midsummer Classic in 1996, 1976, 1952 and 1943.

Hathaway dealt to Panthers for pair of picks

In a pre-draft world where big moves for big hauls accompanied big sign-and-trades for long term and large AAVs, Danny Briere opted for a small rumble on Thursday.

Garnet Hathaway was shipped to the Florida Panthers along with a 6th-rounder this year in exchange for a 5th-round draft slot in tomorrow's NHL Entry Draft as well as a 4th-rounder in next year's draft.

Hathaway, who spent 3 full seasons in Orange and Black, did not have a stellar campaign in 2025-26, racking up roughly $2.4 million for every goal scored on his current 2-year contract. He posted a single goal and 3 points across 66 regular-season appearances, but added a goal and assist across 8 playoff contests.

The 34-year-old product of Brown University totaled 18 goals, 41 points and 249 penalty minutes over 215 regular-season games here. He joins a Panthers squad looking to reshape their roster in hopes of returning to the Stanley Cup finals for the 4th time in 5 seasons. 

Also included in the deal, the Flyers retained 50% (or $1.2M) for the remainder of Hathaway's contract, which expires into unrestricted free agency in July 2027. His absence leaves a gaping hole in veteran grit that will not be suitably filled by merely slotting in a younger prospect. 

Stay tuned tomorrow for the Phanatic's coverage of the first round of the draft from Buffalo tomorrow night. The Flyers currently hold the 21st overall selection.

What can be done about Trevor Zegras

by Bob Herpen

Phanatic Hockey Editor 

Trevor Zegras shook off some early jitters and a mid-season malaise during his first year with the Philadelphia Flyers, eventually posting career highs in goals (26), points (67), power-play scores (10) and equaled a career best with 5 game-winning strikes while shuttling back-and-forth between wing and center.

A fresh start and 10 games’ worth of playoff pressure was apparently what the Boston University product needed, as he told the media during the players’ break-up day on May 12: “Yeah, it was big. For me, having that excitement about the game was great, to find that passion for winning and success as a team was big.”

“I think I had lost a little bit of that,” he added.

Zegras was one of 7 regulars who finished the season 25 years old or younger. One message that was repeated by players, coaches and front office personnel was the advantage of having so many young, close-knit teammates working through the same learning curve.

“We had a close team. It made coming to the rink every day a lot of fun and enjoyable and I think when you enjoy what you’re doing you’re going to find success and that’s kinda what we had as a team this year,” he noted.

That said, if he truly values the atmosphere in Philadelphia and valued his experience in a higher-pressure but youth-friendly locker room compared to Anaheim, his seventh NHL campaign and second here should be locked in on improving his numbers with more consistency.

Of course, there are two concurrent methods to accomplish this: personal improvement as well as more consistent line pairings and better defined roles initiated by the coaching staff. 

Zegras put together two lengthy point streaks in the regular season: a 9-gamer from Dec. 9 through Dec. 23 (5G, 6A) and a 7-gamer from March 21 through Apr. 2 (1G, 6A). He also collected 15 points over the final 13 contests. 

But the start to his first Flyers’ season was tentative, with just 5 helpers in the club’s first 6 games. It took a near-career threatening incident on Oct. 23 in Ottawa when Sens forward Tim Stutzle came within inches of slashing his exposed wrist, before things kicked into gear.

After that, the first flash of brilliance arrived as he connected for 14 points (6G, 8A) in his next 10 outings. Then, a pit that lasted pretty much for two months followed by the refresh offered after the Olympics and the infusion of fresh offense from key prospects.

True Stats Behind the Snipers

While being shuttled back and forth at will between wing and center, Zegras totaled a career high 26 goals on 167 shots on goal for a 15.6% shooting percentage – second only to Travis Konecny (16.1%) among Flyers who played close to a full season.

Even if that doesn’t sound impressive, he’s in rare company. Here’s a list of the players who scored at least 25 goals for Flyers over the last decade in a full, uninterrupted season, their total SOG and shooting percentages:

2016-17: Wayne Simmonds 31G/224SOG/13.8%

               Brayden Schenn 25G/178SOG/14.0%

2017-18: Claude Giroux 34G/193SOG/17.6%

 

2018-19: Sean Couturier 33G/223SOG/14.8%

               James van Riemsdyk 27G/167SOG/16.2%

2022-23: Travis Konecny 31G/191SOG/16/2%

                Owen Tippett 27G/231SOG/11.7%

2023-24:  TK 33G/244SOG/13.5% 

                Tippett 28G/289SOG/9.7%

2024-25:  Matvei Michkov 26G/200SOG/13.0%

                Tyson Foerster 25G/142SOG/17.6%

When compiling the ideas and stats for this column, I arbitrarily came up with the idea that a true goal scorer – whether currently employed by the Flyers or forever just out of reach – should have a full-season shooting percentage close to or over 20%. Research proved this to be an overshoot.

The last Flyers forward to hit these exact parameters was Danny Briere, whose 2008-09 season was cut short due to a concussion after 11G in 29 games, with his 54 SOG resulting in a 20.4% pct.

You’ll have to go back 25 years to find the last Orange & Black forward to score at least 20 goals and hit close to or over 20% over a full, uninterrupted season – Keith Primeau in 2000-01, when he led the club with a 34G/165SOG/20.6% split. Before that, Eric Lindros did it twice in a row over his first 2 NHL seasons: 1992-93 (41G/180SOG/22.8%) and 1993-94 (44G/197SOG/22.3%). 

That’s right. Everybody’s archetype, Johnny Vermont himself, never came close to a 20% success rate despite five full seasons of 51,50,51,43 and 40 goals from 1995-2000.

Going further back, in 1988-89 alone, the Flyers had 3 players: Tim Kerr 48G/236SOG/20.3%; Rick Tocchet 45G/220SOG/20.5%; Ron Sutter 22G/106SOG/24.5%, but that was in an era when stopping 90% of all shots put goaltenders in superstar conversations.

