Q&A: Danny Brière on the Flyers’ young stars, working with John Tortorella, and more

Second of two parts.

In the second installment of our interview with Danny Brière, we asked the first-year Flyers general manager about working with John Tortorella, naming Sean Couturier captain, and the team’s young stars and rising prospects.

Part 1 of the conversation can be found here.

The interview was conducted last week in Chicago. It has been edited and condensed for clarity.

A: Not at this point. It’s too early. We’re not allowed to do anything until the summer. Obviously, he’s had a tremendous season and he’s the heartbeat of our team. And, you know, he’s a Flyer. He was homegrown, too. So those are all things we take very seriously. I think our fans love him for how reckless and fearless he is out there. So it’s something we’re going to explore after the season, but we certainly, we would love to keep them here for the duration.

» READ MORE: Flyers takeaways: Bobby Brink surges, Tyson Foerster on a roll, and a ‘super weird’ night in the dark

A: Yeah, well, they are a big reason why we’ve had a little bit of success this year. Those guys that you mentioned, have taken a big step. Tyson Foerster has been amazing. Bobby Brink had a really good start and then we just didn’t want him to be in and out lineup. We need him to keep developing and playing heavy minutes, but we’re happy about him. It’s been maybe a little more difficult with Noah Cates. But he had such a strong season last year that we still believe strongly in him; he’s going to bounce back.

And you look at the development of our young defensemen. Travis Sanheim is a little older, but the step he took this year. Cam York, 15 months ago he was in the minors and everybody was questioning if he would ever be able to play with Flyers, and now, like Torts called him the best defender on the team just a few days ago. Egor Zamula, I don’t think anybody expected him to play as well as he has this year and develop the way he has. So, those young players are a big part of why we’ve had some success. So it’s exciting and looking ahead, moving forward, it’s going to be a challenge for them to keep it up and to get even better. But it’s definitely put us in a great position.

A: They’re not and there’s good and bad in that. Yeah, a lot of players you would like to give them some NHL games, but at the same time, they’re playing a lot, they’re playing heavy minutes. I look at a guy like Tyson Foerster. Last year, I remember going down and he was giving me the look at times, like why are you calling everybody else and you’re not calling me? We called him up late in the season to give him a few games to reward him for the season he was having. But it was critical for him to play heavy minutes.

When I look at Elliot Desnoyers, Samu Tuomaala, Jon-Randall Avon is having a good year as well down there. Brink now is there and on defense, Ronnie Attard, Ethan Samson, Adam Ginning, Helge Grans, it’s a good thing that they’re playing a lot of heavy minutes, too. And, you know, if they’re ready, they’re ready. Kind of like Tyson did and Zamula, Brink did at training camp. So hopefully they’re ready to go next year. We’d love to give them some games, but we haven’t had many injuries. The good thing is to get to play a lot.

A: Yes. We had done a lot of work before, so we knew what he was. He’s battling through, he’s a little dinged up. It hasn’t been easy for him and we know that. But he’s a hockey player. I think he’s starting to feel more and more comfortable because it’s not easy. You’re 21 years old and you get traded from Anaheim, which is a smaller hockey market, to one of the biggest hockey markets with a lot of attention. His world was turned upside down. So it was tough for him. But ... what we’re probably most excited for is the future with Jamie, not just this season but for years to come. And the character of the person, too, is a big reason why we were willing to make that trade. Everybody we talked to — and we’re starting to see it more and more in the locker room — [said] he is well-liked and he’s a character person.

A: Right now, we’re figuring out Sam Ersson. The exciting part with Sam is, he was taking games away from Carter Hart, before Carter left — and he didn’t steal them, he earned them. That’s the exciting part. And, you know, I’m very aware that it’s totally different now being the No. 1 without a Carter Hart beside you to help you. But it gives us a chance to see what he really has, what he is.

We also have young guys coming and we spent two high picks last year at the draft, and I understand those guys are probably three or four years away from helping us along that timeline. We also have Alexei Kolosov, who’s going to come over [from Belarus] next year, who’s a high prospect as well. ... Cal Petersen, Felix Sandström are still in the mix. Hopefully, they keep developing. I’m not too worried about goaltending. Right now Sam seems to be an answer. And we’re going to give them the chance to run with it and hopefully, he takes it and we would be ecstatic with that. But time will tell.

