Flyers keeping 2 coaches, will add 2 more to oversee special teams units

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The Flyers are in the process of hiring new assistant coaches to oversee their power play and penalty kill units.

Assistant coach Darryl Williams and goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh will remain on the club's staff under new head coach John Tortorella. Video coach Adam Patterson and assistant video coach Vinny Yula will also be back.

Williams, Alain Vigneault's former right-hand guy with the Rangers and Canucks, was hired before the start of last season. He was originally tasked with pre-scouting and other various responsibilities. But with all the in-season change to the Flyers' coaching staff, Williams was overseeing the penalty kill by the end of the year.

Williams, who worked with Tortorella for a season in Vancouver, will reassume his initial responsibilities.

Dillabaugh has been the Flyers' goalie coach since 2015-16 and has a good relationship with Carter Hart. He has his fingerprints on anything goalie related within the organization, from the draft decisions in net to the development of the club's goaltending prospects at all levels.

"It’s a massive role," Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher said Wednesday. "That’s what gives me confidence on Kim, I’ve watched what he's done."

It sounds like John Torchetti will not be back. He coached the power play from January to the end of the season and was brought on board knowing it was a temporary opportunity.

It's uncertain if former interim head coach and assistant Mike Yeo will stay in the organization in any capacity.

"Obviously he's free to speak to other teams right now and see what options are there. Depending on how things go over the next six weeks on his end, our end, I'd love to find him an opportunity, whether it's in coaching, player development, front office, scouting," Fletcher said May 3. "He's a good hockey man, he has a lot of experience, a lot of good ideas and obviously has a lot of firsthand information on our players and the environment."

Tortorella and Fletcher will decide on the Flyers' two new assistant coaches. They're important hires given the club's significant struggles on special teams.

Update, July 1: Flyers hire assistant coach to run PK; Yeo takes job with different club

"From what I know right now, Torts is in the process, has spoken to or will speak to everybody that was on staff last year and try to see if there's a fit — if it can work for the people that were here last year, if it can work for John; it’s got to be a two-way street, there’s got to be a comfort level," Fletcher said. "And we’ll continue to talk to people outside the organization, as well. We're in the middle of that process. Whether it’s done this week, next week, the following week, I'm not sure. But that’s what we’re working on right now.

"John is looking for sort of, I would say, the two top assistants, however they're labeled. Typically, one runs the defense and the PK and one will run the forwards and the power play. ... Those are probably the roles we’re filling right now, the people that will come in and have some of those hands-on specific roles that John will entrust in them."

One of the Flyers' myriad of issues last season was their NHL-worst power play (12.6 percent), while their penalty kill has ranked last in the league over the last two seasons combined (74.6 percent). 

"I asked Chuck for his help," Tortorella said June 17 about building his staff. "I’m not going to get into a lot of the conversation, but we want to get a guy that's going to help us on our power play. I think a lot of teams look for that guy. I know Chuck and I were throwing names around when I was with him the other day. That’s ongoing right now.

"I’d like to couple a power play guy into a coach that can also be with an offensive guy and help him along the way, maybe individually with tape. I mean, who the hell am I to sit down with an offensive guy that sees the ice the way these guys do and try and communicate that with him? I want some help there and I want some guy to help us with our power play in that way, too. We’ll get together and go through that process."

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