He’s not the one working the phones and talking to rival general managers, and he’s not the one with the final say in moving pieces in and out of the lineup, but all those times we heard about John Tortorella holding some power, say, and sway in personnel movement are coming to fruition.
He made mention of “subtraction” before making any additions, he was staunch throughout the season with his criticisms and how he dealt with lackadaisical effort, and when Daniel Briere became interim general manager, he sat next to him and was almost attached to his hip moving forward which was a sign of things to come.
Who were the players that drew the ire of the head coach? Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes, Tony DeAngelo, and Travis Sanheim; all for a variety of reasons. With Hayes, it had everything to do with his attitude, his on-ice play was deplorable, and he never saw eye-to-eye after being made a healthy scratch. For DeAngelo, his defensive game cost him terribly and he went from being a top-pair defenseman to a third pair defenseman to a press box defenseman by the end of the season.
With Sanheim, it was more subtle as he suited up for 81 games, was benched once, made a healthy scratch once, and was called out a few times for his lack of intensity, confidence, and overall lack of aggression – the same aggression that earned him an 8-year deal worth $6.25 million per season. For Provorov it had to do with the way the Flyers were building for the future, they both weren’t going to come to terms on an extension, and the bridge had been burnt down for a couple seasons to date.
Hayes was finally traded to the St. Louis Blues after a roller-coaster weekend that many had hoped would lead into a much bigger deal. The initial deal that was agreed upon was Hayes and Sanheim to the Blues for Torey Krug and a late first round pick in this year’s draft. However, as we all know by now, Krug refused to waive his np-trade clause and that turned out to be the backbreaker of a monumental deal that was to have major impact for the salary cap and the future years to come. Instead, it was a 6th round pick in exchange for Hayes at 50% salary retention.
The rift between player and head coach, coupled with the Ryan Johansen trade from the weekend, made this deal possible and was the root cause for what seems like an underwhelming return. In theory, it is. A 6th round pick in 2024 while still retaining half of his salary for 3 years to come doesn’t sound all that thrilling. However, the Flyers want the young players to thrive, play as much as possible, and don’t want any issues or distractions in the locker room. If the head coach and one of your “better” players aren’t seeing eye-to-eye, that can’t be good for morale.
People are going to blame Tortorella for the underwhelming return, citing that making him a healthy scratch was unnecessary and that the Flyers made it too obvious they wanted out of his contract. Buying him out would’ve lasted 6-7 years instead of the 3 that will lead into their line of contention, but they don’t have that many egregious contracts where they have to worry about the 3 retained salary slots for the next 3 years, and it’s about changing the culture and trying to build from the ground up with youth – not with disgruntled veterans.
His trade value was never going to be high, his contract was atrocious, he still carried 3 years of term, and many teams sought out different options in finding their new 3C instead of breaking down the door for Hayes.
Accountability is something we’ve been clamouring for for years and we finally got it, now is not the time to fret over losing a veteran centre that didn’t want to be on the team anymore.
Many were clamouring for a head coach who could keep the team in check, have them accountable for their actions, and actually instil an identity while having them playing a better brand of hockey. John Tortorella was always going to be that guy who could resurrect the Flyers from the dead and have them playing meaningful hockey, however his way of doing things is not always accepted by certain players, fans, and media members alike.
Tortorella is aware of his reputation and most of that comes from his earlier days as head coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers. Like when he called out then-Flyers head coach Ken Hitchcock during the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004, or when he called out the referees for their perceived preferential treatment on Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, or even his beef with reporter Larry Brooks. There was even the time Tortorella rushed towards the Calgary Flames locker room in a fiery argument as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks back in 2014.
As for the players who play under him, you either love him or hate him, with most falling into the former category. Cam Atkinson was an avid supporter of Tortorella’s from their time in Columbus and was said to have played some role in the hiring of the head coach. Then you have Pierre-Luc Dubois who never saw eye-to-eye with Tortorella, coasted and glided with lackadaisical play, and essentially fell into the same boat as Kevin Hayes before he requested a trade out of Columbus. His wish was granted as he was traded to Winnipeg for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic.
However, there’s a long list of players who enjoyed their time under Tortorella and understood that while he’s brutally honest, it’s what’s best for the team and he’d do anything for his players. Just ask Oliver Bjorkstrand, Max Domi, Boone Jenner, Seth Jones, Zack Werenski, Jack Roslovic, Joonas Korpisalo, and Michael Del Zotto, among others.
For years we heard about the constant issues that persisted in the Flyers locker room and how they needed to – and tried to – gut out the negative energy to get things back on a roll. It is also usually the case for a head coach to win the first battle of wits in a ruptured relationship with a player. Ken Hitchcock wasn’t a fan of Patrick Sharp, Peter Laviolette had his rift with Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, Craig Berube had his with Scott Hartnell and Vincent Lecavalier, and Alain Vigneault had his fair share including Jakub Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Nolan Patrick. Enter John Tortorella with Kevin Hayes and Tony DeAngelo at the forefront.
