Jaroslav Svejkovsky, Jay Varady join Flyers’ staff

PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers have announced their first set of assistant coaches for the 2025-26 season, and not coincidentally they’re two guys who used to work under new head coach Rick Tocchet.

The club announced Thursday that Jaroslav Svejkovsky and Jay Varady were hired as assistant coaches. Tocchet is expected to further define their roles in the coming days or weeks.

“I’m excited to bring Yogi and Jay on board with me,” Tocchet said of Svejkovsky and Varady. “I know both of them very well. They each provide a different skill set and more importantly, a different voice, both of which I believe is crucial in not only building a coaching staff, but an entire team and how we grow together. I very much look forward to getting down to work with them again soon.”

Svejkovsky, 48, worked as an assistant under Tocchet last season in Vancouver. In Tocchet’s third season there the Canucks went 38-30-14 for 90 points, but were edged out of playoff contention.

The Czech Republic native had worked the previous two seasons as a skills coach and assistant with their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford. He had worked eight seasons in the Western (Junior) Hockey League’s Vancouver club and four more as a skills coach there.

He also played in the NHL from 1996-2000, mostly as a first-round pick of the Washington Capitals and also with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Varady, 47, a native of Cahokia, Illinois, worked as an assistant coach the past three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. He had worked for one COVID-ridden season (2020-21) in Arizona when Tocchet was the head coach of the Coyotes.

Varady also worked in the OHL and USHL junior ranks for many years, and with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners of two different stints.

Tocchet may name a third assistant at some point in the near future.