Getty John Tortorella's job with the Flyers appears to be safe.
The Philadelphia Flyers have no plans of letting go of head coach John Tortorella despite their late-season collapse, according to TSN Hockey’s Darren Dreger.
“Torts is not leaving the bench,” a Flyers source said, Dreger tweeted on April 10.
The Flyers had a 35-26-8 record on March 20 and were firmly in third place in the Metro division. Philadelphia was three points up on the Washington Capitals with a month to go in the regular season and controlled their playoff destiny.
Through April 9, Philadelphia was on an eight-game losing streak and is two points out of a playoff spot with three games to go.
We can all appreciate the speculation. And when it comes to John Tortorella and the stories that follow, there’s always speculation. As for his future as head coach…a Flyers management source says “Torts is not leaving the bench”. He still has the fire…no question about that.
Tortorella has two more years on his contract at $4 million per season, according to CapFriendly, which could play a role in why Philadelphia is not moving on from him.
John Tortorella Says Flyers Have Hit Rock Bottom
On April 9, the Philadelphia Flyers suffered a 9-3 blowout loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Philadelphia trailed 1-0 after the first period but allowed five goals in the second to be down 6-0 after 40 minutes of play.
It was a stunning loss as Montreal is near the bottom of the standings, and it was Philadelphia’s eighth straight defeat. Following the loss, Tortorella claimed the Flyers have officially hit rock bottom on the season.
“I don’t question the care, I didn’t question their effort because it’s been a strong group all year long. I’m frustrated for them because this was rock bottom tonight for us and I hate to see us at this time of year be playing this way after all the good minutes we’ve put in throughout the year,” Tortorella said after the game.
With just three games left in the regular season, Philadelphia likely needs to win out to make the playoffs. The Flyers will close out their season with games against the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, and Washington Capitals, with the latter two being at home.
But, following their eight-game losing streak, MoneyPuck is giving Philadelphia a slim 7.5% chance of making the postseason.
Despite the team’s slide, Flyers president Keith Jones viewed the season through a different lens, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mike Sielski.
“It happens,” Jones said, Sielski wrote in an April 10 column. “It’s a terrible thing to go through. But there has been a lot of progress made under adverse circumstances. It’s going to take time. We’ve been clear about that from the start. There’s been a lot of growth.”
Flyers Fans Call for Tortorella to Be Fired
Despite Dreger’s report that Tortorella’s job is safe with the Flyers, fans are calling for that to not be the case.
@DarrenDreger Torts is wrong coach for them, for where they’re at as an org. Done great implementing a system but relies too much on old guys when they need to see what young guys can do for the team in Year 1 AM (After Michkov). For example Johnson/Staal played yesterday not Attard/Ginning 🤷
“How many FA’s are going to CHOOSE to play under Torts? 5-15%? That % will probably be the ones that have no other options left. What % of players that played this season would re-sign with Philly? Torts has created a toxic enviro there (everywhere). Good luck Flyers fans,” a fan wrote.
@DarrenDreger The Flyers mgmt have cast the dreaded vote of confidence in favor of Torts. Gonna be another interesting summer in Philly.
“Fact is is his shelf will run out by next year. Always does,” one fan wrote.
@DarrenDreger They’re either outta gas or they tuned him out. Sure laid an egg in Columbus when I watched
Tortorella is in his second season with the Flyers. In his first year last season, Philadelphia missed the playoffs going 31-38-13, and finished seventh in the Metro division.
In his coaching career, Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 and helped lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to four straight playoff appearances from 2016 until 2020.