The Flyers' coaching search may have gotten another name of interest on Monday when Mike Sullivan and the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed to part ways.
Sullivan is leaving Pittsburgh after nearly a decade behind the team's bench, and while the Penguins have been on the downswing in the past few years as a cap-strapped and aging group, his resume probably should be within the Flyers' consideration.
Obviously, there's the back-to-back Stanley Cups from 2016 and 2017, but Sullivan also brings steady time spent as an NHL assistant and as an AHL head coach, plus a good bit of international experience with Team USA, which included his run leading the U.S. in the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off this past February.
The Flyers still appear to be early in their search. However, the immediate traits that general manager Danny Brière said the organization would be looking for in their next head coach included strong communication and the ability to teach a young group as they come along.
To that end, the average age of those Cup-winning Penguins teams that Sullivan coached: 27 years and 3 months in 2016, and then 27 years and 10 months in 2017, per QuantHockey.
Both teams actually leaned on the older side relative to the league average for those respective seasons, but the key there, too, is that those rosters had a lot of solid young depth clicking around prime Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and an incoming Phil Kessel, of which that depth included a rapidly ascending Jake Guentzel.
The average age of the Flyers leaving this season, again per QuantHockey: 26 years and 3 months. They were the third youngest team in the NHL behind the Buffalo Sabres (25 years, 7 months) and the Montreal Canadiens (25 years, 6 months).
There's a lot of potential for a coach to develop here, but also competition from the outside, too, as the Rangers, Bruins, and Kraken also have coaching vacancies to varying degrees of playoff and championship trajectory.
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Other names who have been seen as potential fits for the Flyers so far include Rick Tocchet, depending on what decision he makes for his future in Vancouver (never mind, he's leaving Vancouver), Jay Woodcroft, Dan Bylsma, and a possible full-time look for Brad Shaw.
David Carle at the University of Denver has been a popular name in the collegiate ranks, as well, but he isn't expected to be a serious candidate as The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jackie Spiegel reported a couple of weeks ago.
A few other thoughts on the Flyers…
When could they name the next coach?
The Flyers should have a head coach again before the draft at the end of June, but looking back through the archives to try and gauge a more specific timeframe, John Tortorella's hiring was announced on June 16, 2022.
So early-mid June would be the bet, but the "how" might also be a part of this process to keep in mind, too.
Basically, you could very well wake up one morning, without warning, to the Flyers having their new head coach.
After all, the front office has been a pretty right ship leaks and rumors-wise ever since Brière and Keith Jones took over.
Remember, Cutter Gauthier was traded suddenly minutes into a Monday night game against Pittsburgh, Ivan Fedotov was in Russia one day and in Philadelphia the next, and Matvei Michkov was getting picked up at the airport no sooner after word started going around that an out had been made from his KHL contract.
You could lump Tortorella's firing, which was pretty uncremonious, into that group, too. Granted, it was easy to see that one coming after that disaster of a Toronto game.
But the point is, don't be surprised if the Flyers catch everyone by surprise.
They've developed a bit of a habit for it.
Jett Speed
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms won their best-of-three first-round playoff series over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 2-0, and they did it with top center prospect Jett Luchanko notching four assists across both games.
These haven't been coincidental touches of the puck either. The 18-year-old has been making plays and delivering some crisp and decisive passes, including on the series clincher scored by Helge Grans:
Grans backhand no look game winner from HIS KNEES?! Are you SERIOUS?!#RallyTheValley | #LVvsWBS | #LVPhantoms pic.twitter.com/2wIGAEq6hy
— Lehigh Valley Phantoms (@LVPhantoms) April 26, 2025
Now imagine him threading those passes to Michkov after another year of experience in juniors and everything he's taking in now with the AHL playoff run.
The Flyers still need a lot of help at center, but there is some hope on the horizon.
Speaking of…
There might be a good opportunity opening up for Grans.
The Flyers held on to Rasmus Ristolainen at the trade deadline, with part of the logic for it from Brière being that big right-handed defenseman are hard to come by.
But Ristolainen needed surgery on his triceps again and isn't expected to be ready to start the next season, so the Flyers are down that right-handed shot anyway.
Grans, right-handed and billed at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, could take the spot in the lineup, however, with a good camp.
The 22-year-old really settled in with the Phantoms this year after the Flyers acquired him two summers ago in the Ivan Provorov trade, putting together an eight-goal and 15-assist campaign.
He also got a look up with the Flyers in November, skating in six games and going back to Lehigh Valley with his first NHL point and an even plus-minus rating.
Maybe he'll be ready for more by October.
Royal ties
Further down in the minors, the Flyers announced a two-year affiliation extension with the Reading Royals in the ECHL. The agreement will run through the end of the 2026-27 season.
"The Royals are a first-class organization and I've seen how beneficial this relationship is to the development of players on both the Phantoms and the Flyers, especially this season with Jacob Gaucher making his NHL debut and playing a pivotal role in Lehigh Valley," Brière said in a statement.
OFFICIAL: We have reached agreement on a two-year extension that will keep the @ReadingRoyals as our primary ECHL affiliate through the 2026-27 season. #LetsGoFlyers https://t.co/na5zcXOQ5C
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 29, 2025
Gaucher, 24, had a four-game run with the Flyers in February as a depth forward, and put up 20 goals and 38 points for the Phantoms this season in the AHL. So far in the Phantoms' playoff run, he has a goal and an assist, with Lehigh Valley's next series set to start Wednesday night at Hershey in a best-of-five.
The climb from the ECHL up to the NHL is typically a very difficult one, but it has been done, and at the very least, the deal to keep the relationship with Reading in place for another two years is another avenue to keep the prospect pipeline moving.
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