Author: Jackie Spiegel

BUFFALO — Three seasons are complete for Flyers general manager Danny Brière, and he is on the precipice of one of the biggest offseasons of his tenure.

The Inquirer sat down with Brière at the NHL’s scouting combine in western New York to discuss what the future landscape looks like for the Flyers. In the first of two parts, he discusses the current squad and where things stand with free agency.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. It was conducted on June 3, before it was revealed that Dylan Larkin wanted a trade out of Detroit.

Q: You and president Keith Jones have spoken for a long time about wanting to take a step forward. How important do you think it is to add now to the roster?

A: Well, we want to add smartly. You’re not going to see us try to go after a big-time free agent who doesn’t make sense in what we’re trying to do. The goal is still to improve the team, but not mortgage the future. I think that’s probably the best way that we can explain it. It’s got to make sense for years to come before we’re going to trade away some young assets.

Q: With the free agency landscape changing, does it make you look harder at an offer sheet?

A: I think every team will consider that. But people have to understand, an offer sheet also comes with some consequences that you have to consider before going down that road. But we have to consider it. I would say it’s probably not likely with the cap going up; a lot of teams have extra dollars to spend. But we’re definitely going to look into it, like everything.

Q: What would you consider to be this team’s greatest need in terms of position or skill set?

A: I think the greatest need is a top-six center. We have guys that have really stepped up. Trevor Zegras has played center at times, and he has a skill to play in that role. We’ve asked a lot out of Noah Cates, Christian Dvorak, and Sean Couturier to play some heavy minutes, and we’ve asked them to play in that role for a big part of the season. … The other place would be a high-end power-play quarterback on defense, if we could find one.

Q: There’s obviously a lot of interesting over-30-year-old defensemen who are good on the power play available, like John Carlson and Darren Raddysh. I know you cannot comment about them specifically, but would you consider someone over 30 as a stopgap solution?

A: I’m not saying it will happen, but we have to consider it. We have to look to see if it makes sense. Obviously, term and money will play a big role to see if it fits into what we’re doing. It’s an area that we need to improve on, and we’ve been trying to improve on. The exciting part is we’re starting to bring in some guys that have been good on the power play at different levels, when you talk about the [Porter] Martones, the [Denver] Barkeys, [Alex] Bump, even Oliver Bonk and David Jiříček. So we do have some different flavors that are starting to integrate the team. Hopefully that pushes some of our veterans that have had the chance to play on the power play the last few years, but it just hasn’t been good enough.

Q: In the past you have brought in a veteran blueliner, like Erik Johnson, Marc Staal, and Noah Juulsen to be the seventh defenseman. Has this defense reached the point where you don’t need that player?

A: I think we’re probably past the mentor part. If there’s a high-end defenseman that can help us, we’ll have to look at that. It might be time now to give our young guys the chance to see if they can step into those roles, from David Jiříček, Emil Andrae, Bonk, Ty Murchison, Hunter McDonald. I think those guys have probably earned the right to get a look, and hopefully we can fill that all with our younger guys from within. Maybe even guys like Adam Ginning or Helge Grans can step up their game. They could be in the mix as well.

Q: Rasmus Ristolainen has always been mentioned in trade rumors. He was obviously a valuable player down the stretch and in the playoffs, but the reality is he’ll be 32 in October, in the last year of a good deal, and stayed healthy. Do you envision him here come September? Do you anticipate him being in conversations again?

A: Yeah, I mean, we’re going to look into it. I think we have to. That’s our duty as the organization, to explore what’s out there and see if there’s something that makes sense or not. But he was so good down the stretch for us, played on the top pairing with Travis Sanheim, how good he was at the Olympics, how good he was in the playoffs. So he’s a big asset. As we talk about expectations, you trade a guy like Rasmus, and it weakens the team. So if we do it, it’s going to have to make sense for the future. It certainly wouldn’t be ideal for taking a step forward next season if we do trade him, but we have to explore everything that’s out there.

Q: Does having players like Bonk, Jiříček, and maybe McDonald and Murchison, who showed the ability to play at the NHL level, impact things?