» READ MORE: Sean Couturier has shown the makings of a Flyers captain for years, his old teammates say

A: The plan is to come play next year here. Most likely. Yeah. We want the chance to acclimate him to the North American game, the smaller rink. We’ll see how quickly he can be ready to make the jump, but we’re very high on him. He’s having a fantastic season on a team where he gets a lot of shots. So he’s an exciting prospect for us. And then we have the two other young guys behind him, Carson Bjarnason and Yegor Zavragin, that we drafted last year.

A: It’s been an amazing ride working with John. I had him as an assistant coach early in my career, so I knew him. Obviously, he surprised me in a lot of different aspects. You know, you’re working on a day-to-day basis with him, I’ve come to appreciate the person, how human he is, and how much he cares about the people around him, how much he cares about his players. And I think that’s one of his biggest strengths, is the perception out there is that he doesn’t care about young players and he doesn’t really care about his players and it’s the furthest thing from the truth. And that’s what I’ve come to realize working with him.

I think the players really feel that and they know that he has a way to let them know even through his toughness towards them that he cares and he does it for the right reason. That’s what makes him so successful as a coach. Me, personally, it’s been a great ride working with him. I have nothing but good things to say about our relationship and it’s been a blast.

A: All the time. All the time. Because I watch from the top of the building every night, I don’t get sometimes the feeling on the ice, in the heat of the battle. I’m not there in the dressing room in between periods or before the game when things happen and that’s where he’s very valuable. He understands the dressing room and he shares his thoughts on what needs to be done and who fits and who doesn’t fit. So he was very valuable last offseason when it came to that. So I trusted him and I listened to him because he has a knack for knowing, he has a pulse towards his dressing room. Part of why, when he came to us and said it’s time to name Sean Couturier captain. I said all right. Yeah, I trust them when it comes to that, totally. He has a really good feel for the dressing room and that’s a big asset.

A: Well, one thing I can tell you is, early on when he moved in, I walked into his room and I checked on him as far as, do you need help with opening a bank account? Setting up your cell phone? Getting a credit card? And I realized quickly that he didn’t need any help. He was way more mature and way more advanced than any 18-year-old I had ever seen before in my life. The cool part is he became a big brother to my children and the relationship that he had with them, for me, was the best part to watch. We even had his mom come in and take care of us one year in the playoffs. She stayed with us for the duration of the playoffs and she would cook for us and help us out around the house and fantastic family, I can see where he got it from growing up. ... If you would have told me after two weeks of living at our house, if you would have said 12 years down the road, he’s going to be your captain, I would not have been surprised. Very mature and advanced for his age.

A: Totally did. He was a pro already. You know, his dad played hockey. He just got it. He understood. He knew he wanted to be a hockey player. He did everything to be a hockey player. So no, I’m not surprised at all.

A: It’s time, yeah.

A: Well, if you think about it, John came aboard the previous year and Sean wasn’t playing and he wanted to get to know the room. And after one year, Scott Laughton was his choice for an alternate, but he didn’t want to name a captain because he hadn’t had the chance to be around the locker room, especially on the ice. There’s practice and then there’s game time and then the heat of the action on the bench. How would Sean react to being coached by John? Because he pushes buttons and he challenges you. He didn’t know him. They crossed each other in the hallway and they had a couple of discussions along the way the last year, but he didn’t play for him. So it was tough for John to just give him the “C” without knowing how he is in the heat of the battle.

So it totally makes sense to wait and see because on our end, a lot of us in management, we felt that it was Sean’s room when Claude Giroux left. Obviously, Scotty Laughton has a big presence as well. [Travis] Konecny, [Travis] Sanheim also. But I think we all realized that it was better to wait and see how Sean would handle it. And that’s kind of what it was, the reason why we didn’t name a captain or he didn’t want to name a captain this year until he realized. And yeah, one night he came in and said it’s time, it’s time to name a captain.

A: Yeah, that was the discussion. Yeah, but again, that’s one thing we don’t have to worry about, Torts understands the locker room, he understands the room better than anyone I’ve ever been around. So there’s no doubt that when he said so, it was time.

A: Absolutely. He’s a big part of the team chemistry. He’s been there through a lot of tough times. You look at his career, he’s fought through a lot. He’s a great example for our young guys. I have a lot of respect for Scott Laughton and he’s a big, important piece in our locker room.

A: Keep positive with our young guys. I’m not sure what’s going to happen between now and the end of the year, but we’re going in the right direction, I feel. And it’s not about just this season, it’s about building a strong team that they’re going to be proud of for years to come. We hope that they’ll want to be part of that.