Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere met with the media Tuesday prior to the team gearing up for the 2026-27 training camp starting later this week. Although there was no breaking news to announce (thus no last-minute, eight-year extension to Matvei Michkov with the midnight deadline looming), Briere believes that Michkov is going to bounce back this season.
“I believe so, I think we saw him mature as the season went on last year,” Briere said regarding the Russian winger entering his third season. “Everybody has a different path. You all wish guys were like Sidney Crosby and they were at 16 years old a total pro, but those are really rare. Everybody has a different path along the way. But what I was excited to see was I think his maturity level increased as the season went on, and in the offseason seeing him here, there’s a jump in his step, he looks good, he feels good. I’m excited about Matvei’s season.”
Without going into too much detail or specifics regarding Michkov’s offseason training regimen, and the fact teams can’t put their players through different physical tests like they did in previous years, Briere said the old eye test makes it seem that Michkov learned from what happened last year regarding training camp. Briere said the Russian also reached out to the club to see what he could do to ensure he was training correctly. An interview with a Russian outlet earlier this month had Michkov explaining he had lost quite a bit of weight over the last 12 months, and appeared to be around the size he was entering his rookie season. But Briere felt Michkov took the message to heart prior to the 2025-26 season ending.
“It’s all part of his maturity level, taking a step,” Briere said. “I mean you saw what he did even during the Olympic break. Even though he didn’t have a lot of time to completely change what he was thinking of doing, and just going on vacation and having fun, he decided to take care of himself. And it showed in the last stretch of the season which I think mentally was a good thing for him to see, ‘Hey I took care of myself, look at the impact I was able to have.’ I think he went with that mentality into the offseason with instead of 10 days to do it, having three or four months. That’s kind of what you see in how he looks at the moment. He just walks around with a different swagger that he had probably two years ago.
Although there seems to be no chance Michkov and the Flyers have a contract extension announcement on Tuesday, Briere feels the winger has a proverbial chip on his shoulder, wanting to prove to everyone he’s capable of being one of the best players not just on the Flyers, but around the league.
“I think he’s very competitive, that’s his nature,” the general manger said. “So I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him wanting to prove that last year was just a little hiccup. And he’s going to bounce back, that’s what I expect from him.
“He’s a polarizing player, his personality and everything. He’s been a superstar since he was 14, 15 years old. I think he’s comfortable in the spotlight, that’s just who he is. But yeah definitely things were overblown, and it goes both ways. They’re probably going to be overblown when it’s good, they’re probably going to be overblown when it’s bad. I think a lot of it is his personality, he’s very polarizing. I think it’s not all that bad because he strikes me as one of those guys that when things are good and he’s in the spotlight, he’s not afraid of the big moment. I try to see the positive in it, but I thought last year was overblown in his case, yeah.”
Jiricek has a shot, as does the other young D prospects
While other topics were mentioned during the roughly 20-minute press conference, one item that seemed interesting concerned defenseman David Jiricek. While a lot of players have a lot riding on this coming camp, Jiricek might have the most heading in. If he has a great camp, there’s a strong indication he’ll be with the Flyers. If not, then there are a few things that could happen, including being a waiver claim should Philadelphia attempt to assign him to Lehigh Valley.
“We hope so, we hope that David is ready to go, that was the message to him,” Briere said regarding the former 2022 sixth-overall draft pick. “He’s going to have a great opportunity to showcase what he can do. So at this point it’s up to him. He’s not the only one that’s going to be pushing for spots. You have guys like Oliver Bonk, a second-year pro who’s getting closer and closer. You have guys like Murchison and McDonald who are pushing, even Grans who has played some games in the last couple of years. It’s going to be a fierce competition.
“We have the option to go with different numbers, it could be seven, it could be eight. We’ll see how guys perform. But certainly David’s going to have a great chance here to take a step.”
Briere, who said forward Nikita Grebenkin might miss the first few days of camp due to “a little flare up,” added that because of the brevity of this coming training camp, the margin of error for youngsters wanting to stay in the mix is almost at zero. With just four exhibition games, players on the bubble aren’t going to get a whole lot of opportunities to make a case for themselves. It’s something Briere and his staff stressed to players when Rookie Camp commenced.
