Knoblauch joins Flyers

RISING STAR IN COACHING RANKS PLAYED SEASON WITH LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES

As Dylan Strome listed the Erie Otters’ accomplishments over the past few years and the talented players to come out of the junior program, the Arizona Coyotes’ top prospect quickly gave credit to Kris Knoblauch, the coach who made it happen.

“He’ll be in the NHL in no time,” Strome said recently.

That time is now as the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday hired the rising coaching star as an assistant on Dave Hakstol’s staff. One of the hottest names in NHL coaching circles, Knoblauch is coming off an Ontario Hockey League title and four consecutive 50-win seasons as he helped Connor McDavid and many other talented teenagers develop into successful professionals.

Getting his first major-league coaching job is the next logical step for the 38-year-old Knoblauch, who is very well-regarded around hockey. Agent Jeff Jackson has been glad to send McDavid and prospects Taylor and Darren Raddysh, Travis Dermott and Alex DeBrincat to Erie, where Knoblauch improved their NHL stock.

“Connor McDavid was going to go play in the NHL no matter if Kris coached him or not, but he made Connor a better player,” Jackson said. “He teaches a culture of winning and speed and puck movement, but he empowers all the kids.”

Knoblauch also had a hand in the development of Washington Capitals forward Andre Burakovsky and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Connor Brown in Erie and Buffalo Sabres forward Sam Reinhart during his time coaching the Kootenay Ice, which included a Western Hockey League championship.

Brown said Knoblauch deserves “a massive amount” of credit for turning the Otters into a junior hockey powerhouse and compared his style to that of Mike Babcock, the Stanley Cup- and two-time Olympic gold medalwinning coach of the Maple Leafs.

“They deliver information in a way you really understand,” Brown said. “He brings that classroom mentality to the dressing room.”

Going to a young team like Philadelphia, which might have 33-year-old Valtteri Filppula as its oldest player, looks like a perfect fit for Knoblauch, who learned early in his career that drawing up power plays and forechecking strategies was a small fraction of the job compared to managing individuals. In Erie, Knoblauch and his staff created personality profiles of players to know how best to communicate with them.