A: Well, it’s good to know that we do have some players that have the capabilities to eventually step in. When is that? That’s what we don’t know. Every player kind of graduated at a different pace, but, yeah, we believe that some of those guys will be able to take some of his responsibilities. We just don’t know yet when that will happen. We knew they weren’t quite ready for that down the stretch and into the playoffs, and that was one of the reasons why we kept Risto when we weren’t able to get what we were looking for.

Q: Dan Vladař extension talks have surfaced. How comfortable are you with going long-term considering he’ll be 29 in August?

A: Vladař was our MVP last year. He was our best player. He was a leader also in the locker room. He’s a guy that wants to be here, and he’s someone we want to be here. So we will definitely consider doing something with him, if he’s open to it. He’s earned it. He believed in us. He wanted to be here, and we don’t feel that we have any prospects that are quite ready to play those minutes and those games. He’s in a great tandem with Sam Ersson. It’s definitely a position that we would like to keep strong, and Dan has earned it.

Q: But it was only one year where he carried the heavy workload and at that high of a level. How do you balance that?

A: That was part of the reason to sign him to a short-term deal. We didn’t know the personality; we didn’t know the person off the ice. You get to know the person, you get to have a test run, basically. Knowing what I know now, I would have signed him to a four-year deal last summer. … Is he going to play that high of a level again next year? There’s no guarantee of that, and we know that. But I think he’s shown us enough to believe that he could be the guy for the future for us.

Q: You mentioned Ersson, who will be a restricted free agent on July 1. Where do things stand with him, and did his play late in the season change your viewpoint?

A: Sam is a gamer, and Sam doesn’t quit. He fits the personality of the Flyers. There’s no quitting with him; even when he has a bad game, he fights back, and he comes back strong. We all know it wasn’t the ideal first half, but we have to give him a lot of credit in the way he could have thrown that season out the window and just give up. But he did not, and he got us some big wins. … We know Sam. He is well-liked in the room, great teammate, great human being, character person, so that plays a lot into it as well, and that’s why we have to strongly consider bringing him back. We haven’t made a decision yet, and we haven’t discussed an extension with him yet, but we’re looking at all options. But he did a lot of good last season and earned [the opportunity to] be considered.

Q: Zegras is also a restricted free agent. How are his contract talks going, and where do you see his ideal position at this point?

A: I think it’s a great option to have him be able to play either [wing or center]. Part of the season, I thought he was more of a winger than a center, but then coming down the stretch, what he did was very good too, in the middle of the ice. I think it’s nice to have that option, to have a guy like him who’s so creative that can play a different position and help us in the middle if we need to or on the wing. Again, where it stands, I’m not worried about the contract with him and Jamie Drysdale. They’re players that we want back, and I feel they want to be part of the future for the Flyers, so my expectation is they will be there in September when camp opens.

Q: What has it been like for you watching Drysdale’s progression as a top defender?

A: Yeah, it’s been pretty cool to see [him] being able to adjust to the league, to see him work on his game, a student of the game, trying to find ways to improve and get better. We have to give him a lot of credit for the season that he had after — it’s admitted — a little bit of a rough start in Philadelphia. But, defensemen, you have to be patient with them. They take a long time, and it was definitely a good sign to see Jamie take a step forward.

Q: You have a bit of a logjam on wing. Do you think there is a spot for everyone, or do you need to clear some space?

A: It depends on if Trevor is going to play wing or center. It depends if we ever end up finding another centerman. I think it’s pretty fair to say that we’re not looking to bring in more wingers in our top nine. I think our group is still pretty young and already able to have an impact, so we’re not going to look to bring in outside help on the wing in our top nine.

Q: Like Ristolainen, Owen Tippett is mentioned in trade rumors often. Did it show how much you missed having him in the lineup against Carolina, and did that give you pause to keep him around?