“That’s going to be the toughest part this year because we’re used to seven or eight games and preseason,” he said. “You’re at the point you’re trying to find players to play games. It’s going to be completely different this year. Those guys might have one chance, one game, they might have two to prove themselves. The message is get noticed. And that’s why I mention Ty Murchison and Noah Powell, that’s what they did on the weekend. We told the guys it’s a short camp, use the Rookie Camp, it’s a short Rookie Camp. So those two guys, along with the guys we expected to do well, those are the two guys who really stepped up. And they were noticed. That’s kind of the message to those guys coming into the big camp again this year.”
As well, Briere cited the veterans, stating that nobody is guaranteed a spot on special teams simply because they played them in 2025-26. Once again, stressing that complacency won’t be tolerated long at any point this coming year.
“That’s the message to the vets, don’t feel complacent,” he said. “We have a lot of guys pushing, and it’s not just for roster spots, you’re also talking about responsibilities. We talked about the power play, and I said it last year, I expect our penalty kill unit to be better. So don’t get complacent, don’t think because you’ve been on special teams the last three or four years you’re automatically going to be on it. We have a lot of guys fighting for positions. So that’s the message, not just about the roster spots, but responsibility within the roster.”
Briere’s biggest worry? Complacency
With some new players, some younger players, and a few veterans in the mix, the Flyers are hoping to build on what they accomplished last year. But Briere’s biggest nightmare is the roster that surprised a lot of people last year simply resting on their laurels and believing things are going to come easy to them in 2026-27.
“The part that keeps me up at night is having some of your players feel complacent, feel like they’ve made it,” Briere said. “Let’s face it, we’re still a young team. We’ve had guys that’ve had success last year. You saw what happened with Matvei, had a lot of success the first year, but it’s tougher the second year. We had guys like Porter Martone who came in late, had a lot of success, helped us get in the playoffs, helped up perform very well, helped us win a round. You have guys like Bump and Barkey who had success in the second half of the year.
“Those are the things that keep me up at night, worried that coming back they’ll think it’s a little easier than they realize and if that happens, they’re going to be a big part of our team. So if that happens we could have a setback. What I meant by that after seeing what happened with Matvei, but at the end of the day I’m hoping they don’t take it lightly, they come out swinging again, and have a great second year as a pro.”
Perhaps the biggest aspect of this year is realizing that other teams are not going to take Philadelphia lightly. The coaching staff are prepared for that reality, and Briere is hoping the players are bracing for that same outlook.
“We expect it to be harder,” he said. “For me it’s exciting because we’re at a time now where you want to see how your guys handle the hard. You’re going to hear Tocchet talk about that quite a bit. We’re not going to creep up on anyone this year, I think teams will be much better prepared to face us after what happened last year and the way we surprised some teams probably coming down the stretch. So the way I look at it, I’m excited to see how our guys approach this season, how are they ready, how do they perform when things get harder. That’s the part that I’m excited to see, and it’s going to tell a lot about our team.”
Although having that mindset, Briere isn’t giving any predictions for what he anticipates for Philadelphia. The club could take a big step ahead with Porter Martone, Alex Bump, and Denver Barkey not missing a beat in 2026-27, and Michkov returning to his high-end heights. But he also knows the team is still very raw and young, and that things could result in a step sideways, or a step back. Briere cited Florida’s 2025-26 season as a perfect example. The club was ravaged by key injuries all year and missed the playoffs. But that doesn’t mean they’re not one of the better clubs heading into 2026-27.
“Today the goal is to make the playoffs,” he said. “The most important part for me and you’re not going to like my answer but we’re hoping our young guys take another step. If they do, we’ll be very competitive. I think last year going into the season we’re just hoping to be competitive, just hoping to be in the mix in or out of the playoffs was going to be a good season. I see us as more competitive than what we were last year, and a better team than we were last year. So that’s where it leaves us, time will tell. I’m hoping after the players tasted the playoffs last year that they’re eager to back there this year.”
