Ian Laperrière is leaving his post as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms' head coach and moving into a role as an advisor to hockey operations with the Flyers under general manager Danny Brière and president of hockey ops Keith Jones, the club announced Tuesday.
Laperrière was the Phantoms' coach down in the AHL since 2021, and had been within the Flyers' organization across other roles for years prior, ever since his retirement from playing in 2012.
He's well regarded by the Flyers, and even helped push the Phantoms into the second round of the playoffs this past season with a handful of notable prospects on the ice – like Jett Luchanko, Alex Bump, Hunter McDonald, Nikita Grebenkin, and Emil Andrae.
But now the Phantoms are in need of a new voice for many of those prospects, as well as the ones who could be on the way very soon, like London's Oliver Bonk and Denver Barkey.
The Flyers already chose Rick Tocchet as the coach to usher in the next phase of their rebuild at the NHL level, but now they have another important, albeit slightly quieter, search to make for the one a level below who can help ensure that the pipeline keeps moving.
"I want to thank Ian for his tireless work in Lehigh Valley for the last four seasons," Brière said in a statement. "He not only led the Phantoms in a return to the playoffs, but provided crucial development to several of our prospects. I am excited to welcome him back to the Flyers so he can continue to provide his insight in helping our team as we enter the next phase of the rebuild."
The Flyers said in a press release Tuesday that the search for the Phantoms' next coach will begin immediately.
The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that Ian Laperriere will rejoin the organization as an advisor to Hockey Operations. https://t.co/jDdDnw762B
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) May 27, 2025
A few other odds and ends on the Flyers…
Shaw's next gig
Brad Shaw was in the mix during the Flyers' head coaching search, but he chose to move on after the organization went for Rick Tocchet.
The 61-year-old's next role was made official on Tuesday, and it'll be within the Metro division, competing against the Flyers.
Shaw is joining the New Jersey Devils as an assistant coach on Sheldon Keefe's staff and will presumably handle the defense just as he did in Philadelphia, which is a plus for the Devils and very likely a problem for the Flyers and everyone else in the division.
Shaw, notably, has played a huge role in the development of Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, and the early phases of Emil Andrae's career, while also helping to revive those of veterans Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Now he'll be bringing that same defensive prowess to New Jersey, where the Devils already have blueliners Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes, and Simon Nemec on the roster, along with their top pick at 10th overall from last summer, Anton Silayev, on the way.
We have named Brad Shaw as an assistant coach.
Welcome to the team, Coach!
📰: https://t.co/KK5GdkPw7U pic.twitter.com/Z6LyRH91Ws— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) May 27, 2025
Still skating
Sticking with Bonk and Barkey, their seasons with London are still going down in juniors with the Knights having reached the Memorial Cup.
Bonk has an assist and Barkey has two, with the Knights standing at 2-0 so far in the round-robin phase, and with their third game against Medicine Hat set up for later on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Knights tore through the Ontario Hockey League playoff field to win their second straight OHL title, with Barkey having put up 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists) through 10 postseason games and Bonk 14 points (2 goals, 12 assists) through 17 games with an absurd plus-28 rating.
The Flyers prospects, who were both part of the team's 2023 draft class, figure to be key parts of the organization's long-term plans, with Bonk as a projected top-four defenseman and Barkey as a potential impact forward. Each are expected to turn pro at some point within the next year.
But they still have some cleanup to do in juniors first.
They fell just short of winning the Memorial Cup last year. This time, they want to make sure they're hoisting it.
I still can't believe Oliver Bonk did this#OHLChampionship | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/pcegHzMIBL
— London Knights (@LondonKnights) May 11, 2025
Time flies
Tuesday marked 50 years to the day of the Flyers beating the Sabres to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup title.
Bob Kelly slipped the first goal past 11 seconds into the third period, Bill Clement flew in all alone to bury the second late, Bernie Parent recorded a 32-save shutout to close out the series in six games, and then he and captain Bobby Clarke went skating off with the Cup once again – with another parade in Philly soon to follow.
- MORE FLYERS
- Flyers thoughts: Rick Tocchet is here to help rebuild, and recruit
- Rick Tocchet is a former Flyer. That won't decide his success or failure as their coach.
- NHL Draft: Six prospects the Flyers could take with the No. 6 pick
The city fell in love with hockey thanks to those Broad Street Bullies teams, and stayed committed to them through the decades as the torch got passed to Tim Kerr and Mark Howe through the 80s, to Eric Lindros and the Legion of Doom in the 90s, Simon Gagné and Mike Richards into the back half of the 2000s, and then to Claude Giroux in the 2010s.
But despite a few memorable attempts since, the Flyers never got back to those same heights that the back-to-back Cup teams of the 70s reached.
And they've been further away from them than ever these past few years, and only trying to build themselves back up now to eventually try again.
But it's been a long, long time, and might be still…
Maybe one day.
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