Flyers GM, Danny Briere, along with assistant GM Brent Flahr (not pictured) met with the media on Tuesday in advance of next week's NHL Draft (Credit: Philadelphia Flyers on X).
VOORHEES, N.J. - The Philadelphia Flyers are 10 days away from writing the opening to the next chapter in the franchise's history.
With seven picks in the first two rounds in next weekend's draft, the Flyers are going to be a busy team. GM Danny Briere and Assistant GM Brent Flahr met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the draft, which, for the first time will be decentralized.
The Flyers war room will be in the same Atlantic City hotel as their draft party - The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino - and Briere expects his phone to be ringing off the hook - considering all the picks - but he also expects to be an initiator of conversations.
Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere and Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr meet with the media ahead of the 2025 #NHLDraft. https://t.co/uX3kDK7v3t
"I'm going to make a lot of calls to try to gauge interest, but so far it's been pretty quiet on that front," Briere said. "It feels like everybody is trying to move up at the moment, and we've said from the beginning we'd like to try to move up, if possible, but right now, there's just not a lot of options there.
"So, we'll have to be patient and maybe there's an opportunity where we can create value going the other way."
In other words, maybe they trade down.
No one in all of Flyerdom has discussed this as a possibility to this point, but it's real. Not guaranteed, but definitely real.
The question the Flyers will have to ask themselves if they want to really consider a move back is - No. 1, can they still get the player they want if they move back, and secondly, how far can they risk going back to do it?
Last year they moved back just one spot and drafted Jett Luchanko. Might they be willing to go back a little further this year? It's going to be tempting.
Anaheim is an interesting team at No. 10. They are looking to move up, according to league sources. Might the Flyers be able to get the player they like four picks later if it means getting another asset?
Maybe.
League sources have indicated to On Pattison that the Flyers are high on a few centers, most notable, Caleb Desnoyers, of Moncton in the QMJHL. But, there is a real belief that Desnoyers will be selected before the Flyers pick.
There it is! Caleb Desnoyers ties things up with his first! 🎯 @monctonwildcats | #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/pb4IaZWIZI
Whether he goes No. 4 to Utah or No. 5 to Nashville, is what Briere and his staff will eagerly await. The Mammoth (got to get used to writing that nickname for Utah) have gone off the board a little bit in the past two drafts taking defenseman Dmitry Simashev at No. 6 in 2023, allowing the Flyers to select Matvei Michkov one pick later, and last year taking Tij Iginla at No. 6 when most teams had him in the 10-15 range.
Could the Grizzlies go down and grab a player like Brady Martin, for example, instead of Desnoyers?
If so, there is a belief Desnoyers would go to Nashville at No. 5. They have a lot of big centers, so they could be looking to have a smaller, killed center to be added to their cupboard.
There's a thought Nashville would take Boston College center James Hagens id Utah takes Desnoyers.
Assuming Desnoyers is gone before they pick, the Flyers next target, according to On Pattison sources is Jake O'Brien.
Jake O’Brien is a name #NHLBruins fans should become familiar with
6’2”
170 Pound
Right Shot Center
66 Games Played
32 Goals
66 Assists
98 Points
Has good size but needs to build up strength for the professional level…plenty of time to build up some mass
VC: FluxxCC - YT pic.twitter.com/h8E48p2hmy
O'Brien, who turned 18 yesterday, was a stand out center for Brantford in the OHL. However, many "experts" rank him a little lower.
For example, Craig Button, for TSN in Canada, has O'Brien at No. 11, while Jason Bukala at Sportsnet in Canada, has him at No. 12.
""I think we've shown that were not afraid (to take a swing)," Briere said. "But we're going to take what we feel is the best player. It doesn't mean we're going to swing for the fun of it ...
"Look, our guys have done a lot of work. I rely on our guys that go out into the field and have done hundreds of reports and seen these guys 100 times live. No offense to all the 'experts' out there that watch these guys on tape once or twice and make their own rankings. That's great. It works for them. But I'm going to trust our guys that I've worked with for a lot of years and they're experts at what they do. ... That's just me. I'd rather trust the guys I know and I know put in the work."
Now, when Briere gave that answer he wasn't talking about a specific player - like O'Brien. But, it sure sounds like a guy who is thinking maybe there's a player they have ranked a little higher than others and they can still get him a few picks later in the round and get great value in additional assets in the process.
A lot of what goes into that decision will come down to the intel they are able to accumulate on what the teams around them are trying to do draft wise before determining if they stay put and pick a player, or move.
The Flyers would also like to move up from pick No. 22. How far they can go, is the question. Depending on what they are willing to give up, they can try and get into the teens, but the issue is, right now, no one has expressed a willingness to trade down. Briere said a lot of teams are looking to move up, but no traction is being made - yet.
"It really starts to pick up the week of the draft," Briere said. "So, I expect Monday or Tuesday to start kicking into high gear."
Multiple league sources have said that aside from Anaheim, Detroit (No. 13) and Montreal (No. 16 and No. 17) are looking to get higher in the draft.
Meanwhile, the New York Rangers (No. 12) seem to be a team sending mixed singles. Some think they want to move up, while others believe they would be willing to move down.
There are a number of curious players that could make movement in that area of the first round very intriguing.
For example, a player like Brandon center Roger McQueen, who many scouts think would have been a Top 5 pick had he not endured back injuries, could fall down the board.
One league source told On Pattison that despite his medicals checking out at the combine, McQueen is a still a real wild card. "I could see him going anywhere from five to 15, depending on how confident teams feel in the medicals" the source said.
Another player that is a little under the radar at the moment, but could be attractive is defenseman Jackson Smith, who is leaving Tri-Cities in the WHL to enroll at Penn State, becoming one of the first players to leave junior hockey for the NCAA ranks now that rules have changed that allow Canadian Junior players to leave their league to enroll at an American college.
ITS OFFICIAL NOW
TOP TEN NHL DRAFT PROSPECT JACKSON SMITH IS GOING TO PENN STATE
THE NITTANY LIONS GET ANOTHER BIG-TIME RECRUIT
HOCKEY VALLEY IS BUZZING pic.twitter.com/JTAuKi2LD5
With the Flyers currently having six picks between 22 and 48, they feel like they can get quality depth within the organization.
"I think there are a number of different types of players there," Flahr said. "Whether it's a smaller, skilled winger, or there may still be some centermen on the board that may be middle-of-the-lineup-type guys, but still valuable players, and there's big defensemen that are going to need a little bit of time, but guys that our (scouts) are excited about because they have a lot of potential."
