June 27, 2026
Charles LeClaire/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Danny Brière, Keith Jones, and the Flyers are waiting for the right time to make a splash.
The Flyers, slowly but surely, have been moving along, but fans have been getting anxious.
They're seeing a developing team that's now good enough to be a playoff one, and they're seeing a good bit of draft capital and money to spend under the salary cap for the first time in years. So they want to see the big move as that clear next step, the kind that brings in a star and shakes up the entire NHL.
And general manager Danny Brière, by all accounts, wants to make it. He does sense that anxiety from the fanbase.
But, once again, he preached patience.
"We're exploring," Brière said from the Flyers' Atlantic City draft HQ at the Hard Rock late Friday night. "It's about making the right moves, but also you gotta be patient. We're not gonna make a move just to make a move. I know there's some people out there complaining that we're not making the big move yet, but it's gotta be the right thing to do."
At the right cost, and not on anyone else's schedule.
"I'm not gonna make it just to try to say that I'm game to make a big move," Brière continued. "We've made some big moves before. Right now, the value coming back is just not there for us."
But maybe it isn't too far off.
Before Brière spoke, and as the first round of the NHL Draft progressed on Friday night, word got out.
Zach Werenski, the Blue Jackets' star defenseman and this year's Norris Trophy winner, is looking beyond Columbus. He has two years left on his current contract and is unlikely to extend it, The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun reported Friday, which led Columbus to start fielding calls.
There are at least a dozen teams interested, LeBrun followed up, but then he listed the immediate three to monitor: Dallas, Carolina, and Philadelphia.
Ahead of Day 2 of the draft on Saturday, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman added that he expects the Flyers to be aggressive in a pursuit of Werenski while speaking on NHL Network.
Blue Jackets star Zach Werenski is rumored to be available, with the Flyers rumored to be interested.
Werenski is 28 and in the prime of his career, having just won gold at the Olympics with Team USA, and after having posted back-to-back 80-plus point seasons with Columbus.
And the Flyers are on the rise, with a much healthier stable of youth, prospects, and future picks to offer.
So maybe the big move isn't there to be made just yet, but it also might be a lot closer to happening now than it used to be.
MORE: Maksim Sokolovskii is huge, and so is the upside he could have for the Flyers
Brière, though, is still set to wait for the field to play out, so fans will probably have to wait just a bit longer.
"There's a lot of our players we need to know more about as well," Brière said. "We have so many young guys that are still trending up. You want to give them time to develop and take their game to the next level, for value-wise, but also for our team, to show that they can help. Then that gives us a clearer picture, too, of what to expect in the future."
"So it's not because other teams are making moves that we have to make moves. We have an up-and-coming team, a young team that's trending in the right direction. We're gonna make moves when it's time."
On their time.
"I think that we've improved the team already from last year, adding some support for Dan Vadar, and also some grit on defense," Brière continued in reference to last week's trade with Toronto for goaltender Joseph Woll and depth defenseman Simon Benoit. "So I think we've taken a step forward already. Maybe not the huge step that, you know, a star player would bring, but certainly in the right direction."
And with that star player maybe not so far away anymore.
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