People keep talking about Torts and personnel, but has anyone actually thought about Briere and how he thinks? He was undersized in the "clutch, hook and slash" era. Yet he's one of the top playoff performers in NHL history. He was up and down between Arizona and the AHL from 20-23 before he finally won a starting job at 24.
So what would Briere value from his own experience?
1) obviously not size, though he probably appreciated teammates who'd stand up for him
2) IQ, work ethic, mental toughness
3) Perseverance, young players who work hard to improve, and don't get derailed by adversity
4) Speed and skill, his meal ticket
5) the ability to raise your game when it counts, against better competition and in big games
“I get excited about the fact there is no tomorrow and you have to be at your best; focused all the time. For some reason, some guys perform better when the pressure is on. I don’t know why that is, but I can tell you I feel more comfortable at this time of year.”
Danny may appreciate "grinders" who did the dirty work and got him a puck, but I doubt he wants to build a team of grinders that had no place for a player like himself. But I also doubt he's overly impressed with offensive skill without the willingness to do the things to help the team win.
He's not going to have a problem with sending prospects to the AHL to marinate given his own experience. He's going to be patient with prospects b/c he knows sometimes a player will take time to develop.
I'll bet his favorite current Flyer is TK.
Here's an outsider's view of Luchanko:
While Matvei Michkov is the Philadelphia Flyers rookie getting all the attention, Jett Luchanko also cracked the lineup out of camp after being selected 13th overall this past summer. Jason Bukala gives a scouting report on the player and what makes him so special.
www.sportsnet.ca