5 Flyers Storylines To Watch During NHL Offseason: Head Coaching Search

The Philadelphia Flyers finished a disappointing 2024-25 season 29th in the NHL standings. They missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth straight time, and general manager Danny Briere declared “rock bottom” after firing head coach John Tortorella with nine games left in the regular season.

A new head coach will step onto the bench with expectations to move into the next phase of the rebuild. Rick Tocchet will not remain with the Vancouver Canucks, and he could be at the top of the Briere and Keith Jones’ list.

The Flyers will also consider NCAA coaches, other NHL retreads, and an internal promotion for interim head coach Brad Shaw.

Tortorella held an uncommon amount of power for an NHL head coach. Dan Hilferty called him the organization’s “spiritual leader” when the Flyers introduced their current front office structure in 2023.

A new head coach won’t play the same part in the rebuild, and he won’t influence the front office’s personnel decisions as heavily as Tortorella did. The replacement will also carry himself with less intensity (which is true with almost anybody). 

The absence of John Tortorella's dynamic and controversial personality will inevitably cast a ripple effect throughout the organization and the city of Philadelphia. What qualities are the Flyers looking for instead?

The Flyers have reinforced their priority for player development as a continuous process at the NHL level. They expect to improve internally with the help of a coach who can teach his players.

Ron Hextall never brought his long-term vision for the Flyers together partly because young players who looked like foundational roster pieces of his rebuild didn’t develop into top-line NHL players.

The Flyers value the foundation of accountability that Tortorella put in place. They’ll ask their new head coach to continue the internal progress the current roster players have made during the current rebuild.

Tocchet has coached parts of nine seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Arizona Coyotes, and Vancouver Canucks. He’s reached the postseason only twice.

His most successful season came in 2023-24 when he led the Canucks to the top spot in the Pacific Division and the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year.

However, Vancouver’s 2024-25 season went off the rails partly because of a bitter disagreement in the locker room between stars J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson.

Tocchet has earned respect around the NHL as a coach who pushes less talented rosters to their highest potential. He also won Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant under Mike Sullivan.

He caught attention around the NHL for his strong relationships with Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin, two star players and personalities who didn’t always mesh perfectly with Sullivan.

Expect to hear his name as a potential replacement for Sullivan in the head coaching vacancy on the other side of the Keystone State.

The Flyers won’t only weigh Tocchet’s coaching history in their evaluation. He spent the first eight seasons of his NHL playing career with the Flyers from 1984-1992 and later returned in 2000 for a shorter stint to finish his career. He entered the Flyers Hall of Fame in 2021. 

Skeptics of Tocchet’s candidacy have pointed to the organization’s redundant tendency to hire former Flyers into key positions.

The criticism has sparked heated pushback also. History wearing orange and black doesn’t automatically spoil head coaching ability. Just look at Rod Brind’Amour and Craig Berube coaching in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

However, the organization shouldn’t ignore the crux of the criticism. The Flyers’ tendency to retreat to the same ideas hasn’t led them to success in the modern NHL era. An organization that hasn’t mastered an innovative and creative approach should think outside the box more often than the Flyers do.

Tocchet flawlessly fits the profile of alumni the Flyers have prioritized too heavily at times. He’s the franchise’s all-time leader in penalty minutes and the NHL’s all-time leader in Gordie Howe hat tricks (goal, assist, fight).

While he deserves respect for his relentless grit, a fearless attitude as a player can’t be the main qualification for a head coach. Tocchet has very little success to show for his three head coaching stints, and the Flyers can't ignore the objective fact in their evaluation.

If the Flyers hire Rick Tocchet, they must determine that his teaching, communication, and leadership abilities make him the right fit – not his alumni status, former playing style, or friendship with Jones and Briere.

Brad Shaw coached for eight seasons under Tortorella with the Flyers and the Columbus Blue Jackets. He also coached the New York Islanders as an interim for 40 games in 2006. He’s managed the defensemen and the penalty kill for the past three seasons in Philadelphia.

The Flyers finished the 2024-25 season on a 5-3-1 stretch during Shaw’s short stint in charge. They had lost 11 of Tortorella’s final 12 games, but the players responded well to the short-term benefit of the naturally lighter atmosphere under Shaw.

