OverDrive - Briere on the Flyers' season views, Tortorella's coaching role and Michkov's impressive skill set

Episode Date: January 7, 2025

Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Daniel Briere joined OverDrive to discuss the views for the team, John Tortorella's coaching role, Matvei Michkov's impressive season, the significant needs for the roster, the Flyers in the 4 Nations Face-Off, the matchup against the Maple Leafs and more.

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Hey guys, hey guys. You're right about that. It's, the home and homer are always pretty intense. I kind of miss those home and home. It's a little bit of a feel of a short playoff series almost. Yeah. Danny, are you getting ready to say goodbye to your nice black hair? Because it seems like when everybody goes into a management position or coaching, they're like gray within three years. Why is it the stress level of that

position as opposed to... Is it more stressful than playing or what is it about the position where guys have gray hairs within three years? Yeah I'll tell you it's way more stressful than playing because when you're playing you're under control you you can control whatever you have to do you know you get ready for a game and you go through your routine and you get on the ice and you know what you have to do. Nowadays you're at the mercy of the players on the ice and it's a lot more stressful. Believe me, the greys are coming out. I've seen a lot more popping up lately. Danny, we were talking about in the last hour, Torz and his whole body of work, but also

his wardrobe. At some point, when did it morph into the, know what is it that this I'm going with the sweater the Patagonia behind the Patagonia like is it just is now the coaching and the dress code there kind of everybody comfortable and just warm because it looks like he's freezing all the time yeah yeah and if you remember before he had the jacket we always had the sweater underneath it right and we had the, and if you remember before he had the jacket but he always had the sweater underneath. Yeah, right. And we had the talk and he was asking if we could change it up.

My only request was that our coaching staff look the same. I didn't want one guy with a sweater, one guy with a jacket, one guy with a suit. I said as long as you guys all look the same and look professional, I thought that was a good idea. Those guys are a lot more comfortable behind the bench. I was thinking about it too. These poor guys sometimes, they're sitting there 82 games for three hours behind the bench, barely sitting, barely moving, and it's probably the worst seat in the building. You can't see in the corners, and we're asking them to make decisions on the fly.

So, the coaching gig is not an easy one. No, it's not, and John's been doing it for a long time, and everyone's got a viewpoint of him in terms of his approach to the game, but the players respond. And you guys have been pretty open and honest about you know the process in Philly and you guys were in a playoff spot for the majority of the season last year and you're in the hunt this year

what is it about John Tortorella and his coaching I guess process that makes you feel comfortable that he's the right guy to push this program forward in Philly you know and sometimes the perception of the the torches that he's he's tough on the young guys and he's you're not letting the young guys play in its actually be quite the opposite uh... you know he's always the one that uh... you know what that you know you have the

young guys a chance to play and play more and put him back out there for the they make mistakes i've been really really impressed with him uh... as far as that goes. He has a way, he's tough, he's demanding with the players but it's genuine and he shares with them how much he cares about them and he's doing that not to, it's not personal, it's not a personal vendetta against the guys, it really wants to make them the best that they can be You know sometimes you don't like it in the moment But most players come back later and appreciate what he's done for them. He's been hard but fair with Michkov

I mean how special is this player and you know Michkov through his Interpreter came out with a statement the other day saying he you know he respected torts and and has had you know good good conversations through his interpreter with him and and likes the process that he's had with him yeah it's uh you know what I've been impressed with with madway is how he reacts to the benching how he reacts to you to missing a few shifts or being challenged or called out in front of his teammates. He responds. He's really a special character in a good way. He's ultra competitive. I think when he was younger, we've heard some rumors that he was a bad teammate, but I think part of it is that he just didn't know how to channel it, didn't know how to tell his teammates that they had to work harder and work at the same level as him. So he's maturing but really what's impressive is how he

answers the bell. Already at his age he's not afraid of the big moment, he actually welcomes the big times in the game where he can make a difference in the really believe he's there to make a difference so you know that's not something you can you can teach you have a readout all to your afraid of the moment or you're not and and so far ready at nineteen it's impressive that he that he had that in feels confident enough to to want to be a difference maker danny you got some great young players what do you think it takes for