Future Tense

One of the unintended consequences of head coach Rick Tocchet’s defensive system is that shots on goal are at a premium on the attack; this clearly won’t favor Zegras no matter where he plays or with whom.

A glance at Zegras' season log finds the greatest concentrations of multi-shot games came before Tyson Foerster’s arm injury in early December and after Alex Bump was recalled from Allentown in early March.

You would think that fewer shots per game and per season on a top-six player’s ledger would indicate better shooting acumen, but Zegras was one of the drivers of offense who had fingers pointed at his direction for choosing not to shoot more times than many of us cared to count.

Again, on break-up day, Zegras hinted this might not have been a technical flaw, indicating early conversations with Tocchet revolved around ways to become “a more complete player.”

“That was definitely something me and ‘Tocc’ talked about before the year and I think my goal and mindset was just to come in and be coachable and wherever they wanted me to play,” he admitted. “Just do my best and listen to what the people around me are saying.”

Although he produced five games of 6 shots or more, including three games of 7 SOG – one of which came after the Olympic break – Zegras totaled an incredible 58 instances of either no shots, 1 shot or 2 shots in any game last season. That’s just unacceptable whatever the circumstances. I’d imagine Tocchet’s definition of “complete player” also equals more consistent player.

It’s great Zegras publicly claimed his coachability. It’s great he said he was “fine” playing both wing and center and that center provides more room to play and more room to think. The rest of the issue falls on the coaching staff and their in-game as well as game-to-game adjustments and deployment. 

At the very least, Zegras is forced to play any contest with at least three basic mindsets: what to do as a center, what to do on the wing, what to do on the power play. Subdivide those three into however many game-action situations result from game play and it can be a lot for any young player to absorb and execute in real time. 

This strikes at the very heart of my repeated complaints about the organization, through multiple front office and coaching regimes, routinely treating forwards like amoebas, rather than creating specific roles suited best for each player. No wonder the perception exists that he's hesitant to shoot or may not be able to find the space; messages and responsibilities in situational play have to scramble his brains.

Driving play means more than puck possession and puck direction. His skating is fluid and quick. Zegras need only look as far as Bump and Porter Martone for how to generate more shots, but probably needs a nod or a pat on the back from the bench to encourage more freelancing.

The gift of youth only lasts so long. Coaching tenures only last so long. Messaging becomes jumbled and mental exhaustion can often precede physical exhaustion. That’s more than enough reason for Briere to snag a true 1C this offseason, at least locking Zegras’ responsibilities in place. 

Short of a trade or free agent signing, isn’t that what they invested $25M on Christian Dvorak for? Even though Tocchet may not know if Dvorak or Zegras should be the steady, full-time 1C, it''s not that hard to cement one player in one spot and the other riding shotgun.

Penn State, Team USA standout Janecke goes 3rd in 2026 PWHL entry draft

Courtesy of Onward State

 The 2026 Entry Draft for the Professional Women's Hockey League was held in Detroit on Wednesday evening, with some local-ish talent drawing sufficient interest to be welcomed into the fold as the next generation of stars to populate the 12-team league.

An expansion franchise, the Las Vegas contingent used the 3rd-overall pick to select left-handed Penn State forward Tessa Janecke and the 13th overall selection (first pick of the 2nd round) to snag right-hand shooting Princeton forward Issy Wunder. 

Janecke, a native of northern Illinois, finished her senior campaign by compiling 26 goals and 22 assists over 31 games for the Frozen Four entrant Nits, while adding an Olympic gold medal with Team USA this past February in Milano/Cortina. Janecke was on the ice for both USA goals in its 2-1 victory over Team Canada in the tournament's terminal contest.

Over 4 seasons in State College, she recorded a program-best 201 points (89G, 112A) in 145 contests. 

"I'm super excited just to get into that fan base and that city, that community," Janecke said after greeting her GM, Dominique Didia, at the podium. "I'm really looking forward to (the next season) and I can't wait to get out to Sin City."

For those in her hometown of Orangeville, Illinois (population 800) who supported her, Janecke said, "Thank you for everything. The schools my parents work at, just so much support and love from this small town. I appreciate it."

Wunder, a 22-year-old native of the Toronto metro region, ended her senior season at Princeton by posting team highs of 27 goals and 43 points over 34 appearances. Since 2022, she compiled 146 points (70G, 76A) in 129 games.

The 3rd pick in the 3rd round (27th overall) was used by the Boston Fleet to select right-hand shooting defense Leah Stecker. A native of north Jersey, Stecker posted career bests in assists (17) and points (20) over 39 appearances for the Nittany Lions. Over 152 collegiate contests, Stecker recorded 57 points and accumulated a plus-75 overall rating.

With the 3rd pick in the 3rd round, departing senior forward Madelyn Christian was scooped up by the Minnesota Frost. The left-handed shooter led all D1 women in short-handed goals en route to 19 goals and 35 points over 39 outings at Penn State.

"I'm at a loss for words. It's just an honor to be drafted by your hometown team," said Christian, who was born and raised in the northern Minneapolis suburbs.

In the later rounds, goaltender Katie DeSa from the Nittany Lions was taken with the 37th overall pick (1st in the 4th round) by the Vancouver Goldeneyes. 

From PSU Collegian

The senior netminder finished second in the nation with a 1.36 goals-against average and led the country with 12 shutouts among her career-best 27 victories. In addition, her .936 save percentage ranked 9th in the country. DeSa finished her 4-year collegiate sojourn by compiling an 63-13-2 record, 1.43 GAA, .932 save pct and 25 clean sheets. 

New York utilized the 43rd overall pick to select PSU's Katelyn Roberts, who finished fifth on the club with 33 points (16G, 17A) during her senior campaign. The native of the Twin Cities spent all 4 years with the Nittany Lions, totaling 103 points across 153 contests.

