Flyers Fire Asst. GM Chris Pryor, Asst. Coach Gord Murphy

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

First, it was the news of Ron Hextall’s firing on Monday. Tuesday was the press conference in an attempt to explain why and where things go from here. Wednesday was the start of further action.

The Flyers announced that assistant GM Chris Pryor and assistant coach Gord Murphy have been fired.

In addition, goaltender Calvin Pickard was placed on waivers and forward Tyrell Goulbourne was sent down to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

"I would like to thank Chris for his dedication to the franchise and contributions over the last 20 years," team president Paul Holmgren said in a statement. "Likewise, we thank Gord Murphy for serving behind the bench for the last five seasons and helping grow and develop our young core of defenseman.

"We do not anticipate any further personnel moves in the near term."

Pryor had been with the Flyers organization since 1999 when he started as an amateur scout. He was promoted to director of hockey operations in 2006 and director of scouting in 2013. Pryor became the assistant GM to Hextall in 2016.

Murphy was hired as an assistant coach in 2014 and was primarily responsible for the defense. He remained on staff when the Flyers fired Craig Berube and hired Dave Hakstol.

Pickard made 11 appearances for the Flyers and started eight games, posting a 4-2-2 record with a 4.01 GAA and .863 save percentage. It will take until noon on Thursday to see if he’s claimed, but perception is that Toronto will reclaim Pickard to stabilize their goaltending in the AHL.

Goulbourne played in two games on this call-up, not recording a point. He was pulled from the lineup on Tuesday with Michael Raffl returning.

It certainly appears this is only the beginning of the changes to come for the Flyers. The team has off until Saturday when they face the Pittsburgh Penguins and then has a four-day break from games until hosting Columbus next Thursday.