The Philadelphia Flyers haven't gotten off to the start they wanted this season, and there are questions about whether Danny Briere focused on the wrong things during the offseason. Rather than making improvements to a roster that clinched a playoff berth last season. Briere spent time trying to land Leo Carlsson from the Anaheim Ducks with an offer sheet.
Carlsson is a talented young player, and adding him would have been a big move for Philadelphia. However, the Flyers should have focused on their own roster, and it is fair to wonder whether Briere would have been better off doing that instead.
Briere prioritized the wrong roster moves
The biggest issue is how similar the Flyers' roster looks to the group last season. Philadelphia needed to improve if it wanted to take a step forward, but they didn’t. That is a concern for a team trying to build on a playoff berth that saw them advance to the second round.
Briere could have spent more time looking for ways to improve the roster through trades or even through free agency. Philadelphia didn't necessarily need to make a massive move, but they needed to find ways to get better. Instead, much of the attention went toward trying to pry Carlsson away from Anaheim.
The offer sheet itself also became a much bigger story than just a potential move for Philadelphia. It brought the conversation around NHL contracts and the salary cap to another level, with teams having to consider what these massive offers could mean for their own young players. It also put pressure on the Ducks to decide Carlsson's future and showed how quickly the market can change when a team is willing to make an aggressive offer.
There is nothing wrong with Briere trying to make a big move. Carlsson is the kind of player any team would want, and the Flyers were right to explore ways to improve their roster. However, there is a difference between pursuing a talented player from another team and addressing the problems already in front of you.
The Flyers' early-season struggles aren't entirely on Briere, and it would be unfair to suggest the offer sheet alone is responsible for their start. Still, Philadelphia has looked like a team that needed more help coming into the season, and that hasn't changed. A few more additions or some roster changes could have given the team a better chance to compete while its younger players continue to develop.
That should've been the move rather than trying to offer sheet Carlsson and seeing what would happen, when just about everyone in the NHL knew that the Ducks were always going to match it.
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