Flyers roundtable: Assessing John Tortorella’s first season behind the bench

Has Tortorella met, exceeded, or come short of expectations in Year 1? And could he be eyeing a move upstairs to the front office? Our beat reporters weigh in.

John