During the off season, I wondered whether or not John Tortorella–notorious hard ass and infamous win-now coach–was the correct coaching choice to lead this Flyers team through a rebuild. That article was written in the wake of the Tony DeAngelo buyout/flubbed trade, the unceremonious trade of Kevin Hayes, and the drafting of high-skill prospect Matvei Michkov; it looked like Torts was sculpting the Flyers roster in his image, and that his old-school approach put the rebuild in jeopardy–especially with high-octane players Michkov and Cutter Gauthier on the way.
Well, here we are about halfway through the 2023-24 season, and one thing is clear: Torts has shown he’s got what it takes to coach a rebuilding club.
It was fair to have our doubts. Torts had never coached an openly rebuilding team before, spending the bulk of his career jockeying for playoff positioning and chasing championships. He was also viewed as a defense-first type of coach that was out of place in the ever-faster and more skilled NHL, and the emphasis on defensive play was evident in the Flyers’ 2022-23 season. How was this team going to prepare for young guns Michkov and Gauthier?
Continue reading…