A: First of all, I’m not going around shopping Owen Tippett. But a lot of teams are calling about him because they like the package, the speed, and everything. It’s my job — and I’ve been very honest with Owen; I tell him that too — I have to listen. It’s been going on now for, I think, two years, so I think that shows you how much we value Owen and how much we love him. I’m not foreseeing anything going on there. Owen brings us a lot of speed, and the way he played down the stretch is a big reason why we made the playoffs, and we’re very happy with Owen Tippett.

Q: Is there an update on his health?

A: He did have surgery for a sports hernia. A few days after the year-end meeting, he saw the specialist, and all agreed it was better to do it. So it was taken care of right away. It won’t hamper his offseason training, and he’ll be ready to start the season.

Q: How confident are you that Matvei Michkov will bounce back and learn from this year?

A: I am very confident that Matvei will step up to where he was the previous year, and more. I think it was a tough season. It was a trying season. I believe he’s learned a lot. At the end of the day, he still finished with 20 goals and over 50 points in a trying season. We’ve said it before: Other than Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Macklin Celebrini, there aren’t too many guys that don’t have downs in their career, and I’m sure even those guys have had them at some point.

Development is not an easy, straight arrow going up the whole time; you see that happen to a lot of players in their second year. You have maybe a little bit of a letdown because you think, “I survived, it went pretty well the first year, and you think it’s going to be easy.” Most of the time, the guys bounce back from that, and I expect the same thing from Matvei. He’s so talented, can beat you many different ways, and I expect him to come back with a vengeance and to want to show everybody. Just knowing how competitive he is, I expect him to want to show everybody who he can be.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Blake Zielinski walked into his interview with the Flyers on Thursday at the NHL scouting combine and said the first thing general manager Danny Brière asked him was whether it felt like home.

Zielinski said the question helped ease his nerves. A native of Berlin, N.J., he grew up a diehard Flyers fan, learning how to play at rinks like Pennsauken Skate Zone and skating for the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers. He is now preparing for his first NHL development camp by training at Holleydell Ice Arena in Sewell.

At one point, the 18-year-old, who is heading to Providence College in the fall, wanted to be ex-captain Claude Giroux. These days, he’s keeping an eye on Travis Konecny’s game and told The Inquirer he thinks he was at every Flyers home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“I made it known I was a Philly kid, and kind of understood what it took to play for them, and hopefully they got that message,” he said Saturday after completing the last day of testing, including the dreaded Wingate test, which calculates a player’s anaerobic fitness. Zielinski finished 10th.

Now, while one would expect a kid from South Jersey to be a Flyers fan, how about a teenager from Finland? For the record, these days Juho Piiparinen is a Dallas Stars fan because his idol, Miro Heiskanen, plays there, but he grew up liking the Orange and Black.

“They are pretty legendary,” said Piiparinen, who did meet with the team. “They’re from Philadelphia, and that was my dad’s favorite team, and I have their hat, too.”

So, how did this all happen? His dad, Jarkko Piiparinen, liked watching in the ’90s “the legendary goalie” Ron Hextall, and Eric Lindros, “a big center.” And the 6-foot-3, 203-pound, right-shot defenseman who is strong defensively but is working on developing his offensive game, especially with getting time on the second power-play unit, is someone the team could snag at No. 21 in the first round of the NHL draft.

A teammate of Flyers prospects Max Westergård and Heikki Ruohonen at the 2026 World Juniors, he’s also keeping an eye on the Flyers.

“This season, they were in the playoffs, but they couldn’t get so far,” he said. “And there’s this big, big Finnish defender, [Rasmus] Ristolainen, and I really like his style, how he plays.

“But I think it’s an amazing logo, too.”

Taking a Flyer

Zielinski and Piiparinen were two of the approximately 50 players the Flyers, with only five picks across seven rounds, met with last week.

The Inquirer can confirm the following prospects spoke with the Flyers. Players said the meeting was typically straightforward — no off-the-wall questions like Montreal is known for — with one player saying they seemed to want to know he was a good kid.

The players are divided by the position where the fitness testing schedule listed them, but keep in mind some wingers can play center, and some centers can play wing. Also note, The Inquirer did not speak to every player who was at the scouting combine. Center Viggo Björck thinks he met with the Flyers but could not remember exactly.

