The Philadelphia Flyers’ focus is on the future, but will that change after a strong start?

When Danny Briere took over as general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers in March, he appeared dead set on rebuilding the team and creating one that will contend in the future. And yet, 27 games into the season, they’re 15-10-2 and in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Suddenly, it’s becoming tougher to figure out what the plan may be for this season, especially come the trade deadline when they’ll have to commit to buying or selling.

Jordan Hall joined Daily Faceoff Live to talk about the Flyers and what should be the plan should this hot start continue.

Jordan Hall: So Briere has said that the plan has not changed, and they still want to focus on the future. They want to build teams that are going to be contending year-and-year out, going for multiple runs, not just one.

That’ll be the really tough decision for him, as they’ve put together a locker room that is really cohesive, they get along. John Tortorella has absolutely put his imprint on the locker room. In year one he couldn’t really do that. This season, he had a chair at the table and he absolutely had say on who they were bringing in and who was leaving.

So right now, you have an ultra-competitive coach in John Tortorella who understands it’s a rebuild, but is absolutely wanting to win every single game. I think they’re going to still make future-centric decisions, especially when the trade deadline rolls around in March, but I think they need to be cognizant of how well their locker room has meshed and some of the players that they’re probably going to be looking to move at the deadline.

One that comes to mind is Nick Seeler. He is absolutely beloved in the locker room, he is a team-first guy, and he’s playing the best year of his entire career. He’s playing over four minutes per game than what he had been prior in his career, he’s a +14, and he stands up for his teammates. I think if they were to move him at the deadline, and if they were still in contention, I think that would bother some players.

So I think they really need to have a pulse of where their locker room is and how closely they are to a playoff spot. I think if they’re a fringe playoff team, they’re going to be selling, but I think they have a chance to really make it interesting and really make it difficult on Briere.

You can watch the full episode here…