Philadelphia Flyers hire Alain Vigneault as head coach
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced they have hired former Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, and New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault as their new head coach.
After a disappointing season, the Philadelphia Flyers decided to not to retain interim head coach Scott Gordon. On Monday, April 15, the team announced they have agreed to terms with a familiar face. Former New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault will be the Flyers’ 21st head coach in franchise history.
“We are extremely excited to have Alain join this franchise and lead our team behind the bench for many years to come,” said general manager Chuck Fletcher, via NHL.com.
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Vigneault has also coached for the Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks. He got fired from the Rangers after the 2017-18 season. Vigneault will be coaching Team USA in the World Hockey Championships in May.
In his career, he has coached in 1,216 regular season games and 139 postseason games. Vigneault’s career regular season record is 648-435-35-98 while he has a 68-71 record in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
What Does The Mean For The Future?
Honestly, I don’t know if this is a good hire yet. It depends on what kind of team the Flyers want to be. Vigneault gets a lot of hate in the hockey world, but he’s a perfectly fine coach for a contending team.
The Flyers would need to make some moves this summer to be contenders, though. If they are willing to make those moves, Vigneault will do more good than bad. His past shows if you give him a contending team, he’ll make the playoffs far more often than he won’t. Vigneault will have Carter Hart on his side. He’s shown that as long as he has a goalie he can rely on (such as Henrik Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo), he’ll have success.
However, if the Flyers are still in transition, I’m not sure Vigneault is the right guy for them. He struggled mightily with the Rangers when they decided to rebuild.
To me, this signifies the Flyers are going to make moves to be contenders. They’ll likely be closer to a retooling team than a rebuilding team. The Flyers might have lost out on Joel Quenneville, but Vigneault was one of the next best coaches on the market.
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After seeing Dave Hakstol’s lack of experience cost him, they likely wanted someone with Vigneault’s resume.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Flyers do this summer because they have some foundational pieces. Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Hart, and Shayne Gostisbehere are guys you can build around. With the right moves, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.