Source: Flyers to hire former player Keith Jones as president of hockey operations
Jones, who played for the Flyers from 1998-2001, currently serves as the lead commentator for Flyers' games on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Chuck Fletcher previously held the president of hockey ops role.
Two months after firing former general manager and president of hockey operations Chuck Fletcher, the Flyers have found their next president of hockey operations.
The Flyers are set to hire former player Keith Jones to the role, a source confirmed to The Inquirer Wednesday. Former Flyers defenseman Chris Therien, who now co-hosts the Snow The Goalie podcast, broke the initial news on Twitter after multiple reports on Wednesday stated that Jones was a finalist for the position.
Jones, 54, most recently served as the Flyers’ color analyst on NBC Sports Philadelphia and previously played for the team from 1998-2000. He suited up in the NHL for a total of nine seasons before transitioning to a career in radio and television, which included co-hosting 94.1 WIP’s morning show.
A native of Brantford, Ontario, Jones played four seasons at Western Michigan University from 1988-1992 and was selected No. 141 overall by the Washington Capitals in 1988. He played a total of 491 NHL games with three different teams, including the Flyers, the Capitals (1992-96), and the Colorado Avalanche (1996-99). Jones collected 117 goals and 141 assists for 258 points over the course of his career.
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Throughout the NHL playoffs, Jones has been a part of Turner Sports’ broadcast team. He does not have any prior experience working in an NHL front office.
The Flyers’ president of hockey operations role was previously held by Fletcher, who simultaneously served as general manager. Fletcher was fired on March 10 and Danny Brière assumed the general manager position on an interim basis. Prior to becoming the interim general manager, Brière was the Flyers’ assistant to the general manager for roughly two seasons.
After firing Fletcher, the Flyers revealed that they would be looking to separate the general manager and president of hockey operations roles into two separate hires. With Jones set to assume the president of hockey ops job, attention now turns to GM where Brière is widely tipped to be hired on a full-time basis.
Mike Sielski contributed to the reporting for this article.