Forwards varied often this season for John Tortorella.
Earlier this season, Tortorella seemed like a “mad scientist.” He wanted to roll his lines – every coach would prefer that method. However, the offense struggled, and Tortorella staggered 18 different forward lines.
“With line combinations, it’s not like I’m a mad scientist back there, just trying to throw things around. Line combinations happen quite a bit after powerplays, penalty-killing, and [if] it takes you a couple of rotations to get him back. Especially in the situation we’re in right now; we’re struggling offensively. If I try something different after a powerplay or after a penalty kill, and I see something there, maybe I’ll stay with that. Line combinations, with me, I wish I could just roll with it, but when you’re struggling offensively, and you see something might work in a game after certain situations, I’m going to stick with it. So, you have to change the other things, too.” – John Tortorella; 10/25/2024
Lines are still changing. Tortorella manufactures his forward lines based on “feel.” The lines remain fluid. He is curating line chemistry by trial and error.
However, when Tortorella put Noah Cates between Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink, he might have assembled an elite line. Stop the search – this is ‘The Most Tortorella Line.’
Call the line whatever you like. This name might not roll off the tongue, but you get the point.
“Minutes help, confidence wise. Being put into situations and succeeding helps confidence wise. It’s just grown. It’s helped him [Cates] defensively. He’s so confident in his positioning. We have stressed tracking back and reloading. With the situation we’ve had with our goaltending, we have stressed that tremendously [in] the past month. It feeds into him. He does it anyway. It just feeds into him, and then the way he’s broken up plays and has just put [his] stick on pucks to get going the other way has grown. Tyson’s [Foerster] game has been better by himself and playing with Catesy. Bobby Brink, who goes very unnoticed because he hasn’t scored; we need to get him to score a goal, but his battle level, his positioning defensively, and understanding the other side of the puck has helped that, also. I was doing some other lines, and that was thrown together, and that’s our line that we rely on. If a coach tells you they know exactly, ‘This guy’s going to play well with that guy,’ they’re full of shit. That happened by accident because I was doing stuff with other lines.” – John Tortorella; 1/9/2025
Cates is the two-way glue. He is the hardest on the forecheck and the best defensive forward on the roster. Foerster has an elite shot and protects the puck. He did not look as sharp to begin this season as he did in 2023-2024, but Foerster figured it out. Brink is a playmaking winger and improving all-around with increased minutes.
Each of these skaters was scratched this season. They all floated in the middle six of the lineup. Lately, they are in the starting lineup. Cates, Foerster, and Brink are setting the tone for the Philadelphia Flyers (21-20-6) and heated the powerplay. Recently, Brink scored the eventual game-winner on the powerplay against the New Jersey Devils, assisted by Cates and Foerster.
They are driving play, and if it seems like the Flyers are sustaining pressure in the offensive zone, it might have a lot to do with the forechecking prowess and ability to create scoring chances below the hash marks. Tortorella does not need to tinker with this line.
Noah Cates
Cates (10G, 12A) fits the top six of the lineup. He is a forechecking machine and strong at the faceoff dot. Whether he forces takeaways or earns an extra possession on the faceoff, Cates generates offense by excelling at the grittier aspects of hockey.
“Situational hockey and situational awareness, I’ve done my whole career; a strength of mine. Not being the best skater, I just got to use my brain and defend hard in those situations.” – Noah Cates; 1/13/2025
Lately, Cates has five points (3G, 2A) in his last five games, winning 52.7% of his faceoffs.
Tortorella challenged Cates to find his offense. This season, Cates can max out at 78GP but still has an opportunity to pass his 2022-2023 totals (38P; 13G, 25A) while averaging fewer minutes. Cates averaged 17:46TOI in 2022-2023, but this season, he is blossoming as challenged at 14:19TOI. When Cates set those career highs, he finished 15th in the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy voting behind Auston Matthews.
He is the top defensive forward in Philadelphia. If he can reach 40 points, Cates should receive more votes for the Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy this season.