With the very next slot, the Toronto Sceptres welcomed right-handed shooting winger Jane Kuehl out of Princeton University. Kuehl, also a Twin Cities native, notched career bests in goals (13) and points (27) during her senior season with the Orange and Black.

Pick No. 49 -- the opener of the fifth round -- was given to Vegas, who selected defender Kendall Butze from Penn State. Butze, a left-handed shooter born in Cleveland, completed her collegiate career as the highest-scoring backliner in PSU history, having recorded 94 points over 151 games during her 4-year tenure in Central PA. She served as an alternate captain in her senior campaign.

"I'm a play-making defenseman so I'm ready to set up some teammates. I'm just really excited to get to work," Butze said when asked what her new club should expect during her rookie campaign."

Emerson O'Leary, a 22-year-old forward and four-year starter at Princeton, went 56th overall to Toronto. 

Mya Vaslet, a five-year performer at Penn State who shoots left-handed as a forward, was chosen with the 66th pick by the expansion Hamilton franchise.

Flyers part with Ersson, Andrae and welcome 'Brick' Woll in surprise trade

On a day both assistant GM Brent Flahr and general manager Danny Briere was scheduled to face the media for a pre-draft press conference in Voorhees, the club announced the first in what should be a spate of roster redefining moves.

The Flyers sent a pair of pending restricted free agents goaltender Sam Ersson along with defenseman Emil Andrae, plus a 2026 3rd-round draft pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit.

"We thought it was a chance to improve the team, help them take another step," Briere said, dispassionately. "Sam has been a fantastic teammate, really loved in the room, both him and Emil. We just felt, in Sam's case, it might be time for a change of scenery for him and hopefully it gives him that chance to take another step."

Ersson finished last season with a 14-11-5 record, 3.12 goals-against average and .870 save percentage across 29 starts and 33 appearances during his fourth NHL season. Despite assisting the club's mad dash to a playoff berth by going 6-1-0 in 9 appearances after the Olympic break, his lifetime 65-50-17 record, 3.01 GAA and .884 save pct. were deemed expendable by Briere.

"He did well in the second half last year, down the stretch," Briere admitted. "He's a gamer. But I think it was time for him to get the chance elsewhere."

Ersson carried a $1.45 million AAV cap hit on his expired 2-year deal. Both offer sheet and arbitration eligible, Briere did not wait to tender a qualifying offer to the 26-year-old lefty before making this move. In typical fashion with typically-brief public question time, there was no follow up from the assembled media as to why Ersson would need a fresh start in a new locale or why Briere chose not to even go through the qualifying process.

Andrae, also an RFA who completed an initial 3-year deal with a $903,333K per year AAV, ends up a disappointing 2nd-round choice from the 2020 draft under then-GM Chuck Fletcher. At 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, the club felt the 24-year-old made the blueline "smaller." He recorded 3 goals and 17 assists across 107 games since making his pro debut during the 2023-24 campaign. Andrae contributed 1 assist in his 4 playoff appearances this past spring.

Woll's acquisition likely signals that Briere views Vladar either unready to assume a No. 1 role with No. 1 work just yet, or he valued a younger player capable of playing more rather than relying on an inexpensive, more experienced veteran. During Tuesday's presser, he said the Boston College product would provide a good "tandem" with Vladar beginning next season.

"We felt that Woll is a step forward for us," Briere added, again without context or follow up.

The 27-year-old, former 3rd-round selection of the Leafs back in 2016 completed last season by going 15-16-7 with a 3.34 GAA, .898 save pct. and 2 shutouts. He posted career bests in wins (27), games started (41) and games played (42) in 2024-25 for Toronto. also starting all 7 games during the club's second-round defeat to eventual Cup champion Florida.

"The goalies have to perform," Briere continued. "I think it was tough at times last year when Sam was struggling, to trust and push him back (into the net). We hope that we're not coming down the stretch with a tired goalie. The better (if) you can have both of them going. We hope they can push each other that way."

As it stands now, Woll actually carries a larger AAV ($3.6666M) over the last 2 years of his current contract than Vladar does for his remaining one year ($3.35M). 

The Flyers additionally brought in Benoit, a veteran of 352 regular season games split between Anaheim and Toronto along with 20 playoff contests for the perpetually suffering Ontario franchise. 

Benoit, who will be 28 by the time next season commences, has averaged just over 17 minutes of ice time per game. His career bests of 10 points came for the Ducks in 2022-23 and for the Leafs 2 seasons back. One glaring hole in his game is his defensive usage, which led to garish minus-29 ratings 3 seasons ago and minus-22 last season. 

It would be difficult to envision Benoit as anything more than a seat filler at the 6-7 position, just like Andrae, but the expectation is the 6-foot-4, 210-pound backliner would be more of an imposing presence.

The native of suburban Montreal has one year remaining on his current contract, at $1.35M, ahead of UFA status in July 2027.

Prime suspects for Briere's offseason roster reshaping

by Bob Herpen

Phanatic Hockey Editor

If you’ve read me in the before times, or when I resurrected The Phanatic last year, you know I despise long-standing hockey cliches.

One of the big ones floated each and every summer by legacy media hacks is the idea that any general manager – in this case Flyers GM Danny Briere – needs to make a “big splash” in free agency to move things forward.

Just a reminder: this rush to make a “big splash” was a major factor in not one but TWO work stoppages in the last 2 decades. 

It’s already established Briere is – at least publicly – sticking to his guns that this rebuild will follow a path more like a steam locomotive than a roller coaster. Problem is, the world rotates as those inert choose to stay still. And besides, president of hockey operations Keith Jones stated this past winter, that a major flaw in the current roster construction is the lack of a top center.

