Why The Flyers Won’t Move John Tortorella To The Front Office
John Tortorella landed at the top of the headlines constantly down the stretch to finish the 2023-24 season. The polarizing Philadelphia Flyers bench boss commands considerable power within his organization and seemingly endless attention throughout the sport.
Speculation around the NHL suggests that the 65-year-old could move into the front office this offseason or down the line. His current four-year contract runs through the 2025-26 season.
Will the chaotic John Tortorella experience end up pushing the former Stanley Cup champion into some form of a senior advisory role in Philadelphia?
Front Office Speculation
Former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach and general manager Doug MacLean spoke in March about Tortorella after the controversial decision to bench captain Sean Couturier.
MacLean suggested that Tortorella could transition into a management role this offseason. During Tortorella’s sixth and final season in Columbus in 2020-21, he reportedly requested a similar move that former Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen shot down.
Related Content: Reevaluating The Flyers Rebuild After The 2023-24 Season
Plenty of indicators from Tortorella’s two seasons with the Flyers align with the idea. Chuck Fletcher hired Tortorella to coach a supposedly retooling team entering 2022-23. However, the two-time Jack Adams Award winner has surprisingly became a key driving force behind a new direction toward a rebuild under Fletcher’s replacement Danny Briere.
He publicly used the word rebuild in December 2022 despite internal concern about the dreaded word’s long-term implications.
The Flyers have employed accomplished and influential head coaches including Peter Laviolette and Ken Hitchcock during the modern era. None of them publicly or successfully pushed back against their respective GMs like Tortorella.
The freedom to coach his team in unorthodox ways manifested when he stepped off the bench late in the 2022-23 season to watch games with Danny Briere. Was he grooming his assistant coaches to eventually replace him when he made a permanent move upstairs?
Why A Move Makes Sense For John Tortorella
Danny Briere and Keith Jones have consistently praised Tortorella’s role in the organizational rebuild. They have shown notable trust in his evaluation of the mental makeup of players.
The decision to move on from Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo made sense in the scheme of a rebuild given the veterans’ ages and contracts. However, unideal fits with Tortorella played a major part.
The Flyers have also conversely held onto veteran players like Scott Laughton and Nick Seeler who consistently receive praise from their head coach.
Also consider the organization’s tendency to honor the influence of Flyers legends. Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, and Paul Holmgren have served in shuffled roles within the organization for decades in multiple stints.
Ed Snider set a standard for an organization that honors people who made key contributions to the Flyers. The new executive leadership group has also openly stated plans to honor Snider’s legacy. President of Hockey Operations Keith Jones fits the mold himself of a player who Snider personally took care of immediately after his playing career.
The Flyers even opened the door for a logical replacement for Tortorella late in the 2023-24 season. Craig Berube lost his job with the St. Louis Blues and quickly made some trips to the press box at Flyers home games. The former Flyers enforcer and short-time head coach is now a favorite to land another NHL job in the offseason coaching shuffle.
The signs are there. While the organization hasn’t acknowledged the possibility, crazier things have happened than John Tortorella transitioning to a front office role.
Why A Move Doesn’t Make Sense For John Tortorella
Sensible indicators don’t always mean something will necessarily happen. Further scrutiny of the situation doesn’t suggest a move, at least not an immediate one.
Jones has publicly downplayed the concept. Tortorella shot down the idea during his end-of-season press conference, even though he wasn’t directly asked about it.
“I am totally in until Danny says ‘Get the hell outta here.’”
— Colin Newby (@ToNewbyginnings) April 19, 2024
-John Tortorella about his future in coaching at age 65 pic.twitter.com/Yq2jLVnwII
The long-term indicators still leave the door open, but some pieces of the puzzle don’t fit the logic.
Dan Hilferty spoke about the “New Era of Orange” in May 2023 after the current front office structure came together.
“The most successful organizations in the world are organizations where people band together and understand each other’s skills and let each other lead when it’s their turn to lead… We looked for individuals with complementary skills, personalities, and experiences.” -Dan Hilferty
Danny Briere and Keith Jones have emphasized Tortorella’s skills in building the organization’s culture. The rebuild is about acquiring talent, but the Flyers have emphasized the subjective idea of culture as a key component to regaining their status among the NHL’s elite.
The front office believes that the Flyers made important strides in 2023-24 to regain some elements of respect around the league that weren’t apparent during an embarrassing recent stretch of futile seasons. The attitude suggests they believe Tortorella’s best contributions are at ice level and in daily operations.
Jason Myrtetus spoke to Kevin Cooney on 97.5 The Fanatic about the idea of a role adjustment.
“What’s he (Tortorella) going to do? They have like five front office guys already… His biggest strength is holding accountability and a standard. You can’t do that from upstairs in some kind of assistant general manager role. Your voice doesn’t have the same weight.” –Jason Myrtetus
Other than the head coach’s public dismissal of a front office transition, he also shared his own long-term thoughts candidly in the video below at the Flyers Charities Carnivial.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll be here. I just want to leave here knowing that we keep on rising a level. I want the people of the city to be proud of the team. I watch how they feel about the baseball team and the football team. We’re not there yet. I want to do my part to try to get it there. Whether I’m here when we’re winning, I don’t know because it’s going to take a little time. As far as what I felt it was going to be like, I love it.” –John Tortorella
97.5 The Fanatic, the flagship radio partner of the Philadelphia Flyers, provides a weekly roundup with news, analysis, and the outlook on the 2024 offseason.
