Daniel Briere admits the Flyers are open for business.
It may be early in the season, but the Flyers GM says he is ready to make moves already.
For what is perhaps the first time in the modern era of the National Hockey League the Philadelphia Flyers have entered an NHL regular season during a rebuild. Flyers general manager Daniel Briere has openly stated since taking over as GM that he will be tearing down his team in order to build it back up again, a position that is unfamiliar for both the Flyers organization and for their fan base as well.
That means that Briere has to be working the phones at all times to squeeze out every possible advantage he can as he looks to restock the Flyers with draft picks and young prospects, and although we are only 3 games into the season the Flyers GM admits he is already open for business.
"I'm not gonna deny that," said Briere when asked about weaponizing his cap space during a radio interview on TSN 1200. "It's been a while since the Flyers have had some cap room, it's kind of nice, it's a nice luxury to have. If there's teams that need help they know that we have a little bit of cap space and the return would be to get some younger guys or some draft picks for the future for us."
There are already multiple teams looking to make cap room in spite of the fact that we are in the very early stages of the 2023-24 NHL regular season. There was a report over the weekend that the Canucks are talking to at least 3 teams regarding a cap clearing trade, and of course the Ottawa Senators still have yet to sign restricted free agent Shane Pinto and do not currently have the cap space to do so. When asked if he had held conversations with teams regarding possible trades this early in the season, Briere made no effort to deny it.
"I've talked to many teams about it," admitted Briere. "I've all let them know that there is a possibility for us to help that way if they are able to help us on the back end with some young guys and prospects."
The price for these types of deals will likely be high with Briere seeking draft picks and young defensemen, and it sounds like he has put rival NHL teams on notice.
"Teams are very well aware of the position that were in and hopefully we can work together to make something happen."