With extra financial breathing room expected after another salary-cap expansion, plus the lingering million-plus from Cam Atkinson’s deal comes off the books, along with the expected departures of one or more UFAs such as Luke Glendening, Carl Grundstrom, Rodrigo Abols, Emil Andrae and Noah Juulsen, Briere can’t remain inert. 

There are solutions both cost effective and bold that are on the table, if Briere cares at all to receive more than just the usual mid platitudes from his boss, Dan Hilferty, either in private or in public.

As we approach the July 1 deadline, according to PuckPedia, the Flyers carry $66.5 million of total cap space. Approximately $42.8 million is allotted to forwards, $20.1 million to defensemen and Dan Vladar’s $3.35M on his existing pact.

Among the top six, monster cap hits are taken up by Travis Konecny ($8.75M through 2030-31), Sean Couturier ($7.75M through 2029-30), Owen Tippett ($6.2M through 2030-31) and Chris Dvorak ($5.1M through 2030-31). They’re also on the hook for $4M to Noah Cates for 3 more years.

Forwards

Dylan Larkin - The world has been notified that the soon-to-be-30-year-old wants out of Detroit. If ever there was a lock as a 1C, the Michigan product would be an optimal fit, despite being in the middle of a contract at $8.7M AAV per year. 

After racking up 643 points over 808 games in 11 seasons, Larkin has to have that hunger. He’s never tasted postseason success, with only 5 games of experience 10 years ago. That’s a delicious paradox: the players he’s expected to lead as a veteran can actually teach him what it’s like to turn it up in the spring.

If Wings GM Steve Yzerman wants to be taken seriously in any negotiation with any team which either Larkin or Detroit is interested, he cannot simply fixate on a trading partner’s best prospect – whether it be Porter Martone for the Flyers or anyone else – as a starting point.

Larkin is a player you don’t want to merely hear “the Flyers were ‘in’ on.” Whether or not Larkin is looking in Philly’s direction – and the dirt from 9 days ago says he’s not if he decides to wield his full no-trade clause – a pitch delivered in a face-to-face (virtually or in person) meeting with the player and agent is the absolute bare minimum.

My guess, the price would be two bodies – TK or Owen Tippett, or both – could be gone in any deal. And in the Connect Four that is the roster at the moment, that would open permanent spots for Martone or Alex Bump, maybe both if that’s the price. Also on the table would likely be one or more of the Flyers’ pending draft picks in the first 2 rounds (2 firsts in ‘27, single first & second in ‘28) which any club would salivate over.

His arrival would start to click the roster in place: Larkin at 1C, Dvorak at 2C and perhaps giving Denver Barkey an extended look at 3C around Cates & Foerster. It would be a complete disappointment and black mark on Briere's track record if we don't hear that Larkin's camp at least hears the Flyers' pitch.

Leo Carlsson - The 21-year-old Anaheim Ducks center presents a fresher, cheaper ($950K) option, although Briere might want more experience to fill a 1C role. He’ll fit perfectly for a club insistent on steady growth, with increasing career highs in goals, assists and points over all 3 of his NHL campaigns. 

Plus, as an RFA, Carlsson might be able to be locked into a longer-term deal with significantly reduced AAV compared to big-name UFAs. It would allow for adequate replacement of bottom-six forwards with some veteran grit without simply raiding Allentown for guys on 2-way deals. Carlson-Dvorak-Barkey sounds pretty good up the middle, no?

Brendan Gallagher - After the Habs loss in late May to the Hurricanes in the Eastern finals, Gallagher made it known he played his last game in Montreal, publicly unhappy with his apparent devaluation by head coach Martin St. Louis. Since arriving in la belle Provence 14 years and 911 games ago, he made it to three conference finals and one Cup Final while making enemies across the league. 

If “culture change” and “Flyers-type player” crossed in a Venn diagram, Gallagher’s answer is a total overlay.  Although the last year of his contract ran at $6.5M AAV, he’s an ideal candidate for a 2-year “sunset deal” to provide some sandpaper.  

Since the Flyers chronically shift players positionally and among their 4 lines based on need, Gallagher could be shuttled up and down the lineup at will. Top line? Give Dvorak & Zegras some room to operate. Second line? Chaos and Mayhem nightly with TK. Third pairing? Elbow grease to open up lanes for Michkov. 

Bottom line? If Gally can offer 10 goals, 20 points, 100 PIMs over 65-70 games, it’ll surely help push the lads along. As a player who stirs the pot and relishes the scrum, he may not be a darling of head coach Rick “Might as well drop the gloves and fight” Tocchet. Gallagher’s only engaged in 14 career bouts.

Defensemen

John Carlson - At 36 years old, with more than 1,200 games under his belt, there’s no one else who could bring the tools and experience to the backline. However, it would almost certainly mean losing whatever defensive instincts possessed by Rasmus Ristolainien and cost more thanks to his previous 8-year, $8 million AAV contract. Carlson would likely have to agree to a steep discount on another “sunset” pact but the Flyers really need a vet with less tread and maybe not another right-handed shooter. 

Darren Raddysh - Darling of the older beats because his career-best 22 goals for the Lightning last year was bolstered by 10 power-play scores. Can you really trust a 30-year-old with only 3  full years of NHL experience with 1 “contract-year” season of notice? Do you really think those numbers hold up in the Philly PP black hole? Raddysh’s last deal before UFA was $975K for 2 years so it might be tempting. 

Brent Burns - One of those f*** it, we ball choices. Hear me out. Although 41 years old and carrying more than 1,700 games in his wake, the grizzled one has put together five fully healthy seasons for the Sharks, Canes and Avalanche where he’s chipped in 63 total goals.

You want personality, it’s written all over his face and that Bobby Clarke-smile. A guy who can keep things loose in the room for the kids. A virtual steal at $1M. I’m envisioning Burnzie and Gritty pairing up for beard-oil promos, mountain-man lookalike contests, Halloween masks for the kids, Santa Burns outfits, etc. 

