Daniel Brière To Fill Interim Role

One week after the trade deadline, the Philadelphia Flyers are turning the page.

The club announced Friday that it is parting ways with general manager and president of hockey operations Chuck Fletcher after just over four years at the helm.

“The Philadelphia Flyers organization has always been defined by grit, determination, and a standard of excellence,” said Dave Scott, chairman of the Flyers’ parent company, Comcast Spectacor, and team governor, in a statement. “Over the past several seasons, our team simply has not lived up to that standard, so today, we will begin to chart a new path forward under a new leadership structure for hockey operations.

ADVERTISEMENT

“This morning, we released Chuck Fletcher from his president and general manager responsibilities. We are grateful for his hard work and dedication to this organization, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward. Chuck faced significant challenges during his time as president and general manager, including some that were outside of his control, but we have reached a point at which we must move in a different direction and look to the future under new leadership.”

Scott went on to explain that the Flyers’ front office will be restructured, with the president and general manager responsibilities split into two different roles. For now, Daniel Brière takes over on an interim basis.

“As interim general manager, Danny Brière will oversee hockey operations,” Scott said. “He is ideally suited for this role, having served as special assistant to the general manager of the Flyers for the past year in addition to his more than 25 years in professional hockey as a player and in management. He will ensure a smooth transition following Chuck’s departure and support the team and head coach John Tortorella through the remainder of the season and into the offseason.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Fletcher, 55, was hired by the Flyers on Dec. 3, 2018 to succeed Ron Hextall, who had been fired one week earlier. The son of former NHL general manager Cliff Fletcher, Chuck was raised in the business of hockey and has worked in NHL front offices for close to 30 years. He had served as general manager and executive vice president of the Minnesota Wild from 2009-2018 after earlier stints with the Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks/Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Pittsburgh Penguins, where he was an assistant general manager when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009.

Traditionally, the Flyers have frequently relied on their former players, including Hextall, to staff their front office. The Harvard-educated Fletcher was a departure from that thinking. But rather than raising the organization to new heights, his tenure will be remembered as a period of decline.

In Fletcher’s 329 games at the helm, the Flyers posted a record of 141-145-43 for 325 points, a points percentage of .494 which ranked 21st in the NHL over that timespan. The high point was Fletcher’s first full season in 2019-20. That also marked the first year for coach Alain Vigneault, who was signed to a five-year, $25 million contract on April 15, 2019.

ADVERTISEMENT

Led by veterans Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek, along with breakout seasons from Travis Konecny and goaltender Carter Hart, the Flyers had 89 points in 69 games and were one point out of first place in the Metropolitan Division when the season was paused on March 12, 2020 due to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the postseason was mounted in the bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton, the Flyers eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in six games before falling to the New York Islanders in seven games in the second round. It would be the only playoff appearance of Fletcher’s — and Vigneault’s — tenures.

ADVERTISEMENT

When the NHL resumed play in January of 2021, Philadelphia went into a tailspin. The unexpected retirement of defenseman Matt Niskanen led to the team bleeding goals, finishing with a league-worst 3.52 goals against per game and a playoff miss in the abbreviated 56-game season. And despite a number of aggressive moves in an attempt to right the ship, the 2021-22 season was even worse. The team became even more porous while offense dried up, and fell to 29th overall. Vigneault was fired on Dec. 6, 2021, replaced on an interim basis by assistant Mike Yeo for the rest of the season.

Injuries were a huge issue throughout his tenure, but Fletcher also continued to hand out big contracts. In January of 2022, he promised to do an “aggressive re-tool” of his roster. That hasn’t happened, though John Tortorella was hired as head coach last June and seems to be well-accepted by the fanbase so far.

On top of still paying Vigneault for one more season after this, the Flyers are on the hook for a long list of big contracts that were either negotiated or acquired by Fletcher, and which will make it difficult for Brière or his successor to make major roster changes:

ADVERTISEMENT

• F Kevin Hayes – Age 30 – $7.142 million cap hit through 2025-26
• F Joel Farabee – Age 23 – $5 million cap hit through 2027-28
• D Rasmus Ristolainen – Age 28 – $5.1 million cap hit through 2026-27
• D Travis Sanheim – Age 26 – $6.25 million cap hit through 2030-31
• F Sean Couturier (on injured reserve, last game Dec. 18, 2021) – Age 30 – $7.75 million cap hit through 2029-30
• F Cam Atkinson (on injured reserve, last game April 12, 2022) – Age 33 – $5.875 million cap hit through 2024-25
• D Ryan Ellis (on long-term injured reserve, last game Nov. 13, 2021) – Age 32 – $6.25 million cap hit through 2026-27

Last week’s trade deadline may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Once again outside the playoff picture and quite public about wanting to be sellers, the Flyers made only three minor moves.

Rugged forward Zack MacEwen was moved to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Brendan Lemieux and a fifth-round draft pick, utility center Patrick Brown went to the Ottawa Senators for a sixth-round pick and oft-injured minor leaguer Isaac Ratcliffe was sent to the Nashville Predators in exchange for future considerations.

ADVERTISEMENT

When the dust settled on March 3, impending UFAs James van Riemsdyk and Justin Braun were both still on the Philadelphia roster.

“It was interesting — interesting market,” said Fletcher later that day. “We’ve been working the phones hard for three weeks on most of our players on expiring contracts. The one offer that I did get on JVR happened at 1:40 this afternoon and it was a conditional offer. I didn’t know what the market would be, but I thought there would at least be some offers that we would have to consider or not consider. So, it’s the nature of the business, I guess. It is what it is. We would probably rather have a good pick and allow JVR the opportunity to play in the playoffs, but the market spoke, and it wasn’t to be.”

In Brière, the Flyers go back to their familiar pattern — tapping a past franchise hero for a management role. Now 45, Brière played 364 games over six seasons with the Flyers during his 973-game NHL career. His defining moment came in the 2010 playoffs, when he led the Flyers with 30 points in 26 games on their unlikely run to the Stanley Cup Final — the last time they’ve been past the second round.

ADVERTISEMENT

Since hanging up his skates in 2015, Brière has been laying the foundation for a career in management. He has worked in player development as well as assisting the general manager, and also run the Maine Mariners club in the East Coast Hockey League. He only has the interim tag for now, but it won’t be surprising if Brière becomes the Flyers’ next full-time GM.

In Tortorella’s first season, the Flyers are 24-30-11 for 59 points in 65 games, and currently sit 26th in the overall standings. They’ve lost both games of their current three-game road trip. Brière is expected to join the team ahead of their next game, on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.