A Cup Of Coffee: 16 Philadelphia Flyers With Better NHL Careers Elsewhere
Jaromir Jagr
A reunion with the Penguins looked inevitable when Jaromir Jagr returned to North America for the 2011-12 season at age 39. The former Philadelphia nemesis had other ideas.
Jagr deliberately passed up an opportunity to return to the franchise where he reached NHL stardom and opted to sign with their arch-rival. Embarrassing Pittsburgh got him into the good graces of Flyers fans immediately.
He played one season on the top line with Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell, finishing with 54 points in 73 games. The Flyers defeated the Penguins in the opening round of the playoffs in one of the wildest series in NHL history.
Jagr then climbed to the second spot in NHL history in scoring behind only Wayne Gretzky in stints with five other NHL teams after his 40th birthday. His time with the Flyers certainly wasn’t the highlight of his absurdly long hockey career, but it was one of many great memories.
Adam Oates
The Flyers sent their upcoming 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-round picks and Maxime Ouellet to the Capitals on deadline day in March 2002 to acquire 39-year-old Adam Oates.
Oates had established himself as one of the best passers in the NHL in 16 seasons with the Red Wings, Blues, Bruins, and Capitals. However, the Flyers didn’t properly evaluate an impending unrestricted free agent well past his prime. The Senators stifled the Flyers in the opening round of the 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs, holding them to just two goals in a five-game series.
Oates walked away in free agency after the playoff exit. He sits eighth in NHL history in assists, but 19 games in orange and black certainly weren’t the highlight of his career.
Tony Amonte
Jeremy Roenick spent three seasons with the Flyers, who decided to bring in his long-time friend and linemate Tony Amonte at the trade deadline in 2003.
Amonte spent 12 seasons as a top-line player with the Rangers and the Blackhawks. He took a step back in orange and black with less production in his early 30s. He delivered a respectable 68 points in 93 games in a serviceable role toward the end of his career.
Peter Forsberg
The ripple effects of the Eric Lindros trade in 1992 impacted the NHL and the Flyers for decades. Peter Forsberg proved himself as the crown jewel of the package Philadelphia sent to Quebec for Lindros.
Forsberg reached the top tier of the NHL with two Stanley Cups and a Hart Trophy after Quebec moved to Colorado. His run in the late 1990s and early 2000s convinced the Flyers to right a wrong after the 2004-05 lockout. They thought they signed the best player in the world, but Forsberg experienced a lot of injury problems in Philadelphia.
The crafty Swede notched well over a point per game in parts of two seasons, but he didn’t have the prolonged success the Flyers hoped for when they signed him at age 32. They dealt him to the Nashville Predators in 2007 as part of a series of moves that helped them land Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell.
Forsberg retired with 885 points in 708 NHL games. His injury issues limited a Hall of Fame career while Lindros experienced similar (although more extreme) limitations.
Derian Hatcher
6-foot-5 defenseman Derian Hatcher became a rock on the blue line for the Dallas Stars during an excellent run in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He had some left in the tank at age 33 for three seasons in Philadelphia.
However, Bobby Clarke and the Flyers didn’t properly evaluate the direction of the NHL after the 2004-05 lockout. Rule changes lessened the value of big defensemen like Hatcher and fellow cup of coffee free agent Mike Rathje.
Hatcher had a decent stint with the Flyers, but he flourished more during an era that had already passed before the famous Shanahan Summit.
Paul Coffey
The Flyers acquired Paul Coffey and an additional draft pick from the Hartford Whalers in December 1996 for Kevin Haller and two picks.
The 35-year-old defenseman had won two Norris Trophies as a member of the Oilers dynasty of the 1980s. With the benefit of passing to Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, he finished one shy of tying the highest single-season point total in NHL history among defensemen with 138 in 1984-85.
Coffey wasn’t anywhere close to the same puck-moving catalyst with a lengthy list of league records among defensemen by the time he got to the Flyers. A combination of age and deflated offensive numbers as the style of the 1980s shrunk in the distance held Coffey to eight goals and 47 assists in 94 games for Philadelphia.
The Hockey Hall of Famer remarkably played for three more NHL teams after the Flyers before retiring at age 39.
Vincent Lecavalier
Flyers fans got to know Vincent Lecavalier too well with Tampa Bay during the 2004 Eastern Conference Final. The Lightning went on to win the Stanley Cup, and Lecavalier grew into an NHL superstar despite a rocky development under John Tortorella.
Paul Holmgren signed a 32-year-old Lecavalier to a five-year contract in 2013. The lucrative deal quickly became an albatross. The Flyers moved on from Peter Laviolette and removed a potential system fit for Lecavalier.
