Justin Braun happy Flyers came calling, hoping to help them get ‘back on track’

On April 3, two weeks after the Flyers traded him on March 21 to the New York Rangers, Justin Braun found himself on the receiving end of Travis Konecny’s chirps.

He didn’t like it.

“I don’t handle those situations very well, I guess,” Braun said with a laugh. “Guys talking to me, and I’m trying to stay focused, play a good game. ... They’re just chatting with me out there. They said I was wearing a new helmet, and it was terrible.”

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Outside the occasional practice chirp, the 35-year-old Braun no longer has to worry about what comes out of Konecny’s mouth. On July 13, the first day of free agency, Braun signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal to return to the Flyers. When the 2022-2023 season comes, he’ll be wearing — in his friends’ opinions — a much more attractive helmet.

It’s a comfortable helmet for Braun, who was a Flyer for almost three years prior to the trade. Despite the Flyers’ disappointing 2021-2022 season, Braun performed well individually, acting as the team’s most reliable blueliner in a season full of upheaval.

In 61 games with the Flyers, Braun scored five goals, tied for his career-high. Braun played between 15 and 24 minutes every game except three and finished with a plus-three rating with the Flyers despite the team having the sixth-worst goals against average (3.59) in the league. As a result, teams came calling at the trade deadline, and the Flyers received the Rangers’ 2023 third-round pick for Braun, who was headed for free agency at the end of the season. In return, New York got a depth defenseman for their playoff push.

Once the trade was official, everything happened quickly, so quickly that his teammates didn’t get to say goodbye, defenseman Cam York told The Inquirer. Luckily for Braun, his new destination was just a few hours’ drive up I-95.

A big culture shock awaited Braun. NYC itself “makes Philly look small,” with a population about eight times larger and something to do on every block, which was fun for his family, who moved back to Minnesota from Philadelphia before joining him in New York. The locker room was different, too, filled with the intensity of a team in playoff contention versus one trying to pull itself out of losing streak after losing streak.

“To be back in that situation again, it was awesome to have that intensity, the pressure, and just you know to have that chance again,” Braun said.

However, Braun was also thrust into a very different role than the one he played in Philly. Instead of being one of the team’s steadiest players, Braun was in and out of the lineup. When he did play, he saw as little as eight minutes of ice time.

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The day Braun hosted his former team was just the second game he played for the Rangers out of the six he’d been in New York for. While he was happy to see his former teammates, he was nervous because he was fighting for a spot in a new lineup. With the Rangers, he tallied one goal and one assist and finished with a minus-one rating in eight regular season games.

But Braun was acquired to help the Rangers in the playoffs, and that’s what he did. He played in 19 of the team’s 20 playoff games and blocked 20 shots to help out Vezina Trophy-winner Igor Shesterkin, whom Braun described as “a special goalie.”

On June 11, the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Rangers 2-1 to take the Eastern Conference Finals series in six games. The Rangers’ run ended, and with it, so did Braun’s contract. When free agency started, Braun and his agents first looked to the Rangers but it wasn’t much of a surprise to Braun that they didn’t plan on keeping him.

“They’ve got their cap issues,” Braun said. “Their D-men are pretty good at this point. They don’t need a lot of help back there.”

But then a familiar number came calling. It was the Flyers, and they wanted him back.

“I’m glad they did,” Braun said. “To get a contract at this point in my career is always exciting.”

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The offer came with a level of comfort. Braun already knew the front office, the facilities, the city, and most importantly, the team. It also came with the memory of last season’s struggles, but Braun saw hope.

“New coach coming in, new energy, guys seem to be healthy,” Braun said. “So hopefully we can get things back on track.”

Braun’s encouraged by John Tortorella’s reputation of getting the most out of his players and is braced for a hard training camp. He’s prepared to fight for a spot and expects everyone else to as well.

However, if he ends up on the third pair with York, he wouldn’t mind. He enjoyed partnering with the 21-year-old, who referred to Braun as his “dad” (Braun argues that he’s “way too young for that”). He worked hard with York, trying to get him to be more comfortable and just play his game, and felt York was “coming into his own” right before Braun’s trade to New York.

Braun hasn’t heard from Tortorella yet because both men were on vacation. However, he’s looking forward to meeting him, and he’s not too worried about Tortorella’s tough reputation.

“At this point in my career, I would hope I’ve heard it all,” Braun said with a laugh. “I don’t know. Maybe there’s more out there. But I’ve heard a lot of good and bad things over the years, so you just got to go out there and work for him.”