The Flyers’ second-round pick, defenseman Brek Liske, is already showing why the organization liked him enough to bring him into the fold: he’s willing to stretch his game.
For a player who grew up as a Flyers fan, landing in Philadelphia clearly meant something. Liske was back at the team’s practice rink last month for his first work as part of the organization, and the moment brought back a childhood memory he still carries with him - a visit that ended with a stick signed by Shayne Gostisbehere. Liske was careful not to overstate the comparison, though he did make it clear he’s long admired Gostisbehere’s game.
“I think he’s a little more a little more skilled than me,” Liske acknowledged at last month’s Development Camp, “but… I’ve always really liked his game. Like I think he’s obviously not a bad player.
He did pretty, pretty good things this year. Not bad.
So, yeah, I just always loved him when I was younger and was fortunate enough to get a stick, and he was great to me.”
The bigger story for Liske right now isn’t nostalgia, though. It’s growth.
This season, he made a real push to round out his game, and the most noticeable step came with the puck on his stick. He’s still developing as a puck mover, and he knows it, but the progress is there: better poise, quicker reads, and more ability to turn a defensive play into a transition opportunity at pace.
“I think the key with that with me,” he said, “is just [that] I learned it this year. I wasn’t as good of a puck mover.
I just move my feet and pre-scan, and like it’s cliche, right? Just always know where guys are and I think it helped me a lot and start doing that.”
That kind of improvement didn’t happen in a vacuum. Liske has had to handle some real adjustments, including playing on his off-side - on the left as a right shooter.
It’s a tougher assignment, especially early, because so much of the game changes when the puck is on your backhand. But he worked through it, and he says the experience added to his toolkit.
“Yeah, it is a big difference, right? [It’s] a lot of stuff on the backhand.
The biggest thing was I just had to learn how to place the puck better, if that makes sense. Have it at my hip more, be ready to open up instead of being able to just snap it.
It’s a little harder, but, probably took a couple games of adjustment and figured it out… I, at first when I got played my left side, it was obviously a lot of things I wasn’t good at on it. But as I started to do it, I realized all the skills I was picking up.
Even like you said, versatile, it helps a lot, right? Makes you look like you can play a lot of different situations, which it does, right?
It helps. So, yeah, lots of lots of skills I picked up.
I think it’s, I think it’s a good thing I played [on the opposite side].”
Liske is still early in the process, but that’s the point. He’s not a finished product.
What stands out is how he’s attacking the learning curve instead of dodging it. The more he keeps adding layers - smarter puck movement, better decisions, comfort on both sides - the more useful he becomes.
And for a prospect trying to climb both the developmental ladder and the organizational one, that kind of versatility matters.
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