Reports: Ian Laperrière out as Lehigh Valley coach; Brad Shaw to join Devils

As the Flyers embark on a new chapter at the NHL level with Rick Tocchet, they are doing the same in the American Hockey League.

Ian Laperrière will not be returning as the head coach for Lehigh Valley, a source confirmed to The Inquirer on Wednesday. On Pattison was first to report that Laperrière would vacate the position, and added that the 51-year-old is expected to remain with the organization.

Laperrière just wrapped up his fourth season at the helm in Allentown. He led the Phantoms to the postseason in each of the last three seasons, and this season took the two-time defending champion Hershey Bears to a deciding Game 5 in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. He posted a 134-120-38 overall record (.524 points percentage), and led the Phantoms to winning seasons in his final three campaigns.

A longtime member of the organization, Laperrière was an assistant coach for the Flyers for nine seasons before moving up the turnpike. He played 1,083 NHL games, including 82 as a Flyer in his final season, and accumulated 1,956 penalty minutes. The winger skated in another 67 playoff games and was a member of the Flyers’ 2010 team that went to the Stanley Cup Final.

He was injured early in the 2010 postseason run and spent the next two seasons on injured reserve for the Flyers because of post-concussion syndrome. “Lappy” retired in June 2012 and 17 days later was named the organization’s director of player development before quickly getting promoted to assistant coach under Craig Berube.

It was already confirmed that Brad Shaw would not be returning to the Flyers under Tocchet, but the former associate coach has quickly found a new home. According to The Fourth Period, Shaw, 61, will join Sheldon Keefe’s staff with the Flyers’ Metropolitan Division rivals, the New Jersey Devils. The team had open spots after announcing on May 9 that it would not be renewing the contracts of assistant coaches Ryan McGill and Chris Taylor.

Keefe played 13 games under Shaw, who was the head coach, with the Detroit Vipers of the now-defunct International Hockey League in 2000-01. The following year, when Shaw was an assistant coach for Springfield, Keefe played 24 games for the AHL club.

Shaw was with the Flyers organization for three seasons, serving first as an associate coach in charge of the defense and penalty kill. He was promoted to interim coach when John Tortorella was fired in late March, and was a finalist for the Flyers’ head coaching job.

“He was strongly considered all the way to the end. It was tough. He did a good job,” general manager Danny Brière said Friday after Tocchet was introduced. “We had the chance to get Rick Tocchet. It’s nothing against Brad Shaw. We felt Rick Tocchet checked all the boxes for us. Really appreciative of what Brad has done. He’s helped a lot of our young guys, on defense especially.

“He was considered. He called me yesterday and said he didn’t feel like he could fully invest himself, going through the process again to see if he would be part of the staff moving forward. So I totally understand and respect that, and we wish him the best. And if teams reach out to us, he’s going to get a really positive review from our end.”