Goaltenders

Sam Ersson is a restricted free agent and arbitration eligible at $1.45M over his expired 2-year deal. If something isn’t worked out between the two camps, the below cost-effective options may provide some stability when Vladar needs to sit.

Matt Murray - Two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Penguins, so we know he has a pedigree, but he’s clearly on his last legs. Still, a $1M price tag is a nice drop from whatever the Flyers’ qualifying offer would be to Ersson or what he could net if he wins at arbitration. Young players need veteran winners so we can’t deny what he learned – with Tocchet as an assistant no less - during his time with the Evil Empire. 

Eric Comrie - If Vladar is in line for more starts and more work given the pending extension, the 30-year-old who spent the previous 2 seasons in Winnipeg could be a catch. Learning under the wing of a 3-time Vezina Trophy, 2-time Jennings Trophy &one-time Hart Trophy winner in Connor Hellebuyck has to have some net positive effect. Comrie’s coming off a 2-year deal at $825K AAV and with his career save percentage hovering just below 90 percent for his career, this perhaps more than anything says “Flyers backup.”

Joseph Woll - Acquired during the morning of June 16, the soon-to-be-28-year-old Boston College product finished 27-14-1 with a 2.73 GAA and .909 save percentage 2 years ago, distinguishing himself in a messy Leafs net situation. With just 131 games at the NHL level, Woll is less experienced than Vladar. Plus, at $3.6666M AAV for the next 2 years, actually costs more than Vladar -- for now, ahead of his expected extension -- as well as more than 2 million more than Ersson.

If you read between the lines, the swift move may have been prompted due to the mysterious hand/arm injury suffered by Vladar in the first round. Here, Briere opts for a similarly-aged player who may be the spur Vladar needs to stay on top of his game.

(Ed, note: With the trade between the Flyers & Maple Leafs that exchanged Ersson for Joseph Woll, this story has been updated.)

Backtrack to the Phanatic's previous Offseason Weeklies:

Talking the big picture items Briere needs to show that he's a legitimate GM for a legacy franchise committed to building long-term success.

Evaluating Rick Tocchet's first year as Flyers head coach.

We know he's close to receiving a contract extension, but we don't know if Dan Vladar can really handle being a true No. 1 goaltender.

How will the two biggest cogs in the young offensive machinery, Alex Bump and Porter Martone, approach earning NHL jobs with their different in-season and off-season paths?

Briere needs to up his game if Flyers can make the leap

by Bob Herpen

Phanatic Hockey Editor

In a season-ending press conference that lasted suspiciously under 30 minutes on May 14, Flyers general manager Danny Briere said a lot without giving away too much.

Admittedly, just four days after the conclusion of a season that clearly energized fans, players and decision makers alike, Briere wasn’t going to have too many bullets in the chamber. 

The future looks bright after a surprise post-Olympic run to secure a playoff berth and then a satisfying six-game dispatch of a fading longtime rival. Then again, how many times have we seen this before? 

It’s easy for Briere, retroactively, to say the unstated goal from the start of the season was for the Flyers to make the playoffs. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. All my Latin scholars and West Wing fans can look that up. 

But now that goal became reality, what next? Make the playoffs for a string of seasons? Win one round and have a better showing in the second? Win two rounds? Who stays and who goes? Who knows? The shadow?

Instead of taking a risk and perhaps letting slip some internal discussions or shallow thoughts on the matter, he stonewalled.

“It doesn’t,” he said when asked if a trip to the second round altered the master plan. “If there’s a chance to help improve the team, something that makes sense for the long run, yes, we will jump on it. As far as I’m concerned it’s the same thing. We’re in a growth part of the rebuild. What has changed is the experience our guys have gotten.”

Sitting up close, Briere’s demeanor betrayed nothing but revealed nothing. I realize poker faces are required for the job, but after we lived through the robotic Chuck Fletcher era, which followed somnolent Ron Hextall pressers, is it too much to ask for the current GM to act like he doesn’t need a jolt from a 9-volt battery attached to somewhere sensitive? 

Maybe it's the way the organization needs the job portrayed, as Paul Holmgren's stoic, steely-eyed public demeanor belied some pretty serious emotions stuffed down just below the surface.

Briere continued in his quiet, understated manner: “I don’t wanna lower expectations, either. I think they believe they can make the playoffs again. They want another taste of it. I would think that after tasting it, all our guys, going back into next year … you gotta be careful in how much pressure you put, obviously, but that was such a fun run and I think the guys want to experience that again.”

(Head desk) 

Playoff Success is an Elastic Concept

Briere was brought here as a free-agent splurge in the summer of 2007 in the wake of a dead-last overall season, a steady performer as the club did a full reversal. His first 5 years produced a surprise run to the Eastern finals (2008), then a first-round exit (2009), a surprise Stanley Cup Finals run (2010) followed by a four-game second round sweep (2011), to a fan-pleasing dispatch of a perennially hated rival ahead of a disappointing loss to a formerly-hated rival (2012).

Those were the Clarke-Holmgren-Snider axis days, when an unplanned leap forward in the postseason immediately triggered a seismic shift in expectations, backed by rivers of cash and cap space. 

I get what Briere is doing, throwing cold water on speculation to buy some time until key discussions are undertaken, but the next phase of the plan needs to be in place by summer’s end – whether it’s revealed publicly or not. So the players know where they stand. And most importantly, to curb wild speculation from all corners of the media.

With each individual era of success, there is a pattern of playoff rubber-banding between surprise and disappointment that has kept repeating throughout the franchise’s 60 years. The script is usually this: a surprise playoff entry goes further than predicted, the next year takes a surprising step back ahead of a galvanizing deep run before at least one year of further disappointment before the roster is dismantled.

It happened in the 70s, 80s, 90s and Oughts, too. The hour is upon Briere and company to flatten the curve in the 2020s. I have a hard time believing they think a linear path is possible. 

