Rick Tocchet has filled out his bench.
Jaroslav Svejkovsky and Jay Varady will be joining Tocchet in Philadelphia to be the Flyers' assistant coaches, the organization announced Thursday.
“I’m excited to bring Yogi and Jay on board with me,” Tocchet said in a statement. “I know both of them very well. They each provide a different skill set and more importantly, a different voice, both of which I believe is crucial in not only building a coaching staff, but an entire team and how we grow together. I very much look forward to getting down to work with them again soon.”
Tocchet was hired as the Flyers' new head coach last month, with putting together his staff being one of his immediate orders of business.
Svejkovsky will be a carryover from Tocchet's past couple of years coaching Vancouver. The 48-year-old was Tocchet's assistant coach last season, and a skills coach for the Canucks and their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford prior to that promotion.
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Varady was an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings for the past three years, and also has overlap with Tocchet from his tenure in Arizona. The 47-year-old Varady was the head coach for the Coyotes' AHL affiliate in Tucson from 2018-20 and 2021-22, jumping up to the NHL staff in between as an assistant coach for Tocchet during the COVID-shortened 2021 season.
Varady's specialty while in Arizona lied in developing a sound penalty kill and instilling defensive responsibility, as detailed by Max Bultman of The Athletic as the coach was joining Detroit three years ago. Varady also has a lean toward analytics.
Svejkovsky's role, presumably, will be on the offensive end like it was in Vancouver, and focused on a Flyers power play unit that has long been in need of any type of improvement.
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