Jay Varady (born September 16, 1977) is an American former ice hockey player and current assistant coach for the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). Prior to joining the NHL coaching ranks, Varady coached the

Sioux City Musketeers The Sioux City Musketeers are a junior ice hockey team based in Sioux City, Iowa. The Musketeers play their home games at Tyson Events Center, and are members of the Western Conference of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The team was fou ...

in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

(USHL), the

Kingston Frontenacs The Kingston Frontenacs are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, based in Kingston, Ontario. The Frontenacs play home games at Slush Puppie Place, which opened in 2008. The team's history predates the Ontario Ho ...

in the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

(OHL), and the

Tucson Roadrunners The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team based in Tucson, Arizona. They are the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Utah Mammoth. They play their home games at the Tucson Convention Cente ...

in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

(AHL). He played

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

for the Union Dutchmen.

Early life and education

Varady grew up in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

and played midget hockey in Chicago for the Chicago Young Americans. He graduated to the

Dubuque Fighting Saints The Dubuque Fighting Saints are a Tier I junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Hockey League (USHL) and are based in the city of Dubuque, Iowa, on the banks of the Mississippi River at the intersection of Iowa, Illinois, and Wis ...

in the

(USHL) for two years before entering

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

. At Union, he played three seasons with their Division I hockey team from 1997 to 2000 before joining the coaching staff after a critical neck injury. Prior to his injury, Varady served as team captain for the 1999–00 season.

Coaching career

After graduation, Varady coached the Chicago U16 AAA Team for the 2001 season. He then joined the coaching staff of the

Pittsburgh Forge The Pittsburgh Forge are a defunct Junior A Tier II ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which played in the North American Hockey League (NAHL). The team was founded in 2001 by Kevin Constantine, a former coach of the NHL's Pitt ...

, from the

North American Hockey League The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is one of the top junior hockey leagues in the United States and is in its 50th season of operation in 2024–25. It is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey, and acts as an alternati ...

, for the 2002–03 season. The following year, he was an assistant and associate head coach with the

Everett Silvertips The Everett Silvertips are an American major junior ice hockey team based in Everett, Washington. The team plays in the U.S. Division of the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League (WHL), and hosts games at Angel of the Winds Arena. Th ...

of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

(WHL). In 2009, Varady was named Team USA's Video Coach for their

2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships (''2010 WJHC''), was the 34th edition of IIHF World Junior Championship, Ice Hockey World Junior Championship. The tournament was hosted by Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canad ...

team. Varady stayed with the Silvertips until 2010, when he took two years off to coach in France's

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champio ...

. Upon his return to North America, Varady took over the

, where he helped lead them to a 136-88-16 record during his coaching seasons. This made him the third winningest coach in Musketeers’ history. As a result, Varady was awarded the 2017 USHL Coach of the Year Award. He was also selected by Team USA to coach their 2016

World Junior A Challenge The World Junior A Challenge (WJAC) is an annual under-20 international ice hockey tournament sponsored by Hockey Canada, the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL), and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The tournament showcases Junio ...

team. The following year, Varady joined the coaching staff of the

in the

. He led Kingston to a record of 36–26–6–3, helping them reach the OHL Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. In 2018, Varady was named head coach of the

of the

(AHL), the affiliate of the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

of the

. In his second season as coach in Tucson, the Roadrunners were named the division champions when the season was curtailed by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Prior to the postponed start of the 2020–21 season, Varady joined the Coyotes' staff as an assistant coach. In his two seasons as head coach, Tucson held a 70–45–6–5 record. Once the abbreviated AHL season was complete, he returned to Tucson on a three-year contract as head coach beginning with the 2021–22 season. He led the Roadrunners to a 93–84–11–6 record in four seasons. On July 18, 2022, Varady was named assistant coach for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

for the 2022–23 season. After three seasons in Detroit, Varady was hired as an assistant coach for the

on June 5, 2025.

Personal life

Varady married Joy, a nurse practitioner.

Coaching record

American Hockey League

Ontario Hockey League

United States Hockey League

Ligue Magnus

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varady, Jay 1977 births Living people American men's ice hockey forwards Detroit Red Wings coaches Dubuque Fighting Saints players Kingston Frontenacs coaches People from Cahokia, Illinois Philadelphia Flyers coaches Sportspeople from St. Clair County, Illinois Tucson Roadrunners coaches Union Garnet Chargers men's ice hockey players