The Flyers have played themselves into a good spot.
They still have a ways to go before they're even considered in the realm of a true Stanley Cup contender – Colorado and Tampa Bay both recently showed them that – but they've worked their way into the Eastern Conference playoff picture and have stuck there late into January, much to the surprise of many.
They've been competitive, perhaps sooner than expected, and stand a decent chance of playing into at least late April if they can maintain the current pace.
But none of that is shifting the plan for general manager Danny Brière and the front office. The Flyers' ultimate goals are still rooted in tomorrow, not today. The rebuild is still on, but with the team being where it is right now at second in the Metro Division ahead of Thursday night's slate of games, that is definitely helping to move things along.
"We're still thinking about the future," Brière said Wednesday from the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees. "What's happening right now, this is great. Our young guys are acquiring a lot of experience, having the chance to play in some really meaningful games, and it's gonna keep going for at least the next couple months. This is a great experience. I'm really excited about that.
"But again, we keep an eye on the future. We've said from the beginning, we wanted to build a team that was gonna be a Stanley Cup contender for years to come and not just one in, one out, one in, one out, like it's been going on. So, the eye is still on the future."
But if the Flyers keep making a push as the March 8 trade deadline approaches, will he at least look for a way to try and reward the team with one final boost for the home stretch?
"Well a lot of it will depend on the marketplace," Brière said. "We're not gonna make trades just to make trades. If there's something that makes sense that we feel makes us better for the future, we'll strongly consider. The one thing that I won't be doing is I won't be trading prime assets just to make a run. I'm not gonna trade first-, second-round picks.
"You could come back at me and say 'Oh, you traded Cutter Gauthier!' I'm not gonna do another one of those trades. I don't have anything planned that way. That was a different situation, and we felt we were acquiring a great player in return in [Jamie Drysdale]. So if there's a hockey trade that we feel makes us better down the road, but we're not gonna trade assets just to make a playoff run."
Brière was originally set to meet with the media on Wednesday to discuss the current outlook of the team and potential plans for the trade deadline. The early going of the press conference, however, was instead taken up by a statement and then questions regarding goaltender Carter Hart's sudden leave of absence from the team on Tuesday and the highly concerning timing of The Globe and Mail's report regarding sexual assault charges in the long-lingering Hockey Canada investigation published the next morning.
Brière had little to say about the matter other than a prepared statement that the organization is aware and would proceed accordingly based on the outcome of the investigation, and that he ultimately isn't sure what is going to happen there.
The conversation did eventually have to shift to the team on the ice and where it's going though, and to that end:
"We're moving in the right direction," Brière said of the culture in particular. "I'm extremely happy with where it's at at this point, but there's always room for improvement. We want we want to keep building towards it. The next part is just the experience part, winning on a nightly basis.
"I love how we're coming into games thinking we're gonna win every game. We've had some good stretches, down stretches here and there. Part of the culture has limited us from going down to tailspin, but as we get better, the culture is just gonna keep improving in my mind."
But there are pressing questions to be asked and decisions to be made about the roster.
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Since Drysdale's arrival, there's been a logjam on the Flyers' blueline. Head coach John Tortorella has switched to an 11-forward, 7-defensemen lineup format partially in response to that, 1) to keep the developing Egor Zamula in the lineup (he's been the regular seventh d-man the past few games), and 2) to get both his struggling and thriving forwards – like Cam Atkinson and Owen Tippett before his lower-body injury – extra minutes to work with.
But there are only so many minutes to go around on the back end, and that's even with veteran Marc Staal not having played at all of late, and who is also on an expiring contract alongside Nick Seeler and Sean Walker, all while more defensemen like highly-touted prospect Emil Andrae are brewing down in the AHL with Lehigh Valley.
Something feels like it's gotta give in that respect, though Brière did say that it's Tortorella's call on the lineup, that he isn't worried about any negative effects an 11-7 setup could yield long-term, and that he's happy with how player development has been going over in Lehigh Valley with little concern over whether a prospect might get stuck down there for too long because of the NHL team's current performance. It's the heavy minutes that matter in that regard, wherever they come from – "You never really hear of someone saying they ruined their career because they stayed too long in the minors," Brière quipped. "Usually it's the other way around."
And part of the plan, which Brière stressed hasn't shifted for the Flyers even with the success they've found to this point in the season. The organization will definitely take whatever the players can achieve today, but it's lining to go after much greater tomorrow, and that's been kept clear from the top down.
"I think everybody knows what the plan is," Brière said. "Like I said earlier, we're not just gonna make trades just to make them. There's going to be a purpose behind it. A lot of it will depend on the marketplace. We don't know what other teams will be looking for and what they're willing to pay. So I can't really say one way or the other at this point. Again, just don't expect us to go out and spend primary assets trying to make a run."
Ersson's No. 1 shot
In the past month, ever since Hart returned ahead of Christmas from issues tied to a lingering illness, Samuel Ersson has played well enough in goal to keep earning a greater and greater share of the starts from Tortorella until, eventually, the goaltenders were looking at a near 50-50 split in the workload.
Since November 10, Ersson has been on a tear between the pipes, recording an 11-4-2 record with a .921 save percentage across 18 games, while notching three shutouts that are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL this season.
After a rough start to the year, the 24-year old netminder has bounced back in a big way, so much so to the point that fans were even wondering if he should start to be considered as the true No. 1.
Ersson is going to get his shot at it now.
That it's tied to Hart's indefinite leave and current circumstances is unfortunate, but Ersson's teammates expressed full confidence in him following Tuesday night's game against Tampa Bay and Brière did the same on Wednesday.
"Of a No.1? Definitely. I believe that," the Flyers GM said of Ersson's potential to quickly become the top goalie on the depth chart. "At the same time, we have to be careful. You don't want to put too much pressure early. You want to still make sure – because he's developing, he's still young, he's still acquiring experience...
"This is a great opportunity for him to shoulder a lot of the heavy load. We'll see."
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