No matter who it is, the Philadelphia Flyers must get their next coaching hire right after dismissing John Tortorella on Thursday morning.
Tortorella, 67, had one year remaining on his contract with the Flyers and finished his tenure in Philadelphia with a 97-107-33 record. Tortorella’s .479 points percentage with the Flyers was his worst with a single team in his 23-year NHL career.
Further to that point, Tortorella’s .445 points percentage this season was the third-lowest of his NHL career when coaching a full, 82-game season, trailing only his last season in Tampa Bay (31-42-9, .433 in 2007-08) and his first full season in Tampa Bay (27-40-11-4, .421 in 2001-02).
Essentially, Tortorella’s 2024-25 Flyers team was his most underperforming team of the last 17 years, unless the 2020-21 Columbus team is included, despite the COVID-19-shortened season.
This decision leaves the Flyers at a crossroads, with no apparent in-house replacements young enough or experienced enough to replace Tortorella and spearhead the next phase of the rebuild.
Brad Shaw, who the Flyers named their interim head coach, will turn 61 on April 28.
When the Flyers play against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, Shaw will manage his first NHL game since the 2005-06 season, when he led the New York Islanders for 40 games , also as an interim coach.
No. 5: Ian Laperriere, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Though Shaw may be an unlikely option, one candidate that may offer more intrigue is none other than Lehigh Valley Phantoms bench boss Ian Laperriere.
Laperriere, 51, is a French-Canadian like Flyers GM Danny Briere, played for the Flyers with Briere at the end of his career, and served the Flyers as an assistant coach for eight seasons before taking the Phantoms’ head coaching post.
If clichés like “the culture” and being a “Flyer” are still highly valued by the organization, there are few better options out there, aside from someone like Rick Tocchet, who may not even leave Vancouver but could be pursued regardless.
During his time as a Flyers assistant and as Phantoms head coach, Laperriere has overseen the development of players like Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere, Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, and more.
There’s not much to say that hasn’t already been said about the Flyers and their ability, or lack thereof, to consistently develop players over the last decade, but Laperriere has also coached the best of them–a good number of which are still with the team today.
Plus, you can’t really blame Laperriere for the Flyers’ decisions to let players leave Philadelphia for better opportunities. Or, for trading players, like Gostisbehere, for literally nothing.
Expect Laperriere to at least get an interview.
No. 4: Jeremy Colliton, New Jersey Devils
Some could argue that Jeremy Colliton was dealt a bad hand when taking over the Chicago Blackhawks’ bench nearly a decade ago.
In 2018, the then-34-year-old received the first NHL head coaching job of his career, taking on the unenviable task of replacing Joel Quenneville at the helm of a team that had been considered a dynasty only a few years prior.
Colliton, now 40, guided the Blackhawks to a 30-28-8 finish after Quenneville started the season 6-6-3.
Despite missing the playoffs, Alex DeBrincat had exploded for a career-high 41 goals and 76 points, with the latter being the second-best mark of his career to date.
An established superstar like Patrick Kane achieved high watermarks in assists (66) and points (110), while the Robin to his Batman, Jonathan Toews, enjoyed a personal-best 81-point campaign.
Colliton was ultimately undone by Chicago’s defense, which ranked 30th out of 31 teams in goals against that season. He did, however, improve the offense to eighth in the NHL from 23rd the year prior.
From there, things only got worse for the Alberta native. Toews and Kane were getting older, and Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook began to break down.
He was ultimately fired after a 1-9-2 start in 2021-22, leaving the Blackhawks in the same transition period we see them in today, two head coaches later, despite many positive signs they saw–or neglected–during Colliton’s tenure, especially early on.
Colliton spent the last two seasons serving as the head coach of the AHL Abbotsford Canucks before resurfacing at the NHL level as part of Sheldon Keefe’s coaching staff with the New Jersey Devils this year.
Colliton already has 11 seasons of head coaching experience at various levels, and at 40 years old, is still a very young and appealing option. The former New York Islanders forward has managed veterans with big personalities and up-and-coming prospects alike, and his second chance at the NHL level could be right around the corner, be it with the Flyers or another franchise.
