The Philadelphia Flyers are off to an unexpectedly poor start to the 2024-25 season where they’ve gone 2-6-1. While the continued gimmick of a “rebuild” has been the fallback option, they were clearly looking to win some games this season, and since that hasn’t happened, the finger pointing at who’s most responsible for the ugly kick off has begun, and most of the heat seems to be landing on head coach John Tortorella. So it the team can’t drag themselves to a better season, would the front office actually consider parting ways with their coach?
Tortorella signed a four-year contract back on June 17, 2022. That means he’s slated to be here until the conclusion of the 2025-26 season. Until recently, his position wasn’t even in question, but after a slow start to the 2024-25 season picking back up from their abysmal ending to the 2023-24 campaign, the question of his job security is starting to rise to the surface.
The problem here is that Tortorella has been woven into the current fabric of the Philadelphia Flyers. He’s one-third of the “triumvirate of leadership” alongside Danny Briere and Keith Jones, he’s been tasked with overhauling the culture of the team, something the organization has laid its messaging heavy upon, and he’s clearly had an impact on offseason roster decisions.. or lack thereof.
So this isn’t exactly like firing your typical head coach. In fact, the way the front office is constructed, the idea that they could easily remove either the president, general manager or coach never felt like a decision that would come easily. It just so happens Tortorella is the first one to come under the microscope.
The Flyers have been in a tailspin ever since Tortorella’s decision to scratch Sean Couturier 34 days after he was named captain. Since that March 19 outing late in the 2023-24 season, the Flyers have gone a combined 5-13-4 with a pretty lackluster 2-6-1 start to the 2024-25 season. Whether or not that decision has had any direct correlation to the on-ice disaster the team has been since is unknown, but the timing sure feels interesting.
The more likely explanation for the ongoing struggle is the fact that the organization didn’t do anything during the 2024 offseason. The team ended last year on a sour note, didn’t make a single outside addition, then started this season with a poor record, directly attributed to the major roster flaws that were well known going into the campaign like a lack of center depth, shaky goaltending and an overall struggle to score.
And in that sense, that blame doesn’t necessarily fall on the shoulders of Tortorella as much as it does Danny Briere for not wheeling and dealing in the summer. The insanity of the early season lineup shuffling Tortorella has resorted to is purely to try and find something, anything, that sticks because there’s nothing new to try. Did the coach have a hand in keeping things the same? Probably, considering the strong message of “culture” stemming from last season, but it’s still Briere’s job to overrule his coach and do his job as a GM.
The Flyers are probably going to win a game again sooner or later, maybe even a few in a row, and when they do all this heat will die down anyway. So unless this tailspin drags on for months the likelihood Tortorella is in any immediate danger is low.
There have been rumors for much of the last year now that he may not even get fired, but rather promoted to the front office in what would be his retirement from coaching but retaining a job within hockey and the Flyers organization. If Tortorella goes anywhere before the end of his contract, a move to the front office at the end of the 2024-25 season is most likely.
The Flyers have been noncommittal in their desired direction as an organization as they walk the fine line between a “rebuild” and attempting to compete. And they keep their messaging vague for reasons like this slow start so they don’t have to make rash decisions based on smaller sample sizes that don’t fit the narrative they try to push.
Chances are Tortorella isn’t in any immediate danger of losing his job, even with the recent disaster that has now spread across two seasons. But if things don’t improve in Flyerland soon (especially if a lackluster 2025 offseason is in the cards) somebody is going to have to take the bullet of responsibility sooner or later. If they wait too long, the heat goes off Tortorella and on to Briere and Jones for not only refusing to ditch Torts but for failing to construct a winning product to begin with.
By: Dan Esche (@DanTheFlyeraFan)
photo credit: nhl.com
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