The Philadelphia Flyers have hired Alain Vigneault as their new head coach, signing him to a multi-year contract. Vigneault is currently set to coach Team Canada at the upcoming IIHF World Championship but will be behind the bench for the Flyers in 2019-20. GM Chuck Fletcher released a statement about the hiring:
We are extremely excited to have Alain join this franchise and lead our team behind the bench for many years to come. He brings a tremendous amount of success over an extended period of time that will prove valuable to our team to take the next steps in returning the winning culture to the Philadelphia Flyers organization.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that Vigneault’s deal is worth $25MM over five years, making him one of the more expensive head coaches in the league. That may seem like a big commitment given Vigneault didn’t coach anywhere this season after being fired by the New York Rangers last year, but he does have an extensive resume of success. The 57-year old coach comes to Philadelphia with a career 648-435-35-98 regular season record which puts him 12th all-time in terms of wins. He was awarded the Jack Adams trophy as the league’s top bench boss in 2007, but unfortunately has failed to carry much of that success over to the postseason.
Vigneault actually has a losing record in 139 career playoff games and was defeated both times his team reached the Stanley Cup Final. Still, he should bring some stability to an organization that has used four coaches since the beginning of the 2013-14 season and failed to reach the playoffs in four of the past seven years. Scott Gordon, who took over after the team decided to fire Dave Hakstol earlier this season, ended up with a 25-22-4 record but will not be retained as the team’s head coach.
The Flyers are not in the process of a rebuild despite their solid farm system, and expect to compete for the playoffs again next season. Captain Claude Giroux is now 31 and has just three years remaining on his current contract, while other players like Jakub Voracek and James van Riemsdyk are also closing in on their thirties. With young Carter Hart expected to take over the full-time starting goaltending duties and other young prospects ready to make the jump to the NHL, the time is now for the Flyers to contend. The hiring of Vigneault is just another sign that they’re willing to spend to get there, though only time will tell if he can finally take that next step and lead his team to a championship.
So…the game is still played on the ice with talent. Let’s see what they do with the roster.
Vigneault is a good coach & this could work out well, but I wonder if his personality is a good fit in a town where they will be sharpening the knives after one bad week. Alain is a pretty chill dude, but maybe that’s what Philly needs, if not particularly what the fans want.
Poor Flyers fans and young players. Nolan Patrick and all the young men are screwed
Or what the players want. Gordon knew a lot of these young players and comminuted well with them. He was the players choice and I thought based on the job he did he deserved another year. But we will see.
Happy for AV to get back in the league. Hate how his time in NY ended, just wish he wasn’t coming back with Philly.
I would rather have Coach Q but AV is not a bad second choice. He’s had success in the league and will bring professionalism to a team badly in need. I was worried that Gordon, who’s proven nothing, would be retained and next year would be another wasted season.
Freddy Shero was a pretty chill dude,too and he worked out just fine.I think Alain will be a good choice
AV is a great coach if you have a quality playoff/cup contending team already in place, he lets the locker room police itself. Get used to players not holding other teams accountable for dirty hits and turning the other cheek. Av is the Anti Grit coach. Good luck Philly, and while you are at it, take Lindy Ruff, he would make a great bench or defensive coach.