The Flyers now have a ton of coaching experience behind the bench. Now there are simply no excuses for an inconsistent hockey team. The Flyers had trial runs with inexperienced coaches, to experienced coaches, and now the whole staff has a ton of head coaching experience with coaching approximately 2,500 NHL games.
Let’s see how this plays out Flyers fans. This could turn out to be a good thing. Alain Vigneault, Mike Yeo, and Michel Therrien could right the ship, and hopefully, they can bring a parade down Broad Street in the near future. Without further delay, here are our answers to your questions.
For some odd reason, I didn’t think Lappy would Coach the PK Unit when Fletcher hired the new Assistants. I know it seemed bleak for a little bit in that regard, but he finished with the 29th, 27th, 26th, 21st, and 20th worst PK’s in the league, the past 5 seasons. Honestly, it was a no brainer in my eyes.
Of course, by now everyone knows Mike Yeo will coach the Defense and the PK Units, and Michel Therrien will coach the PP Unit. Lappy’s new role will be pre-scouting, and he will not be present on the bench, rather the press box area. Lappy should do much better in his new role. He is a good communicator and really does well in player development. I think he will be very successful in this new role, and it contains less pressure for sure.
The Flyers now have a coaching staff that is very experienced with coaching approximately 2,500 combined games, but more importantly, they will hold their players accountable. The players will have nowhere to hide, and they better bring their best effort on a nightly basis.
Michel Therrien is a structure, Defensive minded coach that will head the PP Unit. Mike Yeo will be the Defense and PK coach, and he has a strong personality. However, Yeo knows when the going gets tough, but he can be a little laid back, as well.
The Flyers needed a no-nonsense coaching staff. They needed more of their players to take accountability, and this is the exact coaching staff to do it. Will this new regime succeed? Who knows, only time will tell. But, in my eyes, Fletcher wanted more structure from the top down, and he has accomplished that with this coaching staff.
I believe Fletcher will resign all 6 RFA’s this off-season. I’m actually a bit surprised that Ivan Provorov hasn’t re-upped yet, as my source told me he would resign before the World’s began. The Flyers will resign Ryan Hartman, Travis Konecny, Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov, Justin Bailey, and Scott Laughton. In addition, Fletcher will also resign a notable Lehigh Valley Phantoms RFA in Nicolas-Aube Kubel. I really don’t foresee one of these players mentioned involved in a trade….yet anyways.
If Fletcher adds a top 4 Defenseman at the draft, I would not doubt that a trade would involve Shayne Gostisbehere. I’m hoping Fletcher trades for Jacob Trouba’s rights, as this would make perfect sense. Ghost would also stay in this case. In an AV system, Ghost should flourish. Vigneault likes his Defencemen to jump, and Ghost would be a big benefactor in this case. I believe Ghost will still be with the Flyers come the Fall, and let’s not forget he has a favorable cap hit of $4.5 million.
Philippe Myers has definitely earned a spot as a regular for sure. If the Flyers add a top 4 Defenseman (I believe they will), I would think Robert Hagg becomes trade bait. The Flyers have been very patient with Samuel Morin, and he looked decent with little playing time he had this past season. Moreover, the orange and black could use his physicality, as well. It will be interesting for sure.
Flyers GM Fletcher touched on a variety of topics at the exit interviews to include, “I’m usually not a big fan of buyouts,” to, “We would like a Veteran Defenseman, more scoring Forwards, and a Goalie for Hart. We will be active to improve the team. Everyone is tradeable.”
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Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