Centers: Rūdolfs Bērzkalns, Ryder Cali, Alexander Command, Maddox Dagenais, Beckett Hamilton, Jack Hextall, Ilia Morozov, Brooks Rogowski, Markus Ruck, Oliver Suvanto, Blake Zielinski

Left wings: Niklas Aaram-Olsen, Ethan Belchetz, Wyatt Cullen, Chase Harrington, JP Hurlbert, Adam Novotný, and Victor Plante

Right wings: Jaxon Cover, Elton Hermansson, Simas Ignatavicius, Kayden Lemire, Casey Mutryn, and Liam Ruck

Defense: Tommy Bleyl, Vladimír Dravecký, Malte Gustafsson, William Håkansson, Jayden Kurtz, Ryan Lin, Ben Macbeath, Piiparinen, Timmy Runtso, Maksim Sokolovskii, and Xavier Villeneuve

Goalie: Michal Oršulák and Tobias Trejbal

Family ties

Some players fell in love with the game because their dads played hockey. Plante’s dad, Derek, skated in 450 games, including 12 with the Flyers in 2000-01; he also spent time with the Phantoms in the American Hockey League that season.

“We were always talking about hockey. We love hockey, and everything we do, we compete,” said Plante, who will join his brothers Max and Zam at the University of Minnesota-Duluth — Max just won the Hobey Baker as men’s college hockey’s best player.

“Whether it’s raking leaves or shooting pucks or we’re in the backyard playing Wiffle ball or something, we’re always doing something competitive. At the dinner table, definitely a lot of arguments about hockey and stuff, but we’re always having good, clean fun.”

Dravecký’s dad, also named Vladimír, is still playing pro hockey in Czechia, and Dagenais’ father, Pierre, played across five NHL seasons, seven AHL seasons, and a handful more in Europe. Cali’s mom, Fiona McLeod, played professionally in Switzerland for several seasons, where she met his dad.

Cullen’s father, Matt, played more than 1,500 NHL games, winning a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and two with Flyers coach Rick Tocchet in Pittsburgh. He told The Inquirer that Sidney Crosby would come over to the house and play mini-sticks — and, yes, Crosby even won at that.

But then there are the players whose parents excelled in other sports.

Tyus Sparks, who did not meet with the Flyers, first skated on a frozen basketball court in Minnesota during a Christmas trip back to his mom’s home state at 2 or 3 years old. He returned to Boise, Idaho, and started playing hockey. How did the family land in Boise? His dad, Nate, was a quarterback at Boise State before suiting up briefly in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions.

Rogowski was on the path to play baseball, but he is now a 6-7, 236-pound center who will play at Michigan State next September. Baseball runs in the family — his father, Casey, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and reached triple A, and the Los Angeles Dodgers selected his uncle Ryan. “They’re super supportive, but they’re a bit bummed” that the youngest Rogowski, a first baseman, didn’t follow in their path.

Ignatavicius was born in Memphis and grew up in Lithuania. His dad, Mantas, played college basketball at High Point University and then professional basketball overseas. And according to Mutryn, who Bērzkalns called the tough guy he faced in this draft class, his dad, Scott, is more than happy his son didn’t keep the family sport going.

“My dad always made sure we knew how to throw a football, and we played other sports, but he never really wanted us playing football when we were younger,” he said of his dad, who was a QB at Boston College and spent time with the New England Patriots.

“He’s like, there’s no point in third grade playing tackle football, when the helmet weighs half as much as you do. So he’s like, just wait till fifth grade, and it was too late by that point.”

Flyers news and notes

While the draft prospects meet with front office staff and go through the gauntlet of fitness testing, the week in Western New York is also a chance for general managers to chat with each other and agents.

