PHILADELPHIA | There are men who keep their word. Daniel Brière had promised an interview with The Montreal Journal Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. However, he had not planned to close a major deal at almost the same time.
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At 5:40 p.m. Brière invites the author of these lines to a private room on the press bridge. He speaks without ever looking at the clock, without showing any signs of impatience or nervousness, less than two hours before a matchup against Pennsylvania's great rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins. But also what we didn't know at that moment, minutes before the announcement of a trade that could change a GM's career.
At the end of an almost 30-minute interview, the Flyers' general manager utters a little line with a grin.
“They'll come back and talk to me after the first season because we just did a trade and it's pretty big,” he said. It’s big, but I didn’t move with the Canadian!”
Brière wasn't exaggerating. The 46-year-old GM traded left winger Cutter Gauthier, the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, to the Anaheim Ducks for right-handed defenseman Jamie Drysdale, the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft and a second-round pick in 2025.
Gauthier had told the Flyers for several months that he did not want to play in Philadelphia because he skipped development camp this summer.
“We kept it a secret so as not to harm the young man, but we had no choice but to change,” Brière explained after the first half against the Penguins. After the USA's gold medal at the Junior World Championships and the very good tournament, we felt it was the right time to maximize value. In return, we get a very good young offensive defender with character in Drysdale.
A plan in mind
The Flyers are one of the greatest stories in the NHL this season. Almost halfway through the season, they have a playoff spot with 4th place in the Metropolitan Division (20-14-6).
They don't have the track record of a rebuilding team. However, Brière made his plan clear in his first days as general manager of his former team. He wants to rebuild. And he won't change his mind despite the Flyers' success.
“I have the right to deviate from the plan if I want. I'll do it with Keith Jones [président des opérations hockey]. But we realize that we are not a team that is aiming for the Stanley Cup this year. We are not at this stage of our development yet. It's great to see what the players and coaches are doing this season. However, you have to keep both feet on the ground. We still have a long way to go. For me this is a good step in the right direction.
“I didn’t believe the predictions of the experts who placed us at the bottom of the rankings,” he continued. But I would be lying if I said I expected my team to clinch a playoff spot midway through the season.”
Learn to win
Like Martin St-Louis and Kent Hughes, Brière has hit the nail on the head of culture. So he finds himself with the best of both worlds in Philadelphia, with frequent wins and an emphasis on developing young players.
“It's hard to get out of a losing mood,” he remembers. If you lose too much, it will be difficult. I experienced it when I started in Buffalo. To get there you have to change several players.
“There are talented teams that can't find their way out of the tunnel. They have learned to live in defeat. And they can get decent with it. From this point on it becomes very dangerous. We prefer a rebuild where we can play important games in February or March.
“I can push back my draft pick to learn how to win. Ideally, I'd like to have a good choice too, but I don't know what's best. One draft pick doesn't change an entire franchise. It often takes three or four good decisions to get back on the right track. In Philadelphia, we have two big prospects and two big decisions in Cutter Gauthier and Matvei Michkov in recent years.
However, Gauthier has since switched sides. And we need to replace his name with Drysdale, a defenseman who will now play in Philadelphia.
Brière has enough experience in the hockey world to know that he won't always follow a straight path.
“We remain realistic, we could take a step back next year,” he warned. We can't be afraid of our season. We play well, but there is no security. Yes, we're in the portrait of the series today, but that could change. We want to remain clear in our assessment. We are always looking for improvements for our team.”
Photo Jean-François Chaumont
PHILADELPHIA | There is no single path that leads to Rome. But in the world of hockey, the paths that lead to an NHL general manager job often follow the same paths.
Daniel Brière took the gravel road, but also that of the school desks.
At the end of an illustrious 973-game career, after the 2014-2015 season, he quickly worked within the Philadelphia Flyers organization as a special advisor to then-general manager Ron Hextall.
He then landed a somewhat shadowy role with the Maine Mariners, a team that came from the ECHL and was affiliated with the Flyers. During his five seasons with the Mariners, during which he racked up a ton of appearances, the Quebecer earned a certificate from the Wharton Finance School at the University of Pennsylvania.
“For my first year, it was a return to teaching for over 40 years! That was before the pandemic. I found myself on a school desk. My second year it was online.”
“I was a little scared in the first few days. I fell back into another universe. I didn't know what to expect. When I was at CEGEP at the age of 19, I thought more about my next training session with the Voltigeurs than about my humanities classes. I fell into my thoughts even though I was doing well in school. But after I returned, I studied with a purpose and wanted to learn. My first course was accounting. I will always remember this. After two weeks I realized that it was happening too quickly. I didn’t give up and passed my certificate.”
Discover the profession
Brière is still a very young GM in the NHL. He took over the position on an interim basis last March following the firing of Chuck Fletcher. The Flyers confirmed him in his role last May. He therefore has less than a year of experience.
“I would say I realize it’s like a business,” Brière said. I have to manage employees. When I tell this to people who have businesses, they start laughing. We think of a GM's role more in terms of the hockey aspects: trades, waivers, recalling a player from the American League [de hockey], prepare for the draft. But there's more than that. Much more.”
“I wanted to get to know every employee within the organization. I need to know everyone’s reality.”
The tender side of tortorella
Among the staff he discovered was John Tortorella, the Flyers' fiery head coach.
Archive photo / AFP
“People don’t always believe me when I say this, but Tortorella is excellent for the development of young people,” Brière replied with a smile. All we see is the image he conveys, that of a tough coach. John doesn't like it when I describe him differently or speak well of him. He wants to keep his tough look and image that scares players. But inside this shell we find a very good man. He wants to help people and cares about his players and team staff.”
Well surrounded in Philadelphia
Daniel Brière doesn't have much experience, but there are several gray heads in the Flyers' upper echelons. With Bobby Clarke and Paul Holmgren we find two former GMs in Philadelphia, but also two other former NHL GMs with Bob Murray (Chicago and Anaheim) and Dean Lombardi (San Jose and Los Angeles).
Brière also hired two former Flyers in the summer, Keith Jones and Patrick Sharp.
“It wasn't important to hire former Flyers, but I wanted people who fit the culture I wanted to implement,” he said. You have similar values to me. Sharp has won trophies in Chicago, he knows what's important. I didn't just want former Flyers, I wanted smarter people. There are many ways to build a team and I want to work as a team. I'm not afraid to surround myself well. I just come out of it stronger. I’m not doing this alone, on the contrary.”
Keep an eye on Michkov
At the last draft in Nashville, the Flyers took winger Matvei Michkov with the 7th overall pick. Brière is aware that the closure with Russia sometimes makes his work more difficult.
“It's difficult. We don't have all the answers we'd like, but we're pursuing them as best we can. He's playing in Sochi. His game speaks for itself. He's having a good season. But we don't really know how off the ice. We have a recruiter in Russia. He has the chance to see it, but not every game. He looks at other young guys. We like several facets of his game, we will remain patient. With Michkov it is a long-term project.”