Flyers’ Rebuild Poised for Success

The Flyers’ selection of Matvei Michkov with the 7th selection in the 2023 NHL Draft also marked a key moment for the franchise. The Flyers have not had a prospect that was considered to have as high of a ceiling as Michkov since they traded for Eric Lindros – 30 years ago. As has been documented extensively, the reason for Michkov’s fall in the draft had a lot to do with the geopolitical situation in Russia and the fact that he is under contract in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) until 2026-27.

In pre-draft interviews, Michkov made it very clear that he wanted to play for the Flyers. On draft night, he stated via translator, “I really wanted to be drafted by the Flyers. That was my goal.” He met with the team multiple times, and the interviews reportedly went smoothly. According to Briere’s accounts, the team was “blown away by how much he wanted to be a Flyer” and “his dream about winning a Stanley Cup” was also inspiring to hear.

Briere very easily could have gone with a “safer” prospect, but he and his scouts felt it was best to gamble on one of the best players in the draft. It is unclear whether past Flyers’ management would have done the same as Briere, given their passiveness at times.

Highly Touted Prospects

The Flyers first officially started calling their current course of action a “rebuild” when former GM Chuck Fletcher was fired in March 2023. One area he and his group were very successful in was the draft process. Despite the team selling assets in the offseason for the first time since 2017 under Ron Hextall, the Flyers are still in a very good spot when it comes to the rebuild.

With an abundance of prospect depth and some star power to cap it off, the Flyers’ future is looking bright with the players they have in the system alone.

Flyers’ Balance of Perspective

During the most recent eras of GMs for the Flyers in Hextall (2014-18) and Fletcher (2018-23), there was an imbalance in what they set to accomplish.

A genuine criticism of former GM Hextall‘s approach was that he was much too cautious in the way he went about things. While he was methodical and patient, he and his group lacked the killer instinct to pounce on the primes of their stars, including but not limited to Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. In his tenure, he made the postseason twice and lost in the first round both times. While his teams always had highly regarded prospect cores, they did not meet the lofty expectations that were set for them. When Hextall was finally ready to make a move in signing James van Riemsdyk, it was much too late. The prospects he had drafted were not developing as he had planned, and the team was not winning games. He was shown the door in Dec. 2018 as a result.

Fletcher’s tenure ended with similar disdain from fans for entirely different reasons. Fletcher tried to build around the remaining elite years of veterans Giroux, Voracek, and Sean Couturier with some elements of youth spread throughout the lineup. His one year of significant success in 2019-20 proved more harmful than good. A decline from that season began in 2020-21 and continued through the 2021-22 season. While injuries were a significant factor, the Flyers only started to sell assets by the 2022 trade deadline. By the offseason, Fletcher and co. were buyers once again. This enraged the Flyers community, and the last straw came after a largely perceived inadequate showing at the 2023 trade deadline.

All of this is to say that Briere displays both of the best of their qualities. While he is not impatient as many felt the team was under Fletcher, he will not be too patient like fans felt Hextall and his group were. There is a time and place for everything, and Briere is willing to rebuild the Flyers correctly this time.

Philadelphia’s Overall Outlook

There is a lot to like about the Flyers and their approach to this rebuild. It seems as though they finally have the right group to make it happen, so it will be intriguing to see what comes of it. This will be a long process, but Flyers fans are probably okay with the wait this time. This one is different.