Here’s what we’ve heard about the Flyers:

• Obviously, Dylan Larkin requesting a trade out of Detroit was the hottest topic after it broke Thursday. Multiple sources have confirmed to The Inquirer that the Flyers are interested in the top-tier center, and they do think they have the assets — speculation is that the Red Wings will want a young center and a combination of NHL players, picks and prospects in return — but does he want to come to Philly? The Detroit Free Press reported Monday that he submitted a three-team list of where he’d like to go; the Flyers were not one of them. And, at almost 30, does he fit the Flyers’ timeline?

• John Carlson is a name that has been tossed around as a perfect fit for the Flyers, specifically to help the power play. The Anaheim Ducks are currently on the clock to try to re-sign the defenseman whom they acquired at the trade deadline. He would prefer to come back east if that does not happen. However, at 36, he also wants to win another Cup before his career is done, and the Flyers are not in a position to do so next season. Could there still be a match?
• The chatter that a contract extension has already been all but inked may have been a little premature for goalie Dan Vladař. Both sides want to get it done, but it doesn’t sound like anything is set in stone. They met this past week to get the ball rolling and, as a reminder, Vladař cannot sign until July 1.
• Brière was also spotted chatting with Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill. Shane Wright has been a hot topic these days as a possible solution to the Flyers’ need at center, as has Matty Beniers. But multiple reports have indicated that the ask for Wright, a 22-year-old center, is high and there is no indication that Beniers is available.

Breakaways

Hermansson’s older brother, Simon, a former hockey player, was the leading man for “The Bachelor” in Sweden in 2019 (check out his picture on Elite Prospects for proof). The younger Hermansson did not watch and, if given the option, he would not go on the show today. … The Montreal Canadiens upped their game of weird questions by making prospects decide how far back they wanted to throw a puck into a garbage can. Don’t recall a single player saying they got it in the basket. Like last year, they asked players what animal are they on the ice? Lemire had the best answer: “I’m a grizzly bear on the ice. I like to be that horse, that big body, and yeah, can’t really stop a grizzly bear going top speed.” Montreal also asked questions like, what type of boot would you be, would you kill someone you’re in the desert with if they had the only water bottle, and if you were the captain of a destroyer during World War II and had to sink a submarine but it meant killing 10 of your crew members who fell overboard, what would you do? “Oh, I killed them,” revealed Gustafsson. … Asked Suvanto what he knows about Philadelphia, “Obviously, Rocky is from that city. … Big rivalry with the Penguins. … they got Trevor Zegras, good talented player, a lot of young great players so I think they’ve got good future ahead of them.” He’ll also listen to Linkin Park’s “Bleed It Out” before games. … How did Oršulák become a goalie? “I hated skating.” … Asked Macbeath if he sees some comparisons between himself and Travis Sanheim, who also played for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League: “Yeah, I can see it. Elite skater, too.” He’s off to Denver in September. … Villeneuve played competitive soccer as a midfielder growing up and thinks it has helped with his footwork and how he sees the game. … Sam Reinhart’s ears must have been ringing Saturday as several players said he was either a comparable, like Hurlbert and Liam Ruck, or, when asked what is one skill they would want to take from an NHL player, like Hermansson saying he wanted his shot. Of course, several players would steal Connor McDavid’s speed. Aaram-Olsen said he’d steal Tom Wilson’s fighting.

BUFFALO — Alexander Command sat down in front of the media after finishing his twirl through the fitness testing on Saturday at LECOM HarborCenter.

The Swedish center looked relaxed and rosy cheeked for someone who said he had just vomited.

It’s not an unheard-of result for the Wingate test, in which players at the NHL scouting combine ride the bike for 30 seconds as hard as they can with no clock in view to see when the end is coming and trainers shouting to keep going.

“I’d say the Wingate was better than I thought, and pretty fun,” Command said with a smile before revealing how it really went.

Command, who could be available when the Flyers select at No. 21 overall in the NHL draft on June 26-27, and has met with the team, finished tied for 11th in the peak power output test that concluded the combine for each player. He also finished tied for 17th in VO2 max, a test completed Friday in which a player rides a bike with the resistance increasing and keeps riding until they cannot keep up the required revolutions per minute.

