Flyers Interview Rival's Assistant Coach for Head Coaching Job

The Philadelphia Flyers have interviewed Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Mike Vellucci for the vacant head coaching position as their process continues to find the best fit. This news was broken by Elliott Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.

Vellucci is a former player who had a career that took him to many different places including two career games in the NHL for the Hartford Whalers in 1987-88. His playing career ended in 1994-95 and he immediately got into coaching.

He started in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), winning two championships and making the finals in four of the five seasons he coached there. His team qualified for the playoffs every season. He then moved on and up to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) where he was the head coach of the Plymouth Whalers for 13 seasons. The team qualified for the playoffs in 12 of the 13 seasons under his watch and won one championship.

After a long and successful tenure as head coach in the OHL, Vellucci moved up once again and earned an American Hockey League (AHL) gig as the head coach for the Charlotte Checkers, affiliate of the Florida Panthers and now Seattle Kraken. There he won a championship at his third level and found his way to coach the Pittsburgh Penguins' affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for one season.

Vellucci was promoted to be an assistant of Pittsburgh for the past two seasons. But based on his past success, it is no surprise that he is now being targeted by teams without a coach as they search for playoff appearances and a Stanley Cup.