Reports on Friday afternoon are that John Stevens is out as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Stevens was named the head coach on Oct. 22, 2006.

The Flyers are currently in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with a 13-11-1 record (27 points), and trail first place Pittsburgh by 13 points. Philadelphia has lost seven of their last 10 games.

Philadelphia currently ranks ninth in the NHL, scoring 3.00 goals per game, while allowing 2.68, good for 10th in the league. They also rank fourth in the NHL in offensive power play at 22.8 percent, but are 14th in penalty killing at only 80.9 percent.

They spent a lot of money to upgrade the roster this summer, most notably adding Chris Pronger to a roster that finished 44-27-11 (99 points) last season. They were eliminated from the Eastern Conference playoffs in the first round by Pittsburgh in six games.

Rumors are that Peter Laviolette could replace Stevens on the Flyers' bench. Carolina has already granted Philadelphia permission to speak with Laviolette, who will reportedly make his debut on the Flyers' bench on Saturday.