Paul Holmgren

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.

From the front office to coaches to the players, there are plenty of areas of focus regarding the Flyers. Here are some takeaways.

One day prior to the four-year anniversary of Ron Hextall's firing as Flyers GM, chants of "Fire Fletcher" could be heard at Wells Fargo Center. Chuck Fletcher's time should be running out, but it's not the only change that needs to be made.

On Wednesday, you saw that the current regime is incapable of handling a rebuild. They insisted upon an aggressive retool for a fast fix, not the necessary rebuild needed. Now it’s time to start that rebuild anyway, but focus on the front office that has so clearly set the Flyers back.

John Tortorella certainly knew all the right things to say, but doesn’t have much of a filter. What you see is what you get with him, there’s no gray area. That hardly appears to be the case with Flyers management. There’s a lot of gray area right now, in terms of making decisions, who is on board with what, and what the future may hold.

"We signed Claude eight years ago to a lengthy, superstar type of contract, which he earned, and as part of that contract he had a no move clause and he earned that right to decide, to have a big say in where he would go, I think is the best way to put it,” Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher said. “I did have a very limited market in terms of the teams I could speak with."

In the end, Giroux ultimately held the keys to his destination. Florida was where he wanted to be. That left the Flyers limited in what they could get in return. If nothing else, the return in the Giroux deal is more of a reality of what the state of the Flyers is and remains after this trade, and the result of years of shortcomings by the organization.

The Flyers extension of Rasmus Ristolainen makes for a confusing message and sense of direction, just as the trade deadline starts to approach and a time to set the foundation for change draws near.