Danny Briere, Philadelphia Flyers GM
Danny Briere, Philadelphia Flyers GM

After completing a trade with the Maple Leafs for Simon Benoit and Joseph Woll, Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere discussed his motivations for the deal on TSN Overdrive.

Were you working on this deal with the Leafs for a while, or did you put it together after the Cup was handed out?

Briere: It was ideal that the Cup was given out, but no, we had been working at it last week for a few days and looking at different scenarios, going back and forth. I think we’re all glad — I am sure Toronto is also glad — that it is finally done and we can move on.

From your viewpoint, why did this trade make sense for you? Why did you target Simon Benoit and Joseph Woll, in particular?

Briere: It changed the makeup of things a little bit.

To start with Sam Ersson in net, he was drafted by us and grew up in this organization. He’s well-liked. Both players are loved by their teammates — really, really good people. We just felt, with Sam, it was time for a change of scenery.

The guy is a battler. People tend to focus a little too much on just the numbers with him. If you watch him in key moments, every year, he seems to have a winning record, but sometimes, you get caught up with the save percentage and average goals per game. It is deeper than that with him. He is a battler. He’s a gamer.

Coming down the stretch, if we didn’t have him, we would not have made the playoffs. I know he had a first half that was a little dicey, but he bounced back and played really well for us down the stretch and gave us a chance to get into the playoffs.

We just felt like it was a time for a change of scenery. Joe Woll was interesting for us, as we are looking for a strong replacement for Sam Ersson.

As far as Emil Andrae, he was also drafted by us and grew up in the organization. He is a competitor. You figure that out when you watch him play. He’s smaller in stature, but he competes. He doesn’t care if you’re 6’4 or 6’8 on the other side. He’ll go right through you. Very high competitor. I think he will fit in well. He skates well.

For us, the tough part with Emil was that we also have Cam York and Jamie Drysdale, who are maybe smaller-stature defensemen. When you have to play all three in the same lineup, it is probably not ideal. We were trying to get a little bigger. Simon Benoit brings us a little snarl and size on the defense.

You picked up Dan Vladar via free agency. Now, you’ve added Joe Woll. How do you go about projecting goaltender performance, compared to the other positions? It seems like it is very difficult to do.

Briere: We rely on our goalie coaching staff. Last year, they came to us, and Dan Vladar was the target they had circled and wanted. This year, Joe Woll was at the top of that list for them as far as the target they were most excited about. We tried to make it work, like we were able to do with Vladar last year.

Every team would love to uncover a Brandon Bussi, as Carolina did. Is part of what teams are doing in net just looking to see who might be overlooked?

Briere: I wish it were that easy to just find a Brandon Bussi.

You just never know. We are very fortunate with the way it worked out with Vladar. We trusted our goalie coaching staff to lead the way, and they wanted to work with Dan Vladar. It is kind of the same thing with Joe Woll here. I hope it turns out with the same results, but there is no guarantee.

Figuring out the goalies is one of the hardest things when making trades. We will see what happens.

Do you think this is the beginning of a busy trade season around the league?

Briere: It is possible. We never know, right? It varies and changes. A lot of the players, regarding free agency, have re-signed already. There is not a lot out there. Teams are forced to look toward trades. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a little bit more action.

I can tell you that there is a lot of talk everywhere. I don’t know if it will turn into real action yet.

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