It’s a 32-team league where 16 teams advance and the cutoff is around 92-95 points. One of these seasons, no matter what the plan or Briere’s moves, they will take that proverbial step backward. It won’t be a negative on his ledger *unless* the braintrust sees no point in taking a risk.

“We don’t want to be forced to make a move, just to make a move, because we made it into the playoffs this year,” Briere also said in his presser, hinting at external questions of making a ‘big splash’ with plenty of cap space to come. “We’ve said it for a long time, we wanted to build a team that’s gonna be here for a long time, not just to go for it for a year or two.”

I give Briere credit for righting a ship that drifted, financially and talent-wise, under his predecessor with modest, low-risk moves, but a large chunk of success this season rests on the emergence of the players themselves. The young core certainly are on board with whatever comes next, thanks to their experience with heightened fan interest. 

“I probably had 7 or 8 guys in my exit meetings that specifically mentioned how the fans reacted at the end (with a lengthy ovation after Game 4 vs. the Hurricanes) and they said … they knew how special it was to play in the playoffs, in Philadelphia, they didn’t realize how special it was,” Briere admitted. “The fans made it extra special. What they did, our players noticed.”

How can Briere ensure his general vision of long-term sustained success comes to fruition? 

View From Above

Roster - Briere took a conservative path with his late-season AHL callups, pulled back from pulling back Denver Barkey & Alex Bump by head coach Rick Tocchet himself. He did let Porter Martone run free after leaving Michigan State. Good thing it worked out in small sample size. Now is the time for them take what’s there and to experience pits and ruts, uninterrupted, on the road to success.

That will best be served by a two-way feed of Briere suggesting to Tocchet he embrace more sharply-defined roles for each player and by Tocchet suggesting Briere trust in their usage. For the prospects or young guys looking to cement a roster spot for years to come, attempting to blindly mold them simply cannot happen anymore. No more center/wingers or winger/centers. Pick a line and optimal situation for the kids and keep ‘em there.

It is borderline criminal that there were, by my calculations, more than 40 different line combinations over the course of the regular season and half of the Flyers' 10 playoff outings.

With so much roster and cap space available due a raft of players on the Flyers and league-wide reaching either RFA or UFA status come July 1, Briere needs to be locked in and  make effective moves to plug holes. More on that next week. 

Coaches - Meddling in on-ice affairs is a recipe for disaster. However, if a fresh talent infusion whose individual skill sets could only help the power play don’t bear fruit next season, Briere would have to tell assistant coach Yogi Svejkovsky to bounce.

Even in an era of reduced penalties overall and a slimmer number of chances per game and per season, a lack of a functional power play puts too much pressure on 5v5 to win games. Yes, it might rankle Tocchet, an old-school mind who values loyalty and who brought Svejkovsky along from Vancouver, but failure is not an option. 

It is still uncertain (and has never been reported) whether the milquetoast Briere could get as heated and insistent as he might need to be to make tough choices and defend them. 

Also, as mentioned last week, the imbalanced relationship between Tocchet and Matvei Michkov and Tocchet and the rest of the Flyers roster has all the earmarks of the Columbia disaster – chips in the armor awaiting a true tipping point where the situation gyrates beyond salvation. 

There may come a day when Briere needs to step in, specifically on Michkov’s behalf, urging Tocchet to bridge whatever gap remains, instead of letting Michkov find out on his own how to gain his good graces. I hope some form of this discussion has already been attempted, due to what seems like a season-long series of one-sided leaks to media from Tocchet or higher-ups and a series of questionable scratches and lineup placement. 

Tocchet’s contract is for 5 years and if he’s losing a supposed franchise cornerstone due to intractability, or a pattern emerges where his my-way-or-the-highway approach starts to backfire, Briere is well within his rights to shorten that leash. 

Futures - For the upcoming Entry Draft (June 26-27 in Buffalo) Briere has picks in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounds, then has to wait until the 6th and 7th rounds to engage. That means there’s little to no wiggle room on reaches or projects. 

I’m not delving into specifics, as my role here as writer is not to play amateur scout and GM. Long time fans should be more concerned about the how and why, once the pick is made, rather than who. 

As a forever proponent of courting high-end Division 1 talent, Briere and assistant GM Brent Flahr need to figure out how to build a credible scouting system for American colleges. It’s not every year you hit on a No. 6 pick and then have a dark horse 5th-rounder arrive in the same season.

The club’s mid-round choices have been atrocious (Jay O’Brien), unstable (Wade Allison), Quad-A talent (Tanner Laczynski) or teetering on the brink of obscurity (Noah Powell, Ryan MacPherson) and the remainder of their historic drafting/signing relies too much on filling spots in the AHL or on favored nations (i.e. Western Michigan, Boston University, North Dakota). And you can't be wary of programs like Boston College because of one public blow out.

This is where I wish the late, great Ray Shero could have made the most impact if he were to agree to a front-office spot. He turned both the Devils and Penguins into sharper scouts.

In general, let the organizational perspective match the player’s size, skills and maturity is the first step. Allowing growth without complaint, or suggested guidance at the D1, European or junior levels is next. Aligning the Flyers’ plans with development in Allentown and John Snowden’s marching orders is the second-to-last level. Jett Luchanko? Once he lands in Allentown, groom him to either be a 1C or 3C Jack Nesbitt? Slot him into the opposite role when you decide where Luchanko fits. Oliver Bonk? Let him clean up that AHL minus-14 without shackling the skill that got him an NHL glimpse.

Keep it here next week where I'll talk about some obvious and not-so-obvious choices Briere faces to stock the 26-27 roster. If you missed it, read the Phanatic's take on first-year head coach Rick Tocchet.

Eagles, Patriots consummate deal for WR A.J. Brown

On Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots finalized a trade which saw wide receiver A.J. Brown heading from the NFC East to the AFC East. 

