It’s Time to Start seeing the Fruits of Briere’s Labor.

Photo Credit: https://www.phantomshockey.com/

With the recent firing of Head Coach John Tortorella, I think we can finally assume that the dismantling of this once-great franchise is finally over. And heck, it’s about time!

Since Danny Briere was officially named the successor to Chuck Fletcher on May 11th, 2023, the fans of this great franchise have been waiting patiently (well, as patiently as a Philadelphia sports fan can) for him to restore the honor and respect that this team worked so hard to earn over its illustrious history.

But now that he has torn down this roster to bare bones by trading away countless rudimental players that the previous administration brought in to try to implement what turned out to be an antiquated-ineffective system. It’s time to see what the fruits of Briere’s labor have brought us.

And, to do so, you don’t have to look too far. Of course, we all have seen what Michkov (Briere’s 7th overall pick in the 2023 Draft) can do, especially after he no longer is getting punished for every little mistake he makes by a crotchety old coach who has always preferred to play veterans over youth as Matvei has somehow still managed to surpass the incredible Simon Gange’s rookie point totals. So, the sky is the limit for this young Russian superstar.

Karsen Dorwart

But, besides him, who else is coming up the pike? Well, the next player that Briere has brought in that you will see play with the Flyers in the next game is a newly signed undrafted free agent named Karsen Dorwart. Karsen is a 22-year-old forward who stands at 6’1 and 194 pounds. The Flyers signed him after completing a season at Michigan State, where he finished with 13 goals and 18 assists for 31 points in 35 games played not to mention the fact the finished the season a +20!

He is a good two-way center with great on-ice vision. Dorwart, I believe, can be quite deceptive in terms of him being a pass-first player who can somehow find the blade of his linemates’ stick without even appearing to look their way. But, at the same time, he is not one to play hot potato. Karsen also has a bit of elusiveness to his game where he can evade the opposition’s defensives long enough that they no longer deem him a threat, just to have him reappear wide open in the perfect location to receive a puck from his teammate and fire one past the goalie.

Now, do I necessarily agree with this signing? Ehhh, although multiple teams coveted Dorwart before he eventually chose to sign with the Flyers. I would have probably chosen to sign a more offensively minded dot dweller like Michigan’s undrafted free agent center TJ Hughes, who over the last three seasons has racked up 47 goals and 122 total points in 116 games played and has a much better faceoff percentage. But what do I know?

As far as where Karsen will play, in practice, he was seen running drills with Deslauriers and Hathaway on the fourth line. It’s a job I would much rather see Poehling doing so that Dorwart could replace him on the third line, where his talents could be better suited to assist the underperforming Owen Tippet and newly acquired Jakob Pelletier. But I guess we will have to wait and see how it plays out.

Nikita Grebyonkin

If we look a little deeper in the Flyers Prospect Pool, you can find the recently acquired 6’2 209, pound Russian winger Nikita Grebyonkin, who, since being acquired from the Leafs in the trade that sent Scott Laughton packing, is looking to pay early dividends.

But let me assure you, even though you may not have heard much about this young winger (who can play on either side of the boards), he is no overnight sensation. Grebyonkin won the KHL’s Alexsei Cherepanov Award in 22-23, which is given to the leagues (Best Rookie), a feat that even the great Matvei Michkov did not achieve before joining the Flyers. On top of that, Nikita played in the KHL All-Star game last season and was able to propel his team last season to a KHL Gagarin Cup (their version of the Stanley Cup) by scoring 19 goals and 22 assists for 41 points over 67 games played during the regular season.

What can he bring to the Flyers? Well, if you have been watching any Phantoms games, you’ll have seen that Grebyonkin has been the toothless physical power forward the team has been lacking since they traded away the great Wayne Simmonds. Now, before you take that and run with it, NO, I don’t think he will achieve the kind of success Simmonds had with the Flyers (at least not anytime soon), but what I do believe Nikita will bring is intensity. Seeing that he is fearless, whether it’s dropping his gloves to defend a teammate, joyfully finishing each and every checking opportunity, or gracelessly taking a beating in front of the net, Grebyonkin is willing to do whatever it takes for his team to come out victorious, which is why he has had so much early success in Lehigh Valley playing for the Phantoms. Where he managed to score three goals, and two assists for five points in only seven games played. And I think it is worth noting that two of those goals came while the team was on the power play, which is something the Flyers so desperately need help doing.

Jett Luchanko

So, another possible candidate we could see up with the Flyers in the not-so-distant future is Danny’s 2024 1st round pick Jett Luchanko. In my mind, Jett was a bit of a reach, especially since when the Flyers were initially supposed to be picking at 12th overall before trading that pick to Minnesota, there were still players like the elite defender Zeev Buium, on the board, as well as Cole Eiserman who is greatest American born goal scorer that has ever played in the USA National Team Development Programs history. But I guess they fell in love with Jett, soooo… here we are.

As serious as I am about that last statement, let’s dive into what exactly we can expect from Jett. Well, hence the name Jett has excellent speed. He is able to use it to beat the opposition to loose pucks in order to make some pretty amazing passes out of the corners to the goal mouth, where his awaiting teammates are able to send them past the surprised goaltender.

This season, while playing for the Guelph Storm after appearing with the Flyers in a couple of games, Jett was able to post 21 goals and 35 assists for 56 points in 46 OHL games played.

What can you expect when he joins the Flyers? Well, I think you’ll find that Luchanko will most certainly push the pace of their offense. Few players can match Jett’s speed, and he only seems to increase it more when the puck is on his stick. Therefore, he will be able to create chance after chance. The only thing is, in this upcoming draft, Briere will have to find a couple more guys who are shooters who will be capable of rifling home the kind of setups that Jett will be able to dish out.

As far as other prospects that Danny has in the pipeline. You have:

Forward Denver Barkey and defenseman Oliver Bonk, who both are drafted and already signed by Danny, who play for the London Knights of the OHL, but while you should keep an eye on them as possibles to make the roster next season, don’t look for them any time soon seeing that they can’t seem to stop winning games as they appear well on their way to winning yet another OHL Championship.

Other notables should include:

-Unsigned Flyers draftees like Notre Dame’s Cole Knuble, who Briere took with his fourth-round pick in 2023.

-Western Michigan’s Alex Bump, who was drafted in the 5th round in 2022 (when Briere was considered a special assistant to the GM (whatever that means).

-And SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL’s Yegor Zavragin, who was taken in the third round of the 2023 draft by Briere.

But these players are still unsigned, so for now, we’ll leave them to continue simmering on the back burner until they are inked.

In closing, Briere has done a lot to try and make this team better, and although we have yet to see just what the fruits of his labor will do, in a short amount of time, I think he has been able to come in and bring the Flyers into the 21st century by placing a renewed focus on youth and speed. It is something the Flyers neglected to do for so long while other teams surpassed them in the standings just by getting younger and faster. Time will tell if his methods pan out, but for now, things seem promising. However, I believe Briere’s actual test will be whether he can acquire a few franchise-changing prospects in this next draft since he has decided to give up so much in order to garner draft capital this summer.