He played 133 games in three seasons without enough offensive production to justify a significant cap hit. A former 52-goal scorer even faced demotion to the fourth line at one point. Ron Hextall dumped the contract to the Kings in 2016, and Lecavalier played just 42 more NHL games after a rough stint in Philadelphia.
Dale Hawerchuk
The Flyers geared up for a playoff run in March 1996 by dealing Craig MacTavish for Dale Hawerchuk in a one-for-one swap. Hawerchuk had become a legend of the franchise formerly known as the Winnipeg Jets, and he spent five good seasons with the Sabres in the early 1990s.
Hawerchuck got off to a fast start with 20 points in 16 games in the remainder of the regular season. He added 12 goals and 22 assists in 51 games for the Flyers in 1996-97. While it didn’t match the production he posted in his prime, he played a serviceable role in Philadelphia.
The aging center played in 17 playoff games during the run to the 1997 Stanley Cup Final but sat out the decisive loss to the Red Wings and never played in the NHL again.
Martin Biron
The goaltender carousel had become a major storyline in Philadelphia by 2007. Paul Holmgren plugged the hole between the pipes as part of an excellent retool that helped the Flyers back into Stanley Cup contention after a disastrous season in 2006-07.
Martin Biron provided above average goaltending for parts of three seasons. He started 23 playoff games with the Flyers, but the most sustained success of his NHL career came during his 20s with the Buffalo Sabres.
Alexander Daigle
The Ottawa Senators drafted Alexandre Daigle with the 1st-overall pick in 1993. The expected future superstar made a regrettable comment by asserting that nobody remembers the 2nd-overall pick.
The Hartford Whalers picked a defenseman by the name of Chris Pronger second. Flyers fans will never forget Pronger’s role during the run to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, but they might forget the 68 games Daigle played in orange and black in 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Daigle bounced around to six NHL teams that never came close to meeting high expectations.
Tony DeAngelo
Chuck Fletcher aggressively traded three draft picks for Tony DeAngelo and a 7th-rounder in 2022. The franchise was in a state of turmoil, and the deal represented a disconnect between the front office’s short-term plan and the need to move toward a new era.
DeAngelo was never a shutdown defenseman, and he struggled in his own end with the Flyers. His excellent ability as a puck mover and capable power-play skills didn’t impact his only season with his favorite childhood team.
The South Jersey native clashed with John Tortorella late in the 2022-23 season, and he moved back to the Hurricanes in better position to succeed after a forgettable stint in Philadelphia.
Matt Niskanen
Niskanen played 12 seasons and 125 playoff games through 2018-19. He had helped the Washington Capitals win their first Stanley Cup just one year before they sent him to the Flyers for Radko Gudas.
The one-for-one swap worked smoothly in 2019-20. Niskanen played the right side next to a young Ivan Provorov on the top defensive pair during Philadelphia’s resurgent regular season.
Niskanen wore down from the challenges of the pandemic and the 2020 playoff bubble. He retired after one season with the Flyers, who struggled to replace him and allowed Provorov to slip out of favor without the steady veteran beside him.
Michael Del Zotto
Michael Del Zotto looked like a blossoming puck mover on the Rangers blue line early in his career. His development had slowed before the Flyers signed him to a low-risk deal entering the 2014-15 season.
He played a serviceable depth role in parts of three seasons, but most hockey fans will remember him in one of his seven other uniforms or for his unexpected friendship with adult film star Lisa Ann.
Max Talbot
Hockey fans inevitably hate players on rival teams despite the fact that they’d love the same players on their favorite teams. Maxime Talbot provided a classic example during his short stint with the Flyers.
He had silenced the Philadelphia crowd with a momentum-shifting fight in the opening round of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs and later scored the decisive goal to help the Penguins win their first ring in the Sidney Crosby era.
The Flyers couldn’t help themselves from stealing a grinder like Talbot in free agency in 2011. He played a solid gritty game as a penalty killer and a depth scorer for parts of three seasons. He continued an admirable professional career with two more NHL teams and stints in the AHL and KHL.
Philadelphia fans might’ve liked his game in a Flyers uniform, but they can’t pretend his legacy lives anywhere more than Pittsburgh.
John Vanbiesbrouck
John Vanbiesbrouck developed into a strong NHL goaltender with the Rangers through the 1980s. He couldn’t overtake Mike Richter when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, but he helped the Florida Panthers to a Cup appearance of their own in 1996.
The Flyers signed “The Beezer” in 1998 12 years after he won his only career Vezina Trophy. The declining veteran gave way to Brian Boucher by the time the Flyers made their run to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final in 2000.
Craig MacTavish
The final player in NHL history to skate without a helmet won four Stanley Cups before he began his career with the Flyers at age 36.
Craig MacTavish was a strong defensive forward who helped Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers take down the Flyers in the 1987 Stanley Cup Final. He played 100 games for Philadelphia after his prime had already passed, registering just 25 points.
The Flyers sent him to the St. Louis Blues for Dale Hawrchuk in March 1996.
