Flyers roundtable: Assessing the new front-office hires, next month’s draft, and more

Last week had the potential to become a pivotal moment for the long-term future of the Flyers organization.

While many fans prayed it would come in the form of landing the No. 1 pick in last Monday’s NHL draft lottery, and subsequently phenom Connor Bedard, it instead came last Thursday with the front-office hires of Keith Jones as president of hockey operations and Danny Brière as full-time general manager. The two former Flyers are tasked with ushering in a new era of Flyers hockey and rebuilding the once-proud franchise back into a contender.

» READ MORE: Keith Jones to be the ‘big picture’ guy in Flyers’ new hockey operations triumvirate

In the wake of a landmark day in Flyers hockey, we caught up with beat reporters Giana Han and Olivia Reiner for the lowdown on several offseason topics:

GH: While Brière is a former Flyer, I get the feeling he does bring a fresh perspective, despite what some may think. Talking to reporters who covered him as a player, as well as players who played with and against him, Brière has a different way of looking at things. From my own interactions, I can say he’s very thoughtful, and it feels like he would be able to balance maintaining the tradition of the organization while moving it in the direction of the modern game.

However, Brière also is inexperienced. The president of hockey operations hire felt like an opportunity to pair him with a veteran in the business. Hiring Jones was the opposite of that. While Jones is a veteran in hockey, he has no front-office experience. But at his news conference, he dropped the tidbit that he used to be an adviser to Ed Snider. It will be interesting to get to know the side of him that he says he doesn’t show the outward world. If nothing else, he will get along with John Tortorella and Brière.

OR: My initial impression is that it’s too early to jump to conclusions one way or another about Brière and Jones. I understand some of the public’s criticism that the Flyers are simply filling their front office with more former Flyers, preventing true outside perspectives from shaping the new direction of the organization from the top. I also understand that Brière and Jones are smart hockey people who bring fresh perspectives through their own experiences that aren’t solely rooted in Philadelphia. They seem to be saying the right things regarding the Flyers’ need for a rebuild (especially Brière, who will be the one driving it), but, ultimately, talk is cheap. Brière’s actions, starting with the draft and free agency, will speak much louder. They deserve chances to prove they are the right people for the jobs.

GH: Tortorella will be able to share his opinions, but he won’t have any final say in roster decisions, according to what was said at the news conference. That will fall to Brière. Tortorella’s role, meanwhile, will be “spiritual leader.” That comes with its own risks. Tortorella is a unique character, and they risk alienating players who don’t subscribe to the Tortorella religion.

Like Jones, Tortorella is a hockey veteran but a front-office rookie (if he’s even that, since he’s not in an official front-office role). He has a lot of practice controlling the day-to-day, but despite his comments this season about the long-term plan, he has no official experience with roster building.

OR: I think we have to be clear here when defining Tortorella’s role in the triumvirate. It isn’t within his role as head coach to have final say on personnel. That’s Brière’s job as general manager. But Tortorella is going to have a seat at the table where those personnel conversations are happening. While that may be unique in the NHL, it isn’t totally unprecedented (Patrick Roy technically had even more power in his simultaneous roles as head coach and vice president of hockey operations of the Colorado Avalanche). The risk is that, hypothetically, Tortorella’s insights aren’t any good (or they’re biased against players he doesn’t get along with) and his opinions go unchecked and have too much of an influence on personnel decisions, thus hindering the team. The reward is that, again, hypothetically, his insights are spot-on and contribute to “addition by subtraction,” as he likes to put it, until the team becomes a contender again. The Flyers seem confident he is capable of doing the latter. Only time will tell if he can.

GH: If you can’t get Bedard, why not go with the next best 17-year-old in the WHL, Zach Benson? Benson’s 98 points trailed only Bedard (143 points) among 17-year-olds in the WHL. He has a high ceiling, and in the long rebuilding process the Flyers are embarking on, he has time to get there.

» READ MORE: Five players the Flyers could target with the No. 7 overall pick in the NHL draft

Benson is on the smaller side at 5-foot-9 and 163 pounds, but the league is getting quicker. His dynamism and hockey IQ can help offset his size. The Flyers have shown they aren’t scared of drafting smaller players (including Travis Konecny, Bobby Brink, and Cam York). With Brière at the helm, I’d expect them to prioritize hockey IQ and skills over size, since Brière knows firsthand that size isn’t everything.

OR: If you put traits that the Flyers have said they value in the past (strength, power, physicality, versatility, etc.) into a prospect-making machine, it probably would spit out U.S. National Team Development Program forward Ryan Leonard. At 6-foot, 192 pounds, he’s considered to be one of the strongest prospects in the draft, fitting the bill of a two-way power forward with finishing capabilities. He ranked third in scoring this season on the U18 team (51 goals and 94 points in 57 games) behind linemates and draft-eligible prospects Will Smith and Gabe Perreault. Leonard will head to Boston College next season and link up with Flyers’ 2022 first-rounder Cutter Gauthier, who possesses a similar skill set. Leonard seems like a prototypical Flyer, but does Brière subscribe to that prototype?

GH: Gauthier has two goals in four games. He has shown he’s confident in his ability and doesn’t hesitate to shoot. He hasn’t looked out of place with older players, despite being a first-time participant in the tournament. Gauthier, who is a plus-5, also hasn’t been on the ice for any opponents’ goals. The second-youngest player on the team, he is tied for the second on Team USA in goals behind NHL veteran Alex Tuch, who has three.

OR: The kid likes to shoot the puck. At 19 years old, Gauthier leads the tournament with 21 shots on goal in four games. Two of those shots have led to goals (9.52% shooting). While he hasn’t been consistently playing against NHL-caliber talent, he’s showing that his skill set — including his speed and power — translates on the international stage against grown men. I’m eager to see how he plays against some of the more competitive teams as the tournament progresses.