Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher has announced that interim Philadelphia Flyers coach Mike Yu will not be coach of the team next season.
Yu, 48, went 17-36-7 behind the Flyers bench this season, as Philadelphia failed to cut the postseason for the second season in a row. Yu was previously head coach of the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues.
Yu was appointed interim coach after the Flyers fired coach Alain Vinault on December 6, 2021. This came after a 7-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning extended the team’s winning streak to eight. The Flyers were 8-10-4 that season under Vigneault, who was in his third season in Philadelphia.
Fletcher said he would like to keep Yeo with the Flyers organization in another role, saying his knowledge base is valuable to the team.
“Mike and I will continue to discuss that,” Fletcher said. “But he’s free to talk to the other teams.”
The Flyers had their final playoffs in 2020, in Vigneault’s first season.
Fletcher said Flyers’ hockey operations division will begin the process of finding a new head coach this week.
“We will put together a perfect candidate profile. All options are open at this point. Once we build that candidate profile, we will start accessing the candidates,” he said. “Obviously, we have to dig deeper into what we’re looking for.”
Fletcher said the pilots were “aware of the calendar” but had not set a timetable for hiring a head instructor.
The Flyers have been among the most disappointing teams in the NHL this season. Fletcher added several veteran players outside of last season, including the defender Ryan EllisHe was limited to four matches due to injury. The general manager has spoken of a “strong retool” this season, a retool which will now include a new head coach.