John Tortorella is out. The Philadelphia Flyers fired the veteran head coach on Thursday morning, just hours before they lace up at home to face the red-hot Montreal Canadiens. But what is the future of the Flyers’ bench?
The Flyers have eight games left of the 2024-25 regular season. A season that has brought us some hope for the future but will mainly be remembered as Matvei Michkov’s rookie season where they still finished near the bottom of the league. Associate coach Brad Shaw will be taking over as interim head coach for the remainder of the year, but where the team goes from here is going to be interesting.
What are some names that we could see pop up in rumors to replace Tortorella? Or, who are logical pieces that could turn the Flyers around and bring the level of hockey we all have been craving for some time? Let’s look at some bench bosses.
Brad Shaw
It might not be the spiciest move or the one that gets everyone’s heart racing at the possibilities, but keeping the coach that has made this Flyers team much better defensively than anyone expected, would be logical to keep around. We all expect the Flyers to try to pitch to Shaw to stay in Philadelphia and work with the new guy they brought in — if that is their plan — but why not see if Shaw wants to take over?
The last time Shaw was in a head coaching role was when he took over for a fired Steve Stirling to finish off the 2005-06 New York Islanders season. So, this might be a stretch to see if he even wants to do it. Plus, the relationship with the players — going from the more approachable assistant to the boss — could become a little rocky for no real reason.
Please, we hope that Shaw stays as an associate though.
Jay Woodcroft
Jay Woodcroft is a real big option if we want to connect some dots. He is currently unemployed after being fired by the Edmonton Oilers and during training camp just several months ago, he was brought in to hang out with Tortorella and the coaching staff.
Whether that was done by Tortorella or the Flyers is uncertain, but either way the organization likes him enough that him being involved during training camp was alright by them.
Under his reign, the Oilers had a 79-41-13 record and won three playoff rounds in three years. It was a 3-9-1 start to the 2023-24 season that caused him to get fired from Connor McDavid’s team and led the Oilers to hire the captain’s former junior coach.
He has a Calder Cup win under his belt and generally plays winning hockey, even if he had the best player in the world on his team. Woodcroft can coach a team that scores a lot of goals, and if Shaw keeps the defense in check, that could be a winning equation.
Mike Sullivan
Now, Sullivan was certainly more of an option if Tortorella was going to stay with the organization. A friend of the fired coach, the current Pittsburgh Penguins bench boss was thought to be an easy replacement if Tortorella went to the front office and if he was fired by the cross-state rival.
There could still be something there, though. He knows how to win with a couple Stanley Cup rings and knows how to coach with superstars on his team. Out of every candidate, he might have the best resume if he were to be a free agent this summer.
And if everything is chill between Tortorella and the Flyers even after parting ways (not so sure about that), Shaw could certainly stay around with Sullivan in charge. (Clearly, we care a lot about the current defensive coach staying in Philadelphia.)
Rick Tocchet
We had to put Tocchet’s name on this list. Currently in Vancouver, the former Flyer might be leaving the Canucks as early as this summer and if the team still wants someone to play with a Torts-level of temperament, then Tocchet could be their guy.
Aside from last season’s Canucks, he has not had a very good record out on the west coast. We’re not sure how much that plays into it, but you just know that there will be alumni in the front office begging Danny Briere to bring him in.
If the Flyers were to hire Tocchet, then it would show that they still want the hard mentality and accountability for their team like Tortorella provided. But, it could be bringing all the negative aspects of Tortorella without any of the good.
David Carle
This is the one everyone wants to see, of course. The wunderkind University of Denver coach that has led his team to a national championship, and led the USA World Juniors squad to back-to-back championships for the first time. Almost every single team should be clamoring to bring Carle to their organization but it is going to take a lot.
Being just 35 years old and already the belle of the coaching ball, he has all the time in the world. With a young family and a comfortable situation in Denver, the NHL team that hires him will probably need to give him the level of security that he desires. Is that a seven- or even an eight-year contract? Possibly. Maybe something like a coaching no-move clause will be invented for this specific situation.
There has never been a coach that almost every single fan base wants this badly. Signs are pointing to him just staying with Denver for the long-term and then maybe in a few years with more titles under his belt and more rings on his finger(s), he can poke around the NHL to see if there is a landing spot him and his family are alright with.
The Flyers are in an interesting spot where they could be a team that offers him that security if he wants. Briere and Keith Jones have a long-term vision and with no quick-acting owner to worry about, Carle could be brought in as the guy to guide this team on the ice for the next decade.
