Chuck Fletcher, who served as the general manager (GM) of the Philadelphia Flyers from 2018 to 2023, might be the most unpopular figure in franchise history. Suffocating contracts, iffy drafting, and questionable trades sunk his tenure.
When his assistant, Daniel Brière, took over, fans were promised a “New Era of Orange.” But right now, the young GM is looking more and more like his predecessor.
Brière Is Just as Extension-Happy as Fletcher
Perhaps Fletcher’s biggest downfall was that he handed out contract extensions like candy. After the team missed the playoffs in 2020–21 and had an aging core with little help prospect-wise, he opted not to swap out veterans for youth but to extend them through their 30s.
Sean Couturier and Travis Sanheim got eight years. Rasmus Ristolainen and Scott Laughton got five years (the latter was midseason in 2020–21, but the team was well outside the playoff picture). Nicolas Deslauriers was picked up in free agency and got four years. Ryan Ellis, a trade acquisition, had six years left on his deal. Joel Farabee, while far from 30, was unproven and got six years.
Despite being a bad team, the Flyers were in a constant cap struggle under Fletcher’s watch. To make matters worse, he was sacrificing the future for the present until the very end. In the 2022 offseason, after finishing 25–46–11, he parted with three draft picks in exchange for Tony DeAngelo, then gave Sanheim that massive contract a few months later.
For whatever reason, Fletcher was unwilling to commit to a true direction. He used the term “aggressive retool,” but make no mistake, there’s nothing aggressive about what he did. Not everyone needs to get paid.
This is where Brière comes in. He’s the superior trader to Fletcher, but boy, does he love to hand out extensions.
To his credit, Fletcher never promised the fan base a rebuild. Brière did, and that’s where he’s falling short on the contract front. Take a look at his notable extensions since taking over in 2023 (courtesy of PuckPedia):
- Jan. 26, 2024: Owen Tippett, eight years, $49.6 million (expires at age 33, 10-team modified no-trade clause years 3–6)
- March 6, 2024: Nick Seeler, four years, $10.8 million (expires at age 35, full no-trade clause first two years)
- July 1, 2024: Garnet Hathaway, two years, $4.8 million (expires at age 35)
- July 25, 2024: Travis Konecny, eight years, $70 million (expires at age 36, full no-movement clause first six years, 14-team modified no-trade clause last two years)
- June 3, 2025: Noah Cates, four years, $16 million (expires at age 30)
- July 7, 2025: Cam York, five years, $25.75 million (expires at age 29)
- Jan. 5, 2026: Christian Dvorak, five years, $25.75 million (expires at age 35, full no-trade clause first two years, 20-team modified no-trade clause next two years)
It’s worth noting that, from the get-go, Brière said his rebuild wouldn’t be a teardown. That doesn’t excuse extending veteran depth players like Hathaway and Seeler, however, who could’ve returned decent value. The same could be argued for Cates and Dvorak—the Flyers are locked into a center core of those two plus Couturier through 2028–29.
The last point is worth expanding on. By giving out so many multi-year extensions, the Flyers don’t have much wiggle room. They’re doing well cap-wise, with tons of money to spare in the summer, but almost everyone on the team this season has a deal for next season.
If Brière wants to make room for prospects like Oliver Bonk, Alex Bump, Jett Luchanko, and Porter Martone in 2026–27, it’s going to be tough. With trade protection galore, he may have to buy out some of his own contracts. Not great.
Brière’s Iffy Drafting Track Record
Then, you have the drafting. While he’s not the one making every pick, his scouts and assistant general manager Brent Flahr are his responsibility. Overall, his track record since 2023 has been iffy.
Matvei Michkov at seventh overall in 2023 and Martone at sixth overall in 2025 deserve credit, but those were hardly tough decisions. I don’t have dozens of professional scouts and six-plus figures’ worth of data at my disposal, and they were both my ideal picks.
The other first-round picks haven’t been so great—all were seen as reaches at the time, and that holds true today. Bonk went 22nd overall in 2023, and his outlook is somewhere along the lines of a bottom-pairing defenseman. Optimistic projections have him as a top-four defender, but ultimately, he objectively falls short of Gabe Perreault, who went a pick later. The winger dominated the college scene and is already an NHL regular.
In 2024, Luchanko went 13th after the team traded down from pick 12. The 19-year-old could be a middle-six center someday, but he hasn’t produced that well in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and lacks legitimate offensive upside. At 12, defenseman Zeev Buium was available, an integral piece in the Quinn Hughes trade. If a center was a must-have, Konsta Helenius at 14th overall already has a three-point game under his belt in the NHL.
Related: Revisiting the Flyers’ Heavily Criticized 2024 NHL Draft
Finally, there’s 2025. The Flyers traded picks 22 and 31 to get Jack Nesbitt at 12th overall. I had a second-round grade on the 19-year-old at the time, and honestly, nothing has led me to believe otherwise. He’s under a point per game in the OHL, a mark that future stars usually surpass for the first time one or two seasons earlier.
Obviously, there’s a lot of time before we know for sure whether these were mistakes. However, it’s undeniable that, on paper, things don’t look good. That’s four first-round picks (including the Nesbitt trade-up), yet none of them look like stars.
Out Comes Bad Trading, in Comes Toxicity
In fairness to Brière, he hasn’t had a problem with trading like Fletcher did. But toxicity has run rampant under his watch. It has to change.
The start of it was the Cutter Gauthier situation. We don’t know the full story yet, but the fact of the matter is that a top prospect demanded a trade from the team. He has 25 goals and 24 assists in 55 games with the Anaheim Ducks this season—elite numbers for a 22-year-old. The Flyers got Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick (Jack Murtagh) in exchange, but the early loss here goes to Philadelphia.
Fast-forward to 2025, part of the reason why head coach John Tortorella was fired had to do with, you guessed it, drama. According to Kevin Kurz of The Athletic, “something happened” between the coach and York. “They probably both crossed the line,” a source said.
We’re now in the third full season of Brière’s tenure, and it’s a third with national drama. New head coach Rick Tocchet seemingly has it out for Michkov, airing out dirty laundry publicly and repeatedly. It got to a point where Brière had to address the media and clarify, “Michkov is not going anywhere.”
The Flyers have had three top-10 draft picks since 2022. One demanded a trade, and another is at war with the head coach Brière hired. Not even Fletcher had an issue quite like this.
Flyers Need Brière to Step Up
This is not a hit piece on Brière. It’s important to outline the Flyers’ predicament, though. The team needs the GM to step up this summer to one day bring Lord Stanley back to Philadelphia.
The Flyers have to change their ways. Running back the same roster is unacceptable. Another first-round reach is unacceptable. The Michkov-Tocchet drama is unacceptable. Brière has to step up.
If the Flyers want any chance of winning a Stanley Cup—let alone multiple—under Brière, he needs to get out of the Fletcher trap. Otherwise, this New Era of Orange will fall just as flat as the old one.