The consensus was that the Wingate test, which also provides a fatigue index result, was the hardest but, oddly, the most fun. Ryder Cali, a center with whom the Flyers met, said the VO2 drained him and he couldn’t move for 25 minutes after, but he felt the Wingate was his best test as it showed his power. He also said the screaming the trainers do as the players pedal actually made him angry, which, in turn, made him go harder.

Said Jaxon Cover, a right winger who met with the Flyers and will head to Penn State in the fall of 2027: “I wish that I could see the time while I was doing it because I couldn’t believe that I had more time to go while I was on it, but it was a lot of fun, and it’s a great experience overall.”

Layne Gallacher, a center who went to Guelph of the Ontario Hockey League in the trade that sent Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko to Brantford, finished atop the Wingate test’s peak power output while consensus No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna was the best in VO2, joking long shifts helped him in his career. The Penn State winger finished in the top 25 for several tests, including third in the new isokinetic squat strength test, which was “performed on a motorized resistance device [1080 Cable] to assess lower extremity strength,” according to the NHL.

McKenna gave his team and NCAA hockey’s weekend-heavy schedule some of the credit for his strong performance, as it helped him spend a considerable amount of time in the gym at the beginning of each week. He also was training in Kelowna, British Columbia, with Markus and Liam Ruck — Markus tweaked his back on the vertical jump and could not continue — and Mathis Preston since the end of his season.

“Obviously, you want to do your best at everything, so I wanted to prepare hard for this,” said McKenna, who measured 5-foot-11¼ and 170 pounds.

“I think sometimes my frame’s not the biggest, so [I] just wanted to show that I can compete out there and I can work hard off the ice,” he said. “I think that’s a big key to carry through the next level.”

Among the 90 prospects at the combine, many just wrapped up their first year in college, are heading there in the fall, or are going in two years.

In addition to McKenna, Beckham Edwards and Cole Zurawski, who will be teammates at Notre Dame in September, dominated the tests. The pair tied Norwegian Niklas Aaram-Olsen for No. 1 in the pro agility test to the left. The test is a 5-10-5 yard shuttle that evaluates multidirectional speed, agility, and whole-body reaction plus control. Aaram-Olsen and Edwards tied for the lead to the right, and Edwards was No. 1 in force plate no jump.

Zurawski finished atop the leaderboard for the new 10-meter sprint test, which showed how off-ice linear sprint performance is a good predictor of on-ice speed. And Aaram-Olsen led the way in the horizontal jump, landing 118.0 inches, almost two inches more than second place.

“I like the explosive,” said Aaram-Olsen, a winger who is a teammate of Command with Örebro HK U20 in Sweden’s top junior league.

Pierce Mbuyi is off to Penn State in 2027, but first he topped the isokinetic squat test, came in second on the bench press power test — behind UMass’ Landon Nycz — and finished tied with several players for sixth in pullups (14). Mbuyi, a winger and captain of Owen Sound of the OHL is listed at 5-foot-9 and 177 pounds. Fellow under-6-foot winger Victor Plante, the son of former Flyer Derek Plante who is heading to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, was atop the fatigue index.

Two centers had the best grip strength. Cali, who recently flipped his commitment to Providence, tied for first in right-hand grip strength, and Ilia Morozov, 17, who was the youngest player in college hockey this past season at Miami (Ohio), had the best left-hand grip strength. Both met with the Flyers and could be right in their wheelhouse on draft night.

Breakaways

Winger Adam Novotný said he had a good meeting with the Flyers. He mentioned that his head was still spinning when he spoke with the media after riding the bike. The Czech winger, who played for Peterborough of the OHL, did the most pullups (18). … Goalie Michal Oršulák slipped doing the shuttle. He was OK but said “I think not too much good,” afterward about his overall performance. His Prince Albert squad finished its season on May 16, losing to Flyers prospect Luke Vlooswyk and Everett in the Western Hockey League final. He said he did not have much time to prepare for the testing. … Two top prospects, Ivar Stenberg and Carson Carels did not do physical testing at the combine.