- Danny Briere says the Flyers will try again if a chance at a No. 1 center comes up
- Philadelphia opens camp with Zegras, Dvorak, Cates and Couturier down the middle
- Read below for what Briere expects from Matvei Michkov in Year 3
Danny Briere is not done looking for a No. 1 center.
The Flyers general manager was asked about his group down the middle for NHL.com’s team-by-team preview series, and he did not pretend the search is over:
“So, if there’s another chance to acquire a No. 1 center, yes, we will try. But realistically, those guys don’t become available very often. I believe in this group.”
Philadelphia already took one huge swing at the problem. The Flyers put a five-year, $90 million offer sheet in front of Anaheim center Leo Carlsson on July 3, and the Ducks matched six days later. That $18 million-per-year gamble left Briere right back where he started.
His likely top four at the position now reads Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, Noah Cates and Sean Couturier.
Zegras carries the most weight there. He set career highs of 26 goals and 67 points in 81 games last season and has been open about wanting the top job, though he won only 34.1 percent of his face-offs and spent much of the year sliding between wing and center.
Zegras and Cates can both play the wing, which is what would make a future addition easier to fit. Catch Dvorak on the veteran role he has taken on with a young roster:
Matvei Michkov is the other question hanging over camp. The 21-year-old dropped to 51 points in 81 games after a 26-goal rookie season, then managed one assist in eight playoff games and sat as a healthy scratch twice.
Briere was asked whether Michkov can get back to that rookie form, and he leaned on the winger’s competitive streak.
“We believe in him. Now he just has to come back and do it, and do it for the whole year and lead us into the playoffs. He’s the type of kid that will want to prove to everybody that he’s got too much talent.”
Real help is coming from the kids, too. Porter Martone went from Michigan State to 10 points in nine NHL games, then became the first teenager in league history to score the game-winning goal in each of his first two playoff games. Take a look at the expectations piling up on the 19-year-old:
A stronger center group would also help the ugliest number on the roster. Philadelphia finished last in the NHL on the power play at 15.7 percent, the fourth time in five seasons, and won just 48.8 percent of its power-play face-offs.
Winning a playoff round with a committee down the middle was enough last spring. Briere just made it clear he would still rather have a real first-line center.
