Danny Brière talks Carter Hart, the trade deadline, and keeping the Flyers’ eyes ‘on the future’

Danny Brière sat in front of the media on Wednesday at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees knowing the question on every reporter’s mind.

What’s going on with Carter Hart?

The general manager’s annual midseason news conference was already on the docket, scheduled Monday before the news that Hart had “requested and been granted an indefinite leave of absence citing personal reasons” was announced the following day. But Brière addressed Hart’s situation and the Globe and Mail’s report that five members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team have been told to surrender to police in London, Ontario, on sexual assault charges in connection to an allegation from June of that year.

» READ MORE: Report: Five members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team to face sexual assault charges

“We are aware of this morning’s press reports on the very serious matter,” Brière read from a prepared statement. “We will respond appropriately when the outcomes of the investigations are made public. The NHL has been very clear that teams should refer all investigation-related questions to them. In the meantime, members of the organization, including Flyers players, will not be commenting any further. So that’s all we can say at the moment, unfortunately.”

Brière would not confirm if Hart’s leave of absence was related to the report, saying: “I don’t know. I really can’t tell because we don’t know anything. We’re not aware of anything. There’s a lot of speculation. That’s all we know.” He then added: “What I can tell you [is] Sam Ersson has played extremely well [and] has earned the right to more ice time. We’re excited by our goaltending.”

Although the team is limping into the All-Star break, having lost three straight in regulation for the first time since Oct. 28-Nov. 1, the general manager said he is happy with the development of the young players and the fact that the Flyers are — albeit precariously — holding onto the second spot in the Metropolitan Division.

”Going into the season, I’d be lying if I told you that I expected us to be in a playoff spot 48 games in,” the GM said. “I would have been ecstatic if you would have said that to me before the season. But at the same time, I also didn’t believe the reports or the predictions from experts that had us finishing in the bottom three in the NHL. I thought we were somewhere in between; I thought we were going to be competing for a playoff spot or close to it. ... So that part has been a lot of fun to deal with.”

The fun may be coming to an end as Brière looks ahead to the March 8 trade deadline. The team has big decisions to make as it tries to balance maintaining a playoff spot without hedging the future.

The Flyers have three defensemen — Sean Walker, Nick Seeler, and Rasmus Ristolainen — who have been heavily involved in trade rumors. Brière has been impressed with the trio and how they’ve each played a key role in the Flyers’ getting to where they are. But Seeler, 30, and Walker, 29, will each become unrestricted free agents on July 1. Sending them to a Stanley Cup-contending team and getting something in return before they could walk makes sense.

As its been said, the Flyers brass is aiming for deep Stanley Cup runs, not just one playoff appearance in 2024.

“We’re not trying to make trades just to make trades. If there’s something that makes sense, that we feel makes us better for the future, we’ll strongly consider [it],” Brière said.

“The one thing that I won’t be doing is, I won’t be trading prime assets just to make a run. Not going to trade, you know, first-, second-round picks. ... So if there’s a hockey trade that we feel makes us better down the road, but we’re not going to trade assets just to make a playoff run.”

The biggest question mark for the Flyers is what the next steps are for the guys at Lehigh Valley. Several players, including forwards Samu Tuomaala and Elliot Desnoyers and defensemen Emil Andrae and Ronnie Attard, have been playing well and probably deserve a cup of coffee to see how they fare in the NHL. Brière said he’s happy with the guys on the farm and isn’t too worried about the lack of room or the big club stifling development.

“You never really hear of someone having to stay, [that] they ruined their career because they stayed too long in the minors,” he said. “Usually, it’s the other way around when they come up too quick and they don’t get the ice time to develop properly. So I’m really excited about that; they get the chance to play a lot of heavy minutes and kind of figure out what works at the pro level and what doesn’t work.”

For now, it appears the Flyers are maintaining the status quo, of being a rebuilding team that is focused on creating a good culture in the locker room while building success that will carry the organization far down the road.

“We’re still thinking about the future. One of the things is — and this is great, what’s happening right now, this is great, because our young guys are acquiring a lot of experience having the chance to play in some really meaningful games. It’s going to keep going for at least the next couple of months,” Brière said.

“This is a great experience. So I’m really excited about that. But again, we keep an eye on the future. We’ve said from the beginning we wanted to build a team that was going to be a Stanley Cup contender for years to come and not just a one in, one out, one in, one out like what has been going on. The eye is still on the future.”