Daniel Briere is having a tough time in Philadelphia. While he was hailed for selecting Matvei Michkov with the 7th overall pick in the 2923 NHL Entry Draft, many realized that this masterstroke was more a matter of luck than strategy.
Since he got screwed by the Ducks in the Cutter Gauthier trade, where he received Jamie Drysdale, an overrated and fragile defenseman, as well as a second-round pick, things have gotten complicated for Briere.
His most notable mistake, however, remains the 2024 draft at Veags, where he had the possibility of selecting Zeev Buium in 12th place, considered one of the best prospects of the vintage.
Brière preferred to trade this pick with the Wild to move down one spot and obtain a third-round pick in 2025.
The Wild didn’t hesitate for a second and selected Buium, while the Flyers chose Jett Luchanko, a speedy center but never at Buium’s level in terms of talent.
This decision created controversy among Flyers fans and Philadelphia journalists. Buium was seen as the best defenseman in his class, and his absence from the Flyers’ lineup is seen as a wasted life chance.
Briere explained that the choice not to take Buium had to do with the size of their current defensive line, already made up of smaller players like Cam York, Jamie Drysdale and Emil Andrae. Unfortunately, this justification was not enough to calm the critics.
He got Drysdale by stealing Gauthier, a future star power forward. In the end, Briere’s insistence on bigger defensemen and his choice to favor a high-potential center like Luchanko didn’t convince.
Briere’s string of bad decisions shows his struggles as Flyers GM. Fortunately for the Montreal Canadiens, Jeff Gorton named Kent Hughes to replace Briere, who was a finalist for the Canadiens GM position.
The Philadelphia Flyers are trying to explain this controversy during the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft, and they explained their reasons a few hours later. But no one is taking them seriously.
With the Flyers holding the 12th overall pick, players began to be selected one by one, which made fans a little anxious.
Players who were supposed to be taken much earlier began to slide, as happens every year, and it became possible that the Flyers could select a player who should have been taken much earlier. This happened with Matvei Mishkov. But this time Brière “shocked his life”.
When University of Denver defenseman Zeev Buium suddenly became available at No. 12, and the Flyers had a chance to take him, a player some had ranked as high as third or fourth on their list and who seemed almost certain to be selected in the top 10, the Flyers all felt a surge of excitement at the prospect of pulling off a masterstroke in the draft.
It was a disaster. The Flyers opted to trade exactly one spot back, in a trade with the Minnesota Wild to obtain the 13th overall pick and a 2025 third-round pick.
The Wild rushed to the podium to select Buium, and the Flyers then selected speedy center Jett Luchanko, a player most had ranked late in the first round.
In absolute terms, it is a series of events synonymous with Brière’s monumental failure. Buium was touted as potentially the best defenseman in this draft class and a future winner, and the Flyers straight up decided not to draft him and chose center Luchanko instead.
After the dust settled, Flyers general manager Danny Briere was able to explain the team’s decision to go with Luchanko over Buium.
When asked if size was an issue, given that the defenseman is only 6 feet tall, Briere essentially confirmed that it was.
“Well, when you look at our defense, you’re right. I think Zeev Buium is going to be a great player, and he’s someone we seriously considered. But with Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, Emil Andrae, at some point it becomes difficult to go for a smaller player. But he’s a fantastic player.”Briere said.
That’s certainly what was being said to everyone before Friday. The Flyers wanted to get a bigger blue line, since the long-term pieces Briere mentioned — York, Drysdale, Andrae — are all smaller.
If they added Buium to the mix, they would almost have forced themselves into having a strong but smaller group of defenders, which they didn’t want to do.
So, if we understand correctly, Briere is not able to adjust. He could very well have selected Buium and traded one of his other defenders who will all be less good than the prodigy snubbed by Philadelphia.
Brière got screwed by getting Drysdale for Gauthier and now it’s because of Drysdale that he didn’t select the “Buium stuff”?
Instead, they got a center who is one of the youngest players in the draft class, has more room to grow and is playing at an incredibly high pace, according to Briere.
There’s a lot to like about Luchanko on the ice, and given the balance, it’s a position where they desperately need help, and the preference of not drafting another high-profile small-framed defenseman has finalized the decision concludes the CEO of the Flyers.
Brière also commented on the importance of Luchanko’s position.
“There were other good players in that area that we were looking at as well,” Briere said.
“But there wasn’t enough of a difference to go in another direction.” Taking a center was an important play for us. »
The advantage goes to the center. The Flyers preferred to take a center and they clearly saw that Luchanko’s potential and ceiling in the NHL were not far from those of Buium, or potentially a winger they were considering with this pick. In short, Briere chose by position and not by selecting the best player available.
What was Briere thinking? His apologies to the journalists were pathetic, Briere actually collapsed in front of the media with his justifications.
The real reason is that Zeev Buium’s agent is the same agent as Cutter Gauthier and Daniel Brière was afraid of getting screwed again, with a player who doesn’t want to play for the Flyers.
In the end, Brière lacked courage. He was a pitiful sight to see in front of the cameras…
