Wilson's NHL coaching career started in 1988-89 as an assistant with the New York Islanders. He moved to the same role with the Los Angeles Kings the following season and stayed through 1992 before joining what was then the Minnesota North Stars. He moved with the team to Dallas after his first season and stayed with the organization through 2009. He was an assistant coach from 1992-2002 and also spent 32 games as the team's head coach during the 2001-02 season, going 13-11-7-1. Following that stretch, he moved into the position of associate coach until 2009.

Wilson, 68 (8/10/1950), comes to the Flyers with 2,306 regular-season games of NHL experience in various coaching roles that spans 30 seasons in the league. He most recently was with the Dallas Stars, a franchise with which he spent 18 seasons over two separate terms of service.

The Philadelphia Flyers have named Rick Wilson as an assistant coach on Dave Hakstol's staff, according to Executive Vice President/General Manager Chuck Fletcher and Head Coach Dave Hakstol.

Wilson spent the 2009-10 season as the associate coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He then joined the Minnesota Wild, where he was an assistant coach for six seasons from 2010-16. Wilson spent the 2016-17 season with the St. Louis Blues before returning to Dallas last season.

A native of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Wilson won a Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999 and reached the Final with the Stars again the following season. He has coached in an additional 214 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Wilson played professionally for six seasons from 1972-78 after concluding a three-year career at the University of North Dakota from 1969-72. His NHL playing career consisted of 239 games over four seasons from 1973-1977 with Montreal, St. Louis and Detroit. Wilson concluded his professional playing career in Philadelphia, appearing in 75 games for the AHL's Philadelphia Firebirds in 1977-78.

Following that season, Wilson began his coaching career when he returned to North Dakota as an assistant, where he helped the school win the 1980 NCAA title. After two seasons there, Wilson returned to his hometown in 1980 to become an assistant coach of the Prince Albert Raiders, which played in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League his first two seasons before moving up to the Western Hockey League in 1982. He helped the team win the Memorial Cup in 1985, and then served as head coach for two years from 1986-88 before joining the Islanders.

Wilson is a member of the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame and the University of North Dakota Athletics Hall of Fame. His son Landon Wilson was a first-round pick (19th overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1993 who went on to play 375 NHL games with Colorado, Boston, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Dallas.