March 8, 2023 | 8:35am ET
By Anthony Di Marco, TheFourthPeriod.com

WINDS OF CHANGE BLOWING IN PHILLY

Dave Scott and Chuck Fletcher

Twenty-four months.

That’s how long things have been falling apart in Philadelphia.

The last nine months, in particular, have seen Flyers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Chuck Fletcher use up all his lasting goodwill with the Flyers faithful. Now, after a terrible handling of the NHL trade deadline, it appears everything is coming to a head.

Speaking with several people within the organization over the last number of days, the chatter surrounding the future of Fletcher is getting louder and louder and the general belief is he will be relieved of his duties following the regular-season. If the shoe drops sooner, I wouldn’t be shocked, either.

The news isn’t completely out of left field, as The Athletic’s Charlie O’Connor and Crossing Broad’s Anthony SanFilippo both mentioned at length that a possible change to the front office was a real possibility back in December. I was told Tuesday night that a change was “real close” before the holidays.

With things being worse than ever in Philadelphia, a major front office facelift is likely on the horizon. There had been speculation of Fletcher retaining his role as President of Hockey Ops while instilling a new GM, but it appears that ship has sailed.

In terms of his successor, it has been long speculated that Special Assistant to the GM Danny Briere would take over.

Briere, who was promoted to the Flyers’ front office last winter, was a finalist for the Montreal Canadiens GM in January 2022, something that fast tracked the Flyers’ intentions of keeping him.

As of Wednesday morning, multiple sources have told me there is no set decision to instill Briere as the next GM of the team nor have the Flyers approached him about assuming the role, although it is still very much a possibility. Should there be a house cleaning (of sorts) in the front office, I’m told Briere will not be a part of it and will be retained by the club. He is very well liked and respected within the organization and is viewed as a part of the future.

The next GM is still something that is undecided, to the best of my knowledge.

In terms of Executive Vice President and Assistant General Manager Brent Flahr, I’m not as sure he will share the same fate as Briere. While I haven’t heard specifically one way or another what his future holds, I’m led to believe Flahr may be a casualty of Fletcher’s dismissal given the two’s close working relationship going back to their time with the Minnesota Wild.

Beyond the Hockey Operations department, I wonder if the organizational renovation may go even above Fletcher.

I’ve heard whispers that while Fletcher is not innocent and shoulders a heavy amount of blame for what has gone on as the face and leader of Hockey Ops, he is far from the only thing wrong with the organization. Specifically, there’s been some chatter about the impact the team’s Senior Advisors (Bill Barber, Bob Clarke, Paul Holmgren and Dean Lombardi) are having on the organization.

Barber and Holmgren, in particular, I’ve heard to be much more involved than one would think “advisors” would be, with the former serving as Comcast Spectacor Chairman Dave Scott’s personal hockey consigliere. Both have a storied history with the team off the ice – Barber being a former Head Coach and Holmgren previously serving as President & GM – along with being former players, but with so many changes in the game, you have to wonder if their respective approaches to building a winning organization may be outdated. This is not to say they’re making the decisions on day-to-day transactions and lineup personnel, but rather having a hand in the organizational direction.

So what, or who, could bring on such an overhaul?

A few weeks back, Comcast Spectacor (the Flyers parent company) introduced a new CEO: Dan Hilferty. Self described as a “long-time Philadelphian,” Hilferty is a big-time power broker in the area, as SanFilippo broke down in depth on Crossing Broad following the announcement of the hiring. As I was told yesterday, the timing of this hiring should not be looked at as a coincidence.

Is Hilferty going to spearhead an organizational facelift? At this point, I really can’t say for certain what his role (or anyone’s from Comcast) will be as it relates to the Flyers and who will be put into place, but it feels like major changes are coming.

Who will head up hockey ops if/when Fletcher is dismissed is unclear, but separating the “President of Hockey Operations” position from “General Manager” may be most effective.

There needs to be a conduit between hockey ops and ownership, with the latter not having the ultimate say on hockey-related decisions, while the GM focuses on managing the roster, day-to-day hockey operations and transactional decisions. Whomever he or she is to assume such a role is very much unclear at this juncture or if said person will even be brought in. But if you ask me, it’s an absolute necessity.

Whether it be Scott, Hilferty or a new President calling the shots, it does feel that there may be a new-look management team in place by the time we get to the NHL Draft in late-June.

The smoke is getting thicker and thicker. With 18 games remaining in the 2022-23 regular-season, the future of franchise could have a serious course correction as early as next month.