Darryl Williams joins Alain Vigneault’s staff as Flyers assistant coach

The Philadelphia Flyers have a new man behind the bench. Darryl Williams will join Alain Vigneault‘s coaching staff as an assistant coach, the Flyers announced on Monday. Williams joins Mike Yeo, Michel Therrien, Kim Dillabaugh and Adam Patterson on the staff.

The Flyers had a vacant assistant coach position with Ian Laperriere becoming the Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach. Williams fills that hole.

Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher hinted at a few personnel moves coming during his press conference last week.

“Yeah, we’ve made a lot of personnel moves that we’ll announce in short order,” Fletcher said last Tuesday. “We’ve spent two months doing this stuff, so we will have a lot of changes to announce here in the new in the near future. We’ve worked pretty hard to that. I think we’re in pretty good position going forward.”

Williams was most recently an assistant coach for the Newfoundland Growlers in the ECHL. He previously spent 10 years as an assistant coach in the NHL, including nine years with Vigneault in Vancouver and New York.

He was an assistant with the Canucks for six seasons from 2009-08 to 2013-14 and worked with Vigneault for five of those seasons, including the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011. Williams then joined Vigneault with the Rangers in 2014 and served as an assistant for four seasons through the end of the 2017-18 campaign.

Before joining the Canucks, Williams coached in various capacities at several different levels of hockey. He was an associate coach of the St. John’s Fog Devils of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 2005-06 to 2007-08 and an assistant coach with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks in 2002-03 and 2003-04. Williams was also the head coach of the Long Beach Ice Dogs in the West Coast Hockey League (WCHL) in 2000-01 and 2001-02, and the Kansas City Outlaws of the United Hockey League (UHL) in 2004-05.

Williams joined the coaching ranks after 11 seasons of professional hockey, which included two games in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings in 1992-93. He spent time in the AHL and International Hockey League (IHL) where he registered 283 points with 126 goals and 157 assists in 676 career games.

“Darryl has experience at every level and I am confident that he will fit seamlessly into our coaching staff,” said Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault. “There is a high level of familiarity having worked with Darryl for several years and I know what he is capable of to help bring success to our group.”

“I’m honored to join the Philadelphia Flyers organization,” said Williams. “I can’t wait to get started with such a great staff and an exciting group of players.”

Photo: Heather Barry Images

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