The Flyers are making changes to the hockey operations staff

The Flyers are making changes to the hockey operations department originally appeared NBC Sports Philadelphia

With a new president and CEO, the Flyers had to make some personnel changes in their hockey operations.

The changes were announced Friday, a day after an important June began for the Flyers.

The club released GM and senior player development advisor Mike O’Connell, along with player development coaches John Riley and Kjell Samuelsson.

The Flyers also made significant promotions. Alyn McCauley was named assistant director, Riley Armstrong was named director of player development and Nick Schultz was named assistant director of player development.

McCauley previously served as the team’s director of player personnel, while Armstrong was an assistant coach at AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley and Schultz was a player development coach with the Flyers.

“I’m excited to announce the promotions of Alyn, Riley and Nick,” Flyers GM Danny Briere said in a statement released by the team. “These three have been around the organization for some time, especially with our current prospects and young players, so I know they will each provide the direction and leadership needed to get future assets to the NHL level.”

O’Connell was hired by the Flyers in August 2021 when Chuck Fletcher was the director of hockey operations and general manager. Fletcher was fired in March when Briere took over as GM on an interim basis. A little over three weeks ago The Flyers announced Keith Jones as the new president and Briere as the new full-time GM.

The 56-year-old Riley had worked with the Flyers for the past 15 seasons in both player development and amateur scouting.

Samuelsson, a defenseman for the Flyers for nine seasons, has served as the organization’s player development coach for the past 10 years. Prior to this role, the 64-year-old had worked for the Phantoms coaching staff since 2000.

Riley and Samuelsson often led the Flyers’ development camps in the summer.

McCauley oversees the Flyers’ pro scouting and player personnel and leads the Lehigh Valley hockey operations staff.

He played parts of nine seasons in the NHL and served as a pro scout with the Flyers for more than four seasons before being promoted to director of player personnel in February 2022. The 46-year-old joined the organization in July 2017 from the Kings. . He was on the Los Angeles scouting staff when the club won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.

Armstrong, 38, was named an assistant coach with the Phantoms in August 2021. He worked under Briere for three seasons with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners. As a player, the forward collected 404 AHL games in his career. He played a couple of games for the Sharks in 2008-2009 and has also played in Finland, Sweden, Russia and Germany.

Schultz, 40, works with Armstrong to develop prospects. He was hired as a player development coach in June 2019. As a player, Schultz suited up in 1,069 NHL games between four teams. A role player, the team’s No. 1 defenseman played his final three seasons with the Flyers from 2014-2017, playing in 743 games with the Wild.

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