Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere has seen and done it all during his brief time in charge of his former team, and his first piece of business is looking like his best so far.
On June 6, 2023, two years ago yesterday, Briere made his first trade as the general manager of the Flyers, sending Ivan Provorov and Hayden Hodgson to the Los Angeles Kings (and then the Columbus Blue Jackets) in exchange for what would become Oliver Bonk, Helge Grans, the 22nd overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, Cal Petersen, and Carson Bjarnason.
Petersen's albatross contract has, of course, expired, leaving the Flyers with just the good stuff: a great goalie prospect in Bjarnason, an NHL-caliber defenseman with an elite toolkit in Grans, a promising potential top-four defender in Bonk, and a first-round pick that became much higher than expected as the fruits of the Sean Walker trade.
In the last two years, Briere has swung his fair share of deals, like the Cutter Gauthier one that yielded Jamie Drysdale, and the other that offloaded Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost for diminishing returns.
Bringing in Grans, Walker, and other draft picks has proven to be one of Briere's best moves so far, if not the very best.
The 22nd pick in this year's draft, whether used on a prospect or traded for future-facing roster player, will assuredly aid the Flyers in taking the next step.
With an extended opportunity at the start of the upcoming season, Grans, 23, could replace the older, more expensive, and oft-injured Rasmus Ristolainen, though he'll have to earn his place on the NHL roster.
The same is true of Bonk, a back-to-back OHL champion and Memorial Cup winner who will be starting his professional career in the Flyers organization this fall.
Provorov, since leaving Philadelphia, has scored a total of 65 points in Columbus while playing in all 82 regular season games two years in a row. Despite that, the Flyers' former top draft pick and his Blue Jackets have yet to make the playoffs.
For Briere, this trade was an easy win at the time and is looking even better with the time that has already passed.
The future will decide what happens next, but the Flyers have all the pieces in place to take multiple successful steps forward on the backs of the assets they acquired in Briere's first deal as Flyers GM.
