New Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher names Princeton grad Brent Flahr as an assistant GM

Brent Flahr has left the Minnesota Wild and has been named one of the Flyers' assistant general mangers, the club confirmed Wednesday.

The hiring was first reported by Mike Russo, a reporter who covers the Wild for The Athletic.

New Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher selected Flahr because of his familiarity with him. When Fletcher was the Wild’s general manager, Flahr was his assistant.

“Brent brings over 20 years of experience in the National Hockey League and an extraordinary amount of knowledge to our hockey club,” Fletcher said in a statement.

Flahr, 44, will be heavily relied upon for decisions involving player personnel, while supervising all aspects of the Flyers' scouting department and overseeing the development of the club’s prospects.

A Princeton graduate, Flahr has run the Wild’s draft since 2010. He replaces Chris Pryor, the fired assistant general manager/director of player personnel who had numerous outstanding drafts with the Flyers. Pryor was apparently let go because of his strong ties with Ron Hextall, who was fired as the Flyers' GM on Nov. 26.

Barry Hanrahan, the Flyers' capologist, has remained with the team as an assistant general manager.

Flahr said he was “extremely excited to join a storied franchise” such as the Flyers. That “storied” franchise enters Wednesday with a 12-13-3 record (15th in the 16-team East), hasn’t won a playoff series since 2012, and hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1975.

Flahr was in his 10th season with the Wild. Players selected by Minnesota during Flahr’s tenure included Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund, Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, and Alex Tuch.

Flahr has also been an assistant GM with Florida, he served as an amateur scout with Anaheim, and was director of hockey operations with Ottawa.

While at Princeton, he was a defenseman for four years and was the team’s captain in 1995-96.