John Tortorella is closing in on finishing his second season behind the bench of the Philadelphia Flyers and he has come exactly as advertised. A hard-nosed quote machine who knows how to squeeze blood from a stone with his roster. While he’s only halfway through the contract he signed with the Flyers and the good times are rolling, there have been some rumors that indicate this may be his last season as a head coach in the NHL.
This is a rumor than has popped up more than once over the last year. There were fan theories last summer that Tortorella was in the running to be named President of Hockey Ops before the title was handed to Keith Jones. Then again in December shortly after Craig Berube was fired in St. Louis, and for a third time last weekend when Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne brought the topic up on their Sportsnet podcast.
They said that Tortorella wanted a front office job in Columbus but Jarmo Kekalainen ultimately turned him down. Thus the two sides parted ways at the end of the 2020-21 season. They speculated that Tortorella could look to make the jump in a similar situation in Philly as soon as this coming offseason.
A prized coach turned front office member is a potential move that does have some recent precedence though, as Barry Trotz was one of the hottest free agent coaches the same summer the Flyers hired Tortorella but he ultimately decided to return to Nashville and take the GM job instead.
But it begs the question as to why Tortorella would take the Flyers’ coaching gig at all, or at least on a four-year deal? Why wouldn’t he just hunt down a front office job if that’s what he wanted? And the rumors that he wants to make that transition now are coming at an interesting time for the Flyers.
The one thing the franchise has done more than anything this season is attempt to rehab their image to the public, and a big part of that has come from John Tortorella, whose antics and coaching style have made him the face of the franchise at the moment. That’s a different problem in and of itself, but it feels like it’ll be a hard sell for Tortorella to essentially retire early from coaching when he’s expected to be around for another two seasons after leading the team to their best on-ice results in five years.
When he originally took the job in Philly, it sure sounded like he was going to see though his contract and retire afterward. Head back to his farm and focus on his animal activism once he put the team on the right path forward. Does he really want to commit to another half-decade or in hockey?
The main question is, from a PR standpoint, what happens if Tortorella moves up the front office and the Flyers do take a step back next season after overachieving this year? That feels like the front office is begging for a mutiny from the fans they’re trying so hard to regain the trust of.
It could also be a favor to assistant coach Brad Shaw, who has been Tortorella’s right hand man dating back to their days in Columbus. There were plenty of rumors last summer that suggested teams with vacant head coaching positions circled around Shaw, but ultimately he didn’t get a job with a different team.
Shaw has done a phenomenal job with the defense in Philly. Pretty much every blue liner has exceeded expectations and the penalty kill is one of the better units in the NHL today. Promoting him to head coach and keeping his expertise in Philly isn’t the worst thing in the world when it comes to replacements for Torts.
Maybe a move to the Flyers’ front office is what Tortorella really does want. But man, does it ever feel weird to try and visualize that. Can you imagine this guy in a three piece suit sitting up in the C-Suite of the Wells Fargo Center sipping on a latte exchanging war stories with Dan Hilferty? Completely hands-off from the on-ice product? Watching without direct input doesn’t feel like a Tortorella trait at all.
It doesn’t feel impossible that he could hold some title within the front office that essentially allows him to return during training camp every season and kick all the ass he wants before falling into the shadows for another year. But he’s not going to be GM. He’s not going to be PoHO. There are already three assistant GMs on the books plus five senior advisors and two special advisors. Even though the advisor roles are all more or less made up, that’s a packed house already.
Though if Tortorella wants to finally hang up the coaching duties, he’s more than earned a break. He’s got nearly 1,600 NHL games coached to his name by the end of the 2023-24 season dating back to 2000 and he’s nearly 66 years old. Retirement from active duty could very well be on the horizon.
We’ll just have to wait for the summer to roll around to see if this rumor has any legs or not, but it shouldn’t be a move the Flyers, or Tortorella himself, make lightly. Things are just finally starting to turn around on the ice, and voluntarily doing something that could sabotage that is a big risk for the front office when things are so delicate with the fanbase. Even if he remains with the Flyers front office, removing him from the daily spotlight is going to be a big change and the team may not be ready to swim without him just yet, but ultimately, the decision will be John Tortorella’s to make.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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