Skip to content
Flyers
Link copied to clipboard

New coach Alain Vigneault has had a hand in Flyers’ makeover

Shortly after he was hired, Alain Vigneault met with general manager Chuck Fletcher and discussed the team he was inheriting.

New coach Alain Vigneault is happy with the Flyers' makeover.
New coach Alain Vigneault is happy with the Flyers' makeover.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Shortly after he was hired, new Flyers coach Alain Vigneault met with general manager Chuck Fletcher and discussed the team he was inheriting.

They talked about needs. They talked about the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Last week, Fletcher acted, acquiring veteran defensemen Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun, signing second-line center Kevin Hayes, and buying out Andrew MacDonald.

Maybe they weren’t the most glamorous moves in a market that saw defensemen P.K. Subban and Jacob Trouba traded to the rival Devils and Rangers, respectively.

But they were upgrades, and they were appreciated by Vigneault.

“Chuck delivered on what we talked about when I got named,” Vigneault said at the NHL draft Saturday in Vancouver. “When we met, we talked about improving our team, solidifying our defense. We’ve added two experienced right-handed shots. One is very strong defensively in Justin Braun. One [Niskanen] is an all-around defenseman that can play five-on-five, kill penalties, and play on the power play, and he has a Stanley Cup. We liked that.”

Vigneault had a role in steering Hayes to the Flyers. He coached him for four years with the Rangers and they had a good relationship. In the days leading up to Hayes’ signing a seven-year, $50 million deal, Vigneault twice called the 6-foot-5, 216-pound center and told him how much he’d fit on the team.

“We’ve added a centerman, a big strong centerman,” Vigneault said. “Our center position looks real strong and has a lot of depth. We can keep Claude Giroux on the wing. We’ve improved our team. We know we still have work to do, and we’re going to do it.”

Asked how much he politicked to get Hayes here, Vigneault said: “When they asked my opinion, in my mind, Kevin’s a top-six forward who can kill penalties. I didn’t use him much on the power play, but he did get some time this year, and he’s effective. I know he’s become a real solid pro, and I know he wants to win. When we put all those check marks together and our needs in Philly, we felt he fit the bill, and he decided to come to Philly.”

The Flyers traded a fifth-round pick to Winnipeg for the right to negotiate with Hayes, who could have become an unrestricted free agent July 1.

“I think Chuck and his crew did a great job when they brought him to Philly,” Vigneault said. “I talked to [Hayes] a couple of times. It worked out. He’s happy, and we’re happy.”

Hayes, Vigneault said, “has become a real solid pro. I saw the evolution of him from year one, two, three, four. Not this year, but in the four years. Kevin has really understood the importance of preparation, the importance of training, the importance of being a good teammate. I know from him being with me with the Rangers that he wants to win. We owned his rights, but, in a couple of days, he could have gone anywhere. One of the reasons he picked Philly is he feels like I do — that we have a good team and we’ve got a chance to win.”

Vigneault didn’t talk to Fletcher directly about acquiring Niskanen and Braun, but they exchanged ideas on the type of defensemen the Flyers needed after allowing the 29th-most goals in the NHL last season.

“That’s more Chuck and our scouting staff,” Vigneault said of targeting Niskanen and Braun. “We discussed the needs of our team: Right-handed defensemen. I’ve always felt better with a right-handed D and a left-handed D [on a pair]. When we discussed that, they had a list. Chuck was able to do what he does and what does real well — talk to other teams and see what was available. Niskanen was there and Justin Braun became available. I think for our team we’ve got young [Phil] Myers on the right side, also. We should have those guys be able to play their position. I think in the long run it should help."

As for the defensive pairings, “that’s why you have training camp,” Vigneault said. “What you want to do is you want guys to earn their ice time, earn their position on the team. Everybody’s going to get an opportunity. Everybody’s got a clean slate. They can go out there and prove what they can do. That’s what they like about the veteran presence that we have and the good young players. It’s going to be competitive and competition brings out the best of people.”