Will Briere and Jones rip the interim tag off Shaw? It might seem logical to fans who follow all four major sports, but the footballization of every other sport creates an imperfect parallel to an NFL offensive coordinator accepting a promotion to head coach.

The idea isn’t as common in hockey because of an awkward dynamic. NHL head coaches tend to be more forceful with players while assistant coaches work more tactically without cracking the whip.

The Flyers led the NHL in shorthanded goals in 2023-24 with Shaw’s “power kill” pressure style. They finished fourth overall and second in net penalty kill, which measures goal differential instead of raw percentage.

While the penalty kill dipped significantly in 2024-25, Shaw’s work with the unit should ultimately factor positively into the evaluation of his potential future as a full-time NHL head coach.

His role in developing defensemen is his most valuable calling card. Veterans Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Nick Seeler have improved significantly since Shaw began with the Flyers in 2022-23.

Younger defensemen Cam York and Emil Andrae have also taken steps toward becoming full-time NHL players.

Briere’s confidence in Shaw to develop defensemen with raw tools influenced the blockbuster trade to acquire Jamie Drysdale from the Anaheim Ducks for Cutter Gauthier.

Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet reported that the Flyers have considered the idea of sticking with Shaw if Rick Tocchet isn't available.

They’ve chosen not to retain interim coaches Scott Gordon and Mike Yeo in recent seasons, however.

The 61-year-old Shaw kept the door open for a possible return to his role as an assistant coach if he’s not chosen as the full-time head coach.

The semifinal matchup in the NCAA Frozen Four featured two candidates for the Flyers vacancy on opposite benches.

Pat Ferschweiler coached Western Michigan to their first National Championship in program history. He succeeded without the advantage of a blueblood reputation to recruit players.

His impact on Alex Bump has helped the fifth-round pick from 2022 leap up the Flyers prospect ladder.

Ferschweiler played for Western Michigan in the early 1990s alongside a linemate with a familiar face: Keith Jones. The Flyers hired their President of Hockey Operations in 2023 partly because of his long list of contacts in all corners of the hockey world.

The Flyers would likely waive the concern about repeating an unsuccessful era when they hired Dave Hakstol directly from the NCAA level with no NHL head coaching experience. However, they’d still need Ferschweiler to accept the promotion, which is no guarantee. 

David Carle ended up on the losing end at the Frozen Four with the University of Denver. He’s coached the Pioneers to two National Championships, including one with Bobby Brink as his standout star in 2022. He’s become arguably the most coveted head coaching candidate entering the 2025 NHL offseason.

His brother Matt Carle played a key role for the Flyers during the run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010. He spent four of his 12 NHL seasons in Philadelphia.

It seems only logical that David Carle or Pat Ferschweiler would excitedly jump into the opportunity to coach at the highest level. However, it’s not so simple.

The average tenure of an NHL head coach is only 2.35 years. Both coaches have built their current programs with success that could potentially earn them job security for decades.

Both Ferschweiler and Carle sparked excitement within the Philadelphia fan base as potential candidates. Promoting an accomplished NCAA bench boss creates a converse perception than the negativity surrounding a potential Tocchet hire.

However, the hesitation for NCAA coaches to jump to the NHL level makes the scenario unlikely.

The Flyers should cast a wide net to consider all relevant options. Would a retread head coach bring NHL credibility that can bring the rebuild to the next phase?

Jay Woodcroft skated at Flyers Training Center in Vorhees during training camp practices in September 2024. The former Edmonton Oilers coach turned it over to Kris Knoblauch in November 2023 before the Oilers caught fire to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

Peter Laviolette defines the word retread. He’s coached six NHL teams, including parts of five seasons with the Flyers from 2009-2013. The New York Rangers just became the fifth team in the Metropolitan Division to move on from the Laviolette experiment.

Joel Quenneville carries serious character concerns despite his outstanding track record with three Stanley Cups as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. The NHL reinstated Quenneville in July 2024 from an indefinite ban that began in October 2021 for an inadequate response to sexual assault allegations against a member of his coaching staff.

Greg Cronin, formerly of the Ducks, and Dan Bylsma, formerly of the Seattle Kraken, also landed on the market after the 2024-25 season.