As originally reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Philadelphia Flyers fired head coach Alain Vigneault on Monday morning. The team also relieved assistant Michel Therrien of his duties and announced that assistant coach Mike Yeo will serve as the team’s interim head coach.
The Philadelphia Flyers have relieved head coach Alain Vigneault and assistant coach Michel Therrien of their duties. Mike Yeo will serve as the Flyers interim head coach. https://t.co/KPM9WLZg8J
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) December 6, 2021
Alain Vigneault Fired as Head Coach of Flyers
This was Vigneault’s third season with the organization after he was brought on with a five-year, $25 million contract prior to the start of the 2019-20 season. With 16 years of head coaching experience at the NHL level and two Stanley Cup Final appearances (2011, Vancouver and 2014, NY Rangers), he was expected to jumpstart a team that had failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in consecutive seasons since a five-year run from 2008-2012.
Needless to say, it didn’t go as planned. He saw success and a playoff berth in his first season with the team, but they bowed out in the Second Round to the New York Islanders in a seven-game series. Since then, the Flyers have a .500 points percentage.
Therrien had been on Vigneault’s staff since Day 1 of his tenure.
Moving Forward Under Yeo
Things don’t look promising for the 8-10-4 Flyers, who are currently seven points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. For the time being, however, Yeo brings eight years and 482 games of NHL head coaching experience back into action. He’d also joined the team with Vigneault and Therrien prior to the 2019-20 campaign.
The Flyers have scored just 51 goals this season, the third-worst such number in the league. They’ve been hampered by injuries to Kevin Hayes and offseason acquisition Ryan Ellis, but it was clear the system wasn’t working. Philadelphia’s 43.61 expected goals percentage at five-on-five play (Moneypuck) is the worst in the league, trailing the nearly-historically awful Arizona Coyotes. For the Flyers to have hopes for a playoff push, Yeo needs to instill better habits in all areas of Philadelphia’s game.
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