A collection of stories about the deal, its ramifications and the drama surrounding it below:

From Johnny Mac himself at Sports Illustrated: https://tinyurl.com/3ue9jfrj

From Bleeding Green Nation on the relationship between WR1 and QB1: https://tinyurl.com/3um9fuc3

From Mike Reiss and others at ESPN: https://tinyurl.com/4uk8t4y4

Sanchez wins NL Pitcher of the Month honors

From Yahoo.com

Philadelphia Phillies left-handed starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez edged out Jacob Misiorowski for NL Pitcher of the Month honors, MLB announced late this morning. 

Across the entire month of May, Sanchez failed to allow a single run -- earned or otherwise.

He worked at least 7 innings during each of his 5 starts, striking out 45 batters and walking only 3 over 39 innings. In the process, Sanchez surpassed Hall-of-Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander for the Phillies' all-time consecutive scoreless innings record, which was held since 1911. 

Heading into Wednesday's outing at home against the San Diego Padres, the 29-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has held opponents scoreless in 44 2/3 innings, currently the longest active stretch in the majors. Only Los Angeles Dodgers starter Orel Hershiser in September 1988, according to MLB.com's Paul Casella, went an entire month without allowing a run, doing so during his 59-inning scoreless run that stands as the current major-league record.

On May 16 at Pittsburgh, Sanchez tossed a 6-hit shutout while fanning 13 and failing to walk a batter, the first full-game clean sheet ffor a Phillies starter since Sanchez himself accomplished the feat in June 2024 against the Marlins.

The previous Phillies pitcher to be named Pitcher of the Month for the Senior Circuit was Zack Wheeler in June 2025.

Misiorowski, a right-hander for the Milwaukee Brewers, also turned in a stellar second full month of the 2026 campaign, racking up an 0.23 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 38 1/3 innings.  

For the full list of award winners in both the AL and NL, click here.

Calculated gamble on Tocchet pays even odds in first year

by Bob Herpen

Phanatic Hockey Editor

Signed to a reported 5-year contract with a mandate to get the Philadelphia Flyers over the hump of also-rans and turn them into playoff contenders and ready-for-primetime players, Rick Tocchet’s first year as a head coach for the team which drafted him can be called a qualified success.

Exactly 382 days ago, my first offering at the resurrected Phanatic concerned the Tocchet’s hiring, the cherry on top of Comcast Chairman and Chief Executive Officer/Flyers governor Dan Hilferty’s nostalgic fever dream. 

It was another dip into the well of former Flyers in close-quartered hockey decision making which already included GM Danny Briere, president of hockey ops Keith Jones, alongside John LeClair and Patrick Sharp.

Looking back, much of the column was a string of cogent, but runaway thoughts and projections based on a press conference long on good feelings but short on insight into Tocchet’s selection. None of that matters, for the moment. 

After a mad dash to a playoff berth on the heels of a deep trough in mid-season, Tocchet appeared on the franchise ledger as the 7th head coach to complete a full first season behind the bench and guide his club to a playoff berth – following Keith Allen, Mike Keenan, Paul Holmgren, Ken Hitchcock, Dave Hakstol and Alain Vigneault. Among these, only Keenan, Holmgren, Hitch and AV won a round. 

What’s more, he received the good kind of public vote of confidence from Briere on front office break-up day, May 14.

“I think he did a great job,” Briere admitted. “I knew him as a teammate, I watched him from afar when he was coaching (in Pittsburgh & Arizona). I was really impressed by how involved he was with the players.”

Time will tell what the front office expects from Tocchet next year. Though Briere cautioned against the inflation which infected previous regimes, expectations will be raised and will be based on the work on and off ice Briere apparently observed from Tocchet since he took over.

“The amount of time he was spending on the ice, after practices, other coaches are gone, it was really impressive how he stayed and worked with guys individually,” Briere noted. “The relationship that he had with the players, you saw some of the clips that were played in the dressing room after games. There’s a connection there.”

A caveat: among the five, including Tocchet, to make the playoffs following a full first year at the helm, only Keenan and Hitchcock returned to the postseason the next year. 

Nonetheless, a 43-win, 98-point season earned the 62-year-old enough recognition in a crowded field for the Jack Adams Trophy to garner 3 first-place votes and rank 7th (ahead of former teammate and conference semifinal opponent Rod Brind'Amour of Carolina) overall.

With apologies to a former colleague who’s still plugging away in the same fashion after all these years, here’s the Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Tocchet’s initial season.

Good - Philly on the radar

If you believe the sports-talk-radio-fueled philosophy that an NHL city needs to be “relevant” to attract free agents, prospects and other high-end talent, Tocchet might have created a haven here. Briere seemed all too eager to back his bench boss.

“He’s known as a ‘player’s coach,’ I’ve heard that from many agents,” Briere continued. “I’ve gotten a lot of comments from agents that their players would certainly be open to playing here because of Rick Tocchet.” 

That confidence apparently also stretched to Tocchet's recognition that players like Denver Barkey and Alex Bump -- both of whom started the year in Allentown -- were an integral part of the club's late-season success. Briere even admitted Tocchet's belief in Bump saved him from an early trip back to the AHL after his early March call up.

Courtesy of the Associated Press

Given plenty of operating room within the salary cap thanks to its expected increase, some badly-needed money off the books and a burning need to address that perennially nagging 1C need, Briere should set out to help Tocchet ASAP. 

Whether intended or unintended due to the flood of young players who comprised the NHL roster by the end of the regular season, the atmosphere in the room seems to be an exciting, collegial one. A late-season charge to an unexpected playoff spot helps foster that atmosphere in a bubble, but the full-season grind starting in September will go a long way towards determining if that was a mirage. 

Defensively sound, differently

John Tortorella’s methods were clear: at all costs and at all times, clog up the passing lanes and shooting lanes whenever and wherever possible with no fear of the puck. 

