The Philadelphia Flyers have announced several changes to their front office just weeks ahead of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, according to General Manager, Daniel Brière.
Alyn McCauley has been promoted to Assistant General Manager, Riley Armstrong to Director of Player Development, and Nick Schultz to Assistant Director of Player Development. In doing so, Kjell Samuelsson, John Riley, and Mike O’Connell have been let go.
“I’m excited to announce the promotions of Alyn, Riley and Nick,” said Brière. “These three have been around the organization for some time, in particularly, with our current prospects and young players, so I know they will each provide the direction and leadership that is necessary to get our future assets to the NHL level.”
According to The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco, Brent Flahr will remain as an Assistant General Manager as well but is responsible for the amateur side of scouting. Brière will have the final call but he will rely heavily on Flahr’s expertise and anything beyond the first round is Flahr’s doing. McCauley will become the General Manager and take over Hockey Operations for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and is going to undertake a large responsibility with Pro Scouting.
McCauley’s promotion was in the works for quite some time and is being promoted from his previous position as Director of Player Personnel. He was a 9-year veteran who spent parts of 6 years as a player in Toronto, parts of 3 years in San Jose, and one singular season in Los Angeles. He scored 69 goals and 166 points and was named a Selke Trophy finalist in 2003-04. He worked as a scout for the Kings from 2009-10 to 2014-15 before joining the Flyers in 2014-15. He was also a scout until 2021-22 until he was named Director of Player Personnel in 2022-23.
Riley Armstrong played professional hockey in the NHL, AHL, ECHL, Finland, Germany, and Sweden before becoming an assistant coach for the Wheeling Nailers in the ECHL. He soon became the head coach of the Maine Mariners – where Brière oversaw things as a Vice President of Hockey Operations and General Manager – for 2 seasons before becoming their Assistant General Manager. In 2021-22 he was named as an Assistant Coach for the Phantoms, a position he held until today.
Nick Schultz was a 15-year veteran who played in 1,069 games, with 3 of those seasons being with the Flyers at the end of his career between 2014-15 to 2016-17. In 189 games with the Flyers he chipped in with 29 points and averaged 18:01 of ice time before retiring at the relatively young age of 34. He joined the Flyers organization in 2019-20 as a Development Coach and held that position until today as well. Schultz was also the Head Coach for the Philadelphia Flyers Elite 13UAAA, 14UAAA, and 15UAAA.
Kjell Samuelsson had been a member of the Flyers front office since 2000-01. He was an Assistant Coach for the Phantoms from 2000-01 to 2012-13 – with a brief stint as Head Coach in 2006-07 – and then became a Development Coach for the Flyers from 2013-14 until 2022-23.
John Riley became a Scout for the Flyers in 2008-09 and held that position until 2014-15 when he became a Development Coach and lasted alongside Samuelsson.
Mike O’Connell spent the majority of his time with the Kings, but spent the last 2 seasons as a Senior Advisor for the Flyers.
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