May 03, 2022
Mike Yeo won't be returning as the Flyers' head coach, as reported by former NHL goalie and current ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes during Monday night's Blues-Wild playoff game.
After a disastrous season like this, the call to start over fresh isn't much of a surprise.
**Breaking News** 🚨 📰
— Kevin Weekes (@KevinWeekes) May 3, 2022
I’m told @NHLFlyers are moving on from Mike Yeo as their HC, and situation remains fluid. @espn @NHLNetwork @NHL @StanleyCup #HockeyTwitter #StanleyCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/mvy22I421W
Yeo was brought on as an assistant coach for Alain Vigneault's staff alongside Michel Therrien ahead of the 2019-20 season. He was named the interim head coach on Dec. 6, 2021 after general manager Chuck Fletcher made the move to fire Vigneault and Therrien with the Flyers' season falling apart.
Yeo held down the fort, but things didn't get any better. The Flyers were in the middle of a 10-game winless streak when he took over (Nov. 18-Dec. 8, 2021) and went on to set the club's all-time winless streak at 13 games (Dec. 30, 2021-Jan. 25, 2021) soon after.
Through a 60-game stint, Yeo went 17-36-7 with a Flyers squad that rarely showed signs of life. For the season, the team finished 25-46-11 for 61 points and the dejection of being one of the worst teams in the league.
According to Tankathon, the Flyers have a 9.5 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the draft lottery on May 10.
Ahead of the regular-season finale against Ottawa, Yeo was candid about this season being the most difficult of his career. Can't really blame him.
The 48-year-old bench boss had previous runs as the head coach for the Wild and then the Blues. Both ended in his firing after his teams bottomed out, but it can be argued that neither campaign got as bad as this one.
As far as potential replacements go, John Tortorella is a name that immediately jumps out. He's a coach with a known track record of instilling discipline with teams that lacked it, and this year's Flyers have lacked it.
Fletcher is scheduled for a press conference at 11 a.m. today, so we'll find out more about what's next quickly.
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