Tocchet’s system which aided goaltender Dan Vladar by “cutting the net in half” and reducing the number of shot attempts and shots on goal without physically wearing on the roster, worked wonders for his and the club’s overall up front numbers. 

The Flyers surrendered just 25.5 shots per contest (only Carolina, Vegas & Ottawa yielded fewer) and ranked 9th in total goals allowed with 243. Vladar met his career-best workload with regular-season highs in total saves (1162 on 1283 shots) goals-against average (2.42), tied in save percentage (.906), while personally facing 24.6 shots per appearance. In the playoffs, those were 271/294 (.922) and two shutouts among his 4 victories.

Their 243 total goals surrendered were the fewest for an uninterrupted season since Dave Hakstol’s last full season of 2017-18 (also 243).

Bad - More offense required

The same philosophy which helped Vladar by “cutting the net in half” and reducing the number of shot attempts and SOGs unfortunately provided an obstacle for generating chances where it counts.

The Flyers finished 28th in the league (only the Blues, Stars, Rangers & Blackhawks averaged fewer) with 25.5 SOG per game. Their 250 total goals – most for a full season since 2017-18 (251) ranked 10th in the East. In an era of boosted offense, However, their 240 goals in regulation/overtime push that average down from 3.04 to a pedestrian 2.92. 

Plus, among the eight Eastern playoff teams, the Flyers’ total goals ranked last, a whopping 22 behind Ottawa.

The Orange and Black haven’t seen a season’s average end well above three goals per, since 2011-12 (264 total goals, 3.21 per game; 260 reg/OT goals, 3.17 per game) and will need both a tweak in philosophy and more confidence in their puck release to increase their scoring in all phases. The hope over here is that longer-term solutions to this issue, like inclusion of Bump and Porter Martone onto the roster from the start of the season, as players who are more willing to shoot no matter where, will boost these numbers.

Keeping Focus

You can actually pinpoint the second the Flyers’ season ripped in half. On Jan. 6, they were relatively healthy at 22-12-7, 4 points out of first in the Metro and in solid playoff position. Then, the Old Time Hockey circus atmosphere consumed the hosts as they beat Anaheim, 5-2, while Stepford Fans piled on Ducks winger William C. Gauthier. 

Tocchet said he loved the home response. The players had shit-eating grins postgame. 

From all the energy expended to gain that meaningless, out-of-conference win, a freefall of 3-9-4 up to the Olympic break featured key injuries, lotsa fatigue and questionable decisions beyond roster roulette from Tocchet like that last-minute practice on Jan. 14 ahead of travel to – and a loss against – Buffalo.

That, right there, is the reason the Orange and Black needed a mad dash to a playoff berth in the first place. It worked this year. Odds are against them if they wind up on the same trajectory next year.

It’s up to the coaching staff and Tocchet as the head of the spear, to understand that an even keel at all times is the way. Perhaps this will be Briere’s greatest test of communication between off-and-on-ice philosophies: any change in culture has to extend to correction of a head coach who’s mentality on certain issues remains stuck in the 1980s.

Ugly - Странный человек

Say what you want about the internal mechanisms of an overwhelmingly English-speaking locker room and the external drama exposed and fostered by the regular beats at suspicious intervals about the relationship between Tocchet and Matvei Michkov. 

Following the break-up pressers several weeks ago, there are more questions about the ebb of this relationship than answers, given the overwhelming responses from the rest of the young core that the atmosphere “in the room” is great for development because so many players have peers their age and experience to work with and learn alongside.

Tocchet can’t really claim to be so much of an open-minded, input-friendly players’ coach if even one player seems to be left behind – whether it be due to long-term injury, differences in temperament or a language barrier – especially if it happens to be a high-level draftee tagged as a franchise cornerstone whose rookie season under the previous regime looked far more promising. 

Perhaps it’s even as simple as majority rules and with Michkov the loose end that needed to make more effort to gain the head coach’s trust, but we’ll never know. We got plenty of almost-certainly-leaked news bites through the beats plenty of times from the start of the season until the end, when he was benched for Jett Luchanko in an elimination game.

We never got Michkov’s side of the story and most likely never will. Concurrent with being a petty, snide way to conduct business, it must have had the intended effect, as we found out in Tocchet’s presser that Michkov was already doing laps. 

I’d put the breakdown of responsibility for improving the relationship going forward at 80/20 for Tocchet, with Michkov’s 20 percent revolving around mandatory offseason English lessons while he’s skating like a madman to watch that chicken fat go.

The power play

Although this particular task was delegated to Yogi Svejkovsky, Tocchet brought him on as an assistant and stuck him with the responsibility, so his name goes with the blame. The raw numbers: 37-for-235 during the regular season (15.7%, 32 out of 32 teams); 3-for-36 (8.33%; 14 out of 16 teams) in the playoffs.

These issues are not acutely Flyers specific. Both the high-scoring Buffalo Sabres (21st at 19.5%) and Colorado Avalanche (27th at 17.1%) suffered through inexplicably awful regular seasons and tepid playoffs with the man advantage.

Not having the requisite shooters rests on GMs Chuck Fletcher and Briere – including the late-season trade of one-time NCAA scoring leader Bobby Brink; a chronic inability to shoot lies with the players themselves where confidence can’t be taught; the system itself and its ineptitude points directly at Svejkovsky.

Tocchet may not have an answer to fixing the acute on-ice issues, but during his farewell conference, he laid down a comprehensive method to overhauling hearts and minds which convinced me he’s at least committed to seeing the potential resolution of a nagging issue from all angles. Interesting that it was not an organic response, but one that was prompted by a local writer. More on that in later posts this summer.

The inclusion of Bump and Martone more often in the mix on either PP unit might be the ice-level spur needed.

Next week, be sure to check in as The Phanatic examines Danny Briere's third season at the helm.