the for a team in the position like the philadelphia flyers to get to that next level to be a a team that contends for the playoffs and ultimately is family cup year after year is it for your young players to turn into star players is it like it but you look at teams that are kind of fighting in that same position, do you need more star power? What is it that you guys need? Well, I think everybody wants more star powers. We all want the Connor McDavid and the Austin Matthews and etc. But you know, the reality is those guys are extremely tough to find. You know, there's a chance that a guy like Mishkov could turn into close to a star or

superstar. But otherwise, you need depth throughout your lineup. You need your young players to become really good players. It feels like we're trending in that direction, but there's still a long ways to go. I think consistency is probably one of the toughest things as a young guy, as a young player to find and to get. And we see that. We see that on a nightly basis for us. You always have two or three guys that are not going. And to become a good team, I think that's one of the things we're going to need. It's so tough. You look at the teams that are stuck in the bottom of the standings, It's so tough, right? You look at the teams that are stuck in the bottom of the standings,

it's so tough to get out of it. That was part of why, you know, when we talked about the rebuild, we didn't wanna fall all the way down to the bottom. We wanted to stay competitive and have our young guys learn through a competitive team and a team that has a chance to win and make the playoffs, because it's so tough to get out of there.

Chatting with Danny Breyer, GM of the Flyers, leaves in Philly tomorrow night playing the Flyers. The Four Nations face off about five weeks away and you've obviously got players that are going to be there. Travis Sandheim, a Canadian, will be on the Canada team. And I'm curious, we asked you off the bat about the stress of being a GM and with your club team, how might that relate to what you know, about the stress of being a GM and with your club team, how might that relate to what you expect out of the tournament?

In other words, you know, player safety, guys getting out of their healthy, but also what you hope your players experience and what they can bring back to their club team in Philly to hopefully help you guys down the stretch. Yeah, well for us the exciting part is those two guys have never been part of something like that and representing their country, both Travis's. It's really exciting for our organization, the experience these guys are going to acquire being with the best. And you know, just for them, their mindset, realizing that now they belong with the best

players in the NHL. For years we've been hearing here in Philly, we don't have top end players we don't have talent you know we don't have top pairing defensemen well you know what when when you look around the league the guys like Sandheim and Connecticut they're not easy to find and we feel fortunate that that we have them I'm really excited that they they made the team and I hope it helps their careers and they take another step forward to help us get into the playoffs and become a Stanley Cup contender.

Garnet Hathaway is a guy who plays in that grey area on the edge. He's physical, he's the type of player you want on your team. You see him play that type of style. Do you mind it? Is it a situation? Obviously last night he got into it with McCabe and backed it up. You know, is it something that Torch is fine with putting him out and putting him in every situation and not in, you know, you just talked about a back to back with the Leafs here. You know, is it a situation where you want to be mindful of maybe retribution tomorrow?

Well, I mean first of all, we hope that McCabe is okay, that's the you know, the most important part I don't think anybody wishes Anybody to get hurt but you know, it's the type and for Garnett He has to play that way to be effective. He has to be a guy that finishes his check and plays hard way to be effective. He has to be a guy that finishes his check and plays hard. He's always done that. I know I hated seeing him come in and bang our defenseman around when he was in Washington and Boston. So we love having him on our team. He's a tough customer. Every team has those guys and they bring something that it's tough to find uh... you know and then he makes our our younger guys feel a little bit more

uh... out on the ice uh... the we we really appreciate how we play but uh... obviously have to play it's a fine line and and and you know a few times he's crossed the line over the years and and he's well aware that he has to be careful at how far he pushes it should be a fun one tomorrow night uh... to back like we said, home and home. You don't see it often, so enjoy it Danny. We really appreciate you doing this. We'll do it again down the road. Thank you.

Thanks for having me guys. Always a pleasure. You got it Danny. You got it Danny Brier, GM of the Philadelphia Flyers.