No. 3: Sergei Zubov, HK Sochi
KHL feeder club HK Sochi just fired Sergei Zubov for a second time, but there is reason to believe the Hockey Hall of Famer has the chops to coach an NHL team.
Zubov, 51, has parts of six seasons of experience as a head coach, which, of course, excludes some of the valuable experience he’s gained as an assistant coach.
One of the best defensemen to ever grace the ice at the NHL level, Zubov has leveraged his elite playing career to pass on knowledge to players like Ilya Kovalchuk, Matvei Michkov, Pavel Buchnevich, Igor Shesterkin, Nikita Gusev, Alexander Nikishin, Ivan Demidov, and more.
As a defenseman, Nikishin’s rapid development under Zubov, in particular, adds to the intrigue.
The 23-year-old prospect will walk into the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup the minute he signs a contract there. Imagine if Zubov could work the same magic with Flyers defensemen Cam York and Jamie Drysdale, for example.
Further, Zubov worked with current Canucks goalie coach Marko Torenius during his short time as the head coach of SKA St. Petersburg.
Torenius, of course, has coached goalies like Shesterkin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Yaroslav Askarov, and Pyotr Kochetkov in the KHL.
If Zubov and the Flyers could lure Torenius away from Vancouver, that just adds to the value he brings to an organization. We all know how the Flyers’ goaltending situation is playing out.
Zubov is certainly a sleeper pick, but he has the player and coaching connections that matter and a Hall of Fame CV to back it up.
No. 2: Greg Brown, Boston College
Boston College head coach Greg Brown actually played under John Tortorella at the NHL level once, when the former was a young NHL prospect and the latter was an assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres back in 1990-91.
Brown, 58, has seen many different personalities despite his relatively unaccomplished playing career. The Hartford, Conn., native played alongside legends like Mario Lemieux, Teemu Selanne, Alexander Mogilny, Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Andreychuk, Pierre Turgeon, Eddie Olczyk, Jaromir Jagr, Alexei Zhamnov, Ron Francis, Keith Tkachuk, Markus Naslund, and Larry Murphy, among others.
Brown spent 14 years as an assistant coach at Boston College before joining the New York Rangers for three seasons, from 2018 to 2021, as an understudy to David Quinn.
Brown returned to BC in 2022 and has spent the last three seasons coaching talents like Cutter Gauthier, Drew Fortescue, Jacob Fowler, Gabe Perreault, Ryan Leonard, Will Smith, Teddy Stiga, Dean Letourneau, and some dude named James Hagens.
It’s unclear if Brown, who captained BC during his playing days, would consider walking away from his home so late into his coaching career, but the opportunity to become an NHL head coach rarely knocks twice.
For the Flyers, landing a top collegiate name like Brown could do wonders for their outward appearance in some circles after the Gauthier debacle, too.
No. 1: David Carle: University of Denver
Sticking with the collegiate theme, the top choice, like most people’s, is none other than David Carle, the head coach of the University of Denver.
Carle, 35, is arguably the hottest head coaching candidate out there, even though he has no prior NHL experience, even as an assistant.
Carle, the younger brother of former Flyers defenseman Matt Carle, has spent the last 12 seasons leading Denver, seeing names like Will Butcher, Trevor Moore, Danton Heinen, Troy Terry, Logan O’Connor, Bobby Brink, Shai Buium, Massimo Rizzo, Carter Mazur, make the leap from the NCAA to turn pro.
A former disciple of Jim Montgomery, Carle has turned Zeev Buium and Jack Devine into NCAA stars, and he still has a host of other NHL talents on the upswing.
Before hiring Keefe, the Devils were interested in Carle last summer, and with their vacancy, the Flyers will assuredly be the next to inquire.
If the Flyers are truly aiming for a successful, long-term project that is profitable for both a coach and his players, Carle is the best option out there.
Carle, a three-time NCAA champion and the winner of back-to-back World Junior Championships, has won all there is to win at his current level, and the Flyers can present a new challenge with an equal reward.
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