Flying Forward: The Pros and Cons of Alain Vigneault

The Philadelphia Flyers coaching search began after the regular season ended on April 6 and ended quickly with the hiring of Alain Vigneault on April 15. Vigneault is the 21st coach in the organization’s history. He was named Team Canada’s lead man for the World Championships that start in May.

When the team’s social media announced the hiring, the reactions of the fans on social media were mixed with some liking the move and others disliking it. As with any new hiring or organizational move there are pros and cons that can occur, and here are some to the Vigneault hiring.

The Pros of Hiring Vigneault

Vigneault Has a Ton of Experience

Vigneault will be entering his 17th season as a head coach in the NHL. He spent four seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, seven seasons with the Vancouver Canucks and five seasons with the New York Rangers. Vigneault has coached 1,216 NHL games and has a record of 648-435-35-98. He has taken two different teams to the Stanley Cup Final (2011 Canucks and 2014 Rangers). He won the Jack Adams Award as the League’s best coach for the 2006-07 season, while with the Canucks.

Head Coach in Place for Draft and Free Agency

The Flyers and Chuck Fletcher made things easier on themselves by having a head coach in place well before the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and before the World Championships in May. They won’t have to compete with other teams who still have a vacancy at the head coach position. Fletcher and Vigneault can start getting assistant coaches on board and getting an idea of what this team needs to be successful. The two can sit down and start working on the Flyers roster either before or after the World Championships.

Vigneault Holds Players Accountable

He has held players accountable throughout his coaching career, and this could either be a pro or a con, but I’m going with a pro for this team. This team made the same mistakes game after game and weren’t held accountable so they kept making them especially on the defensive side of the puck. They could use a coach that will hold them responsible for mistakes, whether it’s sitting a game, being benched during a game, or being demoted a line or pairing during a game. The Flyers have some young players and being held accountable could either hurt their confidence or make them a better player depending on how they respond to benching or demotion.

The Cons of Hiring Vigneault

Preference of Veterans Over Younger Kids

During the course of his coaching career, Vigneault has preferred to play a veteran player over a younger kid in the lineup. The Flyers roster is one of the younger ones in the NHL with the kids gaining some confidence once they got some playing time. Dave Hakstol, Flyers former head coach, played the veteran players over the kids, and it hurt the development of the younger players. It also cost the team wins because they weren’t dressing the best possible lineup. This could also lead Fletcher to trading some younger players or prospects for more NHL-ready players, who can make an immediate impact.

Lack of Playoff Success

Yes, Vigneault has plenty of experience in the postseason and has passed the first round in eight of the 11 times his teams have been in the postseason. He reached the Stanley Cup Final twice with two different teams, but didn’t win either time. His teams seem to go deep into the playoff for the first few years, but then go out early as he stays longer in one city. In Vancouver, he took the team deep into the playoffs in four of his first five seasons, and then he was out in the first round in his final two seasons.

System Can Make or Break a Team

Vigneault likes his team to play with some pace to its game. He likes them to use speed in transition, and battle hard for pucks along the boards. A major flaw in his system is that there are odd man rushes going the other way, if the defensemen are activated, Carter Hart could be facing a lot of odd man rushes this season.

Will Vigneault be the right fit for the Flyers? Only time will tell, but he has had success in the NHL so let’s see what he can do with a revamped Flyers lineup before deciding if this was a good hire or not.