Briere talks goaltending, power play, Michkov’s rookie season

Two of the biggest thorns in the Flyers side this season were the power play woes and the goaltending problems. Flyers general manager Danny Briere didn’t sugarcoat the problems both were over 82 games. Yet he seemed to paint the power play in a slightly brighter light than some would expect.

“There were baby steps this year, definitely,” Briere said in response to a question about the special team woes. “We went from 12 to 15 per cent (note: 14.5 per cent). Is it good enough? Absolutely not. But there’s baby steps. It went from 32nd to 30th, that’s a baby step. I know you want it to go into the Top 15 right away, but it’s not going to happen that way.

“Matvei Michkov coming in helped but Matvei Michkov has so much to learn on how to run a power play. I was really excited to see our guys think outside the box at the end when they went with five forwards. I thought that was fantastic to see something different. That group actually gave us some different looks. I thought they moved better, they were able to make more plays, more puck possession inside the zone. We probably should’ve gone that way earlier in the season or checked it out. So there was some improvement, again not nearly good enough. But there were some baby steps. I’m going to expect a bigger or better step next season.”

Briere feels the team’s skill has improved over the last few seasons. He also feels some of the team’s more skilled players, combined with those knocking on the door for a roster spot should create more skill. And a better power play.

“The last few years, even before I was general manager, I was in the organization and we kept hearing the Flyers don’t have enough skill, enough talent, that was always the kind of thing that was holding us back,” he said. “That was kind of the message out there. I start to look and Konecny has elevated his game, Michkov coming over has really expanded that level of skill, Tyson Foerster brings another level, Owen Tippett in his own way can create offense by himself. We’re starting to see more and more talent and that talent is elevating on the team. And Luchanko, Bump and Barkey those are all high level skill players. I think we’re shifting away from what we were a few years ago, the lack of skill. So that’s really exciting to me.”

The other glaring issue was the goaltending. Although Aleksei Kolosov and Egor Zamula refused to meet with the media as part of the exit interviews, Briere said Kolosov had a “tough year” and “wasn’t quite happy” with his season. Overall, Briere says the problem isn’t 100 per cent on the goaltending as some goals could be due to bad coverage or a forward not backchecking. He didn’t leave the trio of Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov and Kolosov off the hook. Not by a long shot.

“We realize the goalies did not play to the expectations that we had,” he said. “But there’s a lot more issues that goes into it. I’ve talked to all the goalies, they know they have a lot to prove and it’s not going to be good enough to come back at the same level. If we have a chance to improve, we are going to have to seriously consider it.”

Elsewhere, Briere revealed Rasmus Ristolainen underwent surgery two weeks ago for a “very similar injury” he underwent last summer. He possibly won’t be ready to start the season and might miss a portion to begin. The injury took place just after the trade deadline where it was determined he needed another surgery.

Finally, Briere had plenty of good things to say about Michkov. “I’ve been around a few superstars and he’s got that mindset. He came in and he has a detailed plan of all the things he wants to do and I was actually shocked by how prepared he was for his meeting and what he needed to do and how he wants to conduct himself this summer. He’s a special athlete, person. He sees it, he’s extremely intelligent. There’s something special around him. I left the meeting laughing to myself. If he accomplishes half of the stuff he wants to do on his list we’re in really good shape.

“To be honest with you I didn’t think he would score even 20 goals this year. I didn’t think he would get to half a point a game. And there are so many facets of his game that are not quite there yet. It’s really, really exciting what happened with him this year.”

He also was very impressed with how Michkov worked his way around the team’s dressing room during the season. “Navigating an NHL dressing room is not easy, especially when you come in as a superstar trying to fit into a group that’s already kind of looking at you sideways like, ‘Okay here’s the savior coming in.’ It’s not an easy room to walk into, the way he did it and at the same time trying to keep his swagger. He earned the players’ respect with how he carried himself.”