Hayes’ agent Bob Murray had this to say post-trade:
“It’s been stressful for Kev. He really liked Philadelphia, he liked the city, he liked his teammates…everything was good until December-ish when things started to go the other way. It’s been a difficult, stressful time for him.
“He’s very happy to get settled now and he’s really happy with it being in St. Louis. They’ve got a real good team. They’ve got a good organization. They’ve got a good coach. It’s a nice city for players.”
Murray took to the media after the trade and essentially laid it out that there were issues that transpired after December that had nothing to do with the city or his teammates. If we all remember correctly, “December-ish” as Murray stated is when Hayes was made a healthy scratch. He had previously been benched twice – including the game before being made a healthy scratch – and it’s just common knowledge that Tortorella isn’t going to stand for lackadaisical effort – ask Pierre-Luc Dubois.
At the time of the move, Hayes was leading the team with 29 points in 31 games. In theory, it seemed outrageous to bench and scratch your leading scorer, especially on a team that struggles offensively. However, Hayes drew his ire with his lazy back-checking, gliding instead of skating, very rarely putting in 100% effort, and he simply coasted. Those intangibles are never apart of any Tortorella-led team because he eradicates that kind of stuff, whether that means he changes the player or gets rid of them; they’re gone one way or the other.
Travis Konecny, Wade Allison, Owen Tippett, and Morgan Frost got the same treatment as Hayes when they were benched for a period or two during games they didn’t put in full effort. Tortorella mentioned numerous times that he didn’t expect other-worldly numbers this year but he wanted to instil an identity of competition and fierceness and most importantly be “hard to play against”.
So while Hayes seemingly bounced back from the healthy scratch and was well on his way for career-highs, he stumbled into the final stretch of the season. He had 45 points in 49 games and was only 8 goals and 10 points shy of his career best numbers with 32 games left. He then finished the season with just 9 points in his final 32 games, which included a 23-game goal-less drought where he only added 6 assists, while playing top-6 or top-9 minutes.
Looking ahead to the 2023-24 season, there were several reasons why the move had to happen: 1) still being around would’ve caused negative energy and bad vibes all around and that’s not something you want for a locker room filled with young players, 2) with the impending returns of Sean Couturier and Cam Atkinson, the top-6, let alone the top-9 would’ve been too crowded with Hayes still around, 3) even if Couturier and Atkinson aren’t fully ready in time, Morgan Frost and Noah Cates deserve more attention moving forward, especially down the middle, and 4) more young players are to funnel through the system so retaining half salary in a rebuild is not going to hurt one bit.
It wasn’t a coincidence that Chuck Fletcher and Dave Scott were less prevalent this season as compared to previous years. Ahead of 2022-23 season, Fletcher and Scott were constantly reminding us about their aggressive re-tools, this season not so much. Tortorella took the media by storm and shielded the organization from most things as Fletcher and Scott were being phased out.
When Fletcher was finally fired, Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek discussed the situation at length and the former alluded to the fact that the organization saw the impact of their head coach and realized that he’s one of the only things that’s actually working and is one of the things that has most of the fan base happy, trusting, and excited. They also mentioned that he would be a focal point of this rebuild and that he will probably be around for much longer than his contract pegs.
This was just one season but it was a tumultuous one and one that has the head coach in the driver’s seat. He was with Daniel Briere in March in the press box , talking to him constantly, and always reverberating the same actions as to what would happen in the off-season. Subtraction was a big word and that held a lot of weight as we waited in anticipation for the moves to funnel out. Well, fast-forward a few months later and Provorov was dealt, Hayes was just traded, DeAngelo should be gone in July, and they’re looking to move Sanheim before his NTC kicks in on the 1st of July.
It also wasn’t just a simple coincidence that Tortorella was apart of the press conference when the Flyers ushered themselves into a “New Era of Orange”. He sat next to his bosses and spoke about the future just as much as the rest of them. Tortorella has a seat at the main dinner table and with Valerie Camillo out of the equation, his plate just got a little more full and a lot more plentiful.
Tortorella’s impact cannot go unnoticed and should be applauded in some way, shape, or form. The Flyers are finally entering a rebuild and it seems like they’re actually doing it the right way.
The one thing that could become a problem is if his impact takes over the newly-minted Briere. We know he is a huge fan of Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny and both have been placed on the trade block in recent weeks. It was reported that the Blues offered a first and second round pick for Laughton that the Flyers rejected. Two very valuable picks for a top-9 forward who only just hit the 40-point plateau. If that was due to Tortorella and not because of Keith Jones and/or Briere, then perhaps that becomes a problem but until then, we move into the draft gleefully.
Even with half of Hayes’ salary retained, the Flyers have over $10 million in open cap and that is a number that should increase to $19 million once DeAngelo is moved and Ryan Ellis is placed on LTIR. The Flyers also have 2 picks in the first round, third round, fourth round, and sixth round with singular picks in the fifth and seventh rounds of this draft, while also having 2 firsts and 3 seconds in 2024.
The three-headed monster that is Keith Jones, Daniel Briere, and John Tortorella are righting the ship in just a few months of hard work – something the Chuck Fletcher administration lacked.
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