“He’s [Cates] winning faceoffs. He has played well for a while. His stick work, his strength on the puck, his utility; using him at the end of games, having two centers, [and] now he’s on the powerplay. He deserves to be on the powerplay and it’s quite honestly, for all the lines as far as how those three [Foerster, Cates, Brink] are always together, the support of it. You just never know where it goes. He has played well for quite a while. That line’s been really good for us.” – John Tortorella; 12/27/2024
This season, Cates and Foerster are hand in hand. Cates scored six goals with Foerster on the assist. The last time Cates linked together in a scoring play with Foerster, Travis Konecny scored an empty-net goal against the Devils.
Tyson Foerster
Foerster (12G, 10) stands by Cates in the top-six. He is the only forward to stand as an outright goalscorer on the roster.
Earlier this season, Tortorella sat Foerster versus the Washington Capitals. He did not play with consistency, and Tortorella called for a reset. Foerster has not left the lineup since October 22nd, 2024.
Lately, Foerster has three assists in this five-game point streak. Away from the puck, Foerster excels. He played a steady role in alleviating the pressure from the defensive zone versus the Anaheim Ducks, the Florida Panthers, and New Jersey. One resulted in a shutout, and the others were big wins against elite teams in the NHL Eastern Conference.
This season, Foerster averages fewer minutes (15:23) than last season (17:16), and overall, his puck security regressed from a stellar 36TK:12GV to 6TK:22GV.
Documented is the success shared between Forster and Cates. Foerster has chemistry with Brink, too. He scored four goals when Brink recorded an assist.
“Catesy [Cates] and Bob [Brink] helped me out a lot, and we know the [defense] are shooting it every time, so we just got to get to the net. That’s where the dirty goals are scored.” – Tyson Foerster; 1/2/2025
Bobby Brink
Brink (6G, 15A) is the best playmaker on this balanced line. He has good chemistry with a scorer like Foerster, joined by a possessive forechecker like Cates.
Tortorella scratched Brink for three games in favor of Nicolas Deslauriers. Brink has not been out of the lineup since his return. The only forwards with more assists than Brink on the Flyers are Matvei Michkov and Konecny.
“Offensively, he’s [Brink] done some good things, but there are other things in his game that he just simply has to get better at.” – John Tortorella; 10/23/2024
Since Philadelphia shut out the Ducks, Brink scored twice. His game-winner in New Jersey is an example of Tortorella trusting this line. ‘The Most Tortorella Line,‘ sounds like a hard-checking line celebrated for having a two-hundred-foot game. However, it represents the second powerplay unit on the Flyers. Brink, Cates, and Foerster scored twice on the powerplay in the last five games.
“I want him [Brink] to score. I don’t get involved too much with that because that’s his God-given talent. I just want him to understand how to play away from the puck. Bobby has come so far this year in that part of it. He’s got two linemates that he can just sit next to all through the game, and just watch them play away from the puck. Tyson [Foerster] has been good at that since day one. Catesy [Cates], that’s what has solidified his career so far, and now he’s beginning to take off the other way. Bobby has gone through a process with me, in and out, a lot of pointed conversations at certain times when he drives me nuts, but those are few and far between. The thing, plain and simple, what I think helped his game; he plays hard. On the boards, on the puck, getting pucks out, winning a battle; all three of them winning battles on the powerplay. A huge goal for us against Jersey. He has taken upon himself to become a better player.” – John Tortorella; 1/20/2025
This line surpassed expectations from a middle-six line to a second powerplay unit in about 25 games.
‘The Most Tortorella Line’
In a shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, ‘The Most Tortorella Line‘ was deployed for the first time. Among all lines in the NHL with at least 200 minutes played, Philadelphia is 2nd in XG%, 15th in XGF, 4th in XGA, 6th in xGF/60, and 3rd in XGA/60.
Lines like this will eventually put the Flyers back on the radar as the least fun teams to play. Foerster, Cates, and Brink do not resemble high-end talent in Philadelphia, but they are the most cohesive line. When Tortorella can roll his lines, a second line like this will wear down good teams.
Foerster, Cates, and Brink capture the essence of Tortorella. They are an elite line in the NHL, proving how checking drives scoring.
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