June 16, 2026
Charles LeClaire/Imagn Images
Danny Brière and Keith Jones are starting to see the Flyers' prospect pipeline shape up.
The Flyers are on track, and Danny Brière knows it. Heck, everyone's starting to see it.
But the Philadelphia general manager also knows that his team isn't anywhere close to the proverbial finish line. His ultimate mission, in fact, is to keep them running as a contender year after year.
They are a lot further from where they started, though.
Brière's first draft in 2023 brought Matvei Michkov, Oliver Bonk, and Denver Barkey.
The 2024 class brought Jett Luchanko, and promising under-the-radar finds in Jack Berglund and Spencer Gill.
And 2025? That brought on rising star Porter Martone, and another big center hopeful in Jack Nesbitt.
The Flyers have a foundation now, and a good enough one to make the playoffs with, as this past season's team showed with its breakthrough.
And that can bring on the appeal of forfeiting future draft picks for greater, more immediately impactful swings.
Brière can see that, too, and a scenario where the Flyers do eventually make one. But just not yet.
"Yeah, we're getting closer to that," Brière said during his pre-draft media availability in Voorhees on Tuesday. "I don't know that we're quite there yet, but we're certainly willing to listen on different ideas."
"I'm not too keen on trading future first-round picks," Brière added. "Because you never know where it can go, and we're not a Colorado or Carolina at this point where you know you're going to be finishing and picking late first. I don't think we're quite there yet."
But they're getting there.
The Flyers' 21st overall pick in the NHL Draft at the end of the month still carries a lot of value toward finding a future NHL player, with various options all over the ice, and they should have two firsts and a second in 2027, plus their own first and second-rounders from 2028 through 2030.
Those picks are key to the Flyers constantly bringing in talent and being able to build internally with someone always on their way.
But maybe whereas those picks used to be immovable for Brière even just a year ago, when the Flyers absolutely needed promising, future talent, things are a bit more open now toward getting a quality player who can help right now.
They did, after all, just pack in their 2026 third-rounder on Tuesday to help upgrade their goaltending in the trade for Joseph Woll.
"Everything's on the table," Brière said. "It has to make sense. That's kind of the thing. We want to make sure that it helps us for the future, not just for one season or a few months. I don't feel we're quite there yet.
"So, like, the trade today, we feel those two guys [Woll with starting goalie Dan Vladar], hopefully, will be able to help us for many years to come, and it was worth trading a third-round pick for that."
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