Flyers Fire General Manager Chuck Fletcher; Danny Briere Named Interim GM

Flyers fire general manager Fletcher originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers have fired general manager Chuck Fletcher after four-plus years in charge.

Fletcher was hired in December 2018 and oversaw one playoff run, two coaching searches and a last-place finish in the Metropolitan Division last season.

The Flyers currently sit in seventh place in the Metropolitan, 15 points out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Comcast Spectacor chairman and Flyers governor Dave Scott released the following statement Friday morning:

"The Philadelphia Flyers organization has always been defined by grit, determination, and a standard of excellence. Over the past several seasons, our team simply has not lived up to that standard, so today, we will begin to chart a new path forward under a new leadership structure for hockey operations.  

"This morning, we released Chuck Fletcher from his president and general manager responsibilities. We are grateful for his hard work and dedication to this organization, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward. Chuck faced significant challenges during his time as president and general manager, including some that were outside of his control, but we have reached a point at which we must move in a different direction and look to the future under new leadership.

"Flyers fans deserve a better team than what they’ve seen on the ice over the past few seasons, and a clear plan to return this team to Stanley Cup contention. We know that this will be a multi-year process, and we are committed to doing it right, because we want to put this franchise on a path toward winning the Stanley Cup, period."

The move comes just one week after Fletcher failed to trade James van Riemsdyk's expiring contract at the NHL trade deadline.

"I'm not worried about my job — whatever happens with me will happen with me. That's up to Dave Scott," Fletcher said after last Friday's deadline. "But everything I do is about doing what's right for the Philadelphia Flyers and not taking shortcuts, and that's in part why we didn't make any more deals today. The deals that were presented to me were not good deals for the Philadelphia Flyers.

"Last summer, being more aggressive was not going to be good for the Philadelphia Flyers. Maybe in the short run, it makes me look better. But we don't want band-aids anymore. We want to build this the right way and we're committed to doing it.

"Those are my words; my actions will have to back it up, but we're committed to doing it."

Danny Briere has been named interim GM. The Flyers are beginning the process of filling two separate positions: president of hockey operations and GM.

In Fletcher's first full season as GM, the Flyers won their first playoff series since 2012 and fell a win shy of the Eastern Conference Final. The following two seasons, however, the club missed the postseason in consecutive years for the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-94.

More: What was as costly as anything in Fletcher's tenure with Flyers

Fletcher came under criticism for his ensuing offseason work in which the club didn't exactly back up its aggressive retool message. Whether the direction was clearly articulated or not, that was when the Flyers changed their course to more of a future-focused rebuild of sorts under first-year head coach John Tortorella.

Despite some improvement from an injury-ravaged, 57-loss year last season, the Flyers, as ultimately expected, were sellers at a third straight deadline this season. But Fletcher was unable to move van Riemsdyk, the team's most obvious trade chip and one of the bigger rental names left on the market when last Friday started.

Leading up to the trading period, Fletcher said the Flyers were selling and "willing to listen on just about anything if it makes sense." They ended up moving out two role players on expiring contracts.

Two days before the deadline, rowdy Rangers fans took over the Wells Fargo Center. The scene painted a telling picture of the Flyers' state.

"We make our own bed," Tortorella said after New York rallied to beat the Flyers, 3-2, in overtime. "We need to get this the right direction where maybe someday those tickets are hard to come by. Don't blame anybody else. Blame us. This is what we've made here.

"Hopefully along the way, we get this turned around. I'm not sure when. But get it back to where that's a tough ticket. And maybe the Rangers fans just aren't allowed in the building because we have filled it with our people. Not there yet obviously, but I'm not blaming the fans, I'm not blaming anybody else except us and the organization. We make our own bed here in where we're at and it's up to us to get out of it."

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