The 2023 NHL Draft is here and the Flyers currently have the seventh and 22nd overall picks in the first round. A comprehensive preview of what the night could hold for the Flyers.
The Flyers front office now consists of two former players at the top – Keith Jones and Danny Briere – with Patrick Sharp and John LeClair in advisory roles. The names may be different, but the pedigree is the same.
Flyers interim GM Danny Briere met with the media on Sunday morning and officially went where his predecessor wouldn't. The Flyers are officially in a rebuild, one that Briere says "needs to be done the right way."
The release of Chuck Fletcher as Flyers GM and President of Hockey Operations was a place to start, but only the first stepping stone to the bigger process that remains. It’s time for the Flyers to dive head-first into it with a new guard manning the wheel.
After another case of organizational malpractice at the trade deadline, the choice is in the hands of the Flyers highest-appointed figures. You can accept this reality of being the laughing stock of the NHL and accept the growing distance between yourself and as loyal a fanbase as there is in sports or you can finally do something about it. Time’s yours.
Wednesday's Flyers press conference with Dave Scott and Chuck Fletcher was another example of just how far the Flyers are from an identity and a sense of direction. It presents more questions than answers, and it runs through a range of emotions that rival the five stages of grief – some congruent like anger and denial and others like irrationality and delusion.
Again in the third period, as they have many times before, the Flyers were in a position to grab two points. A quick response and another overtime winner ensured they did come away with just that, as their points streak hits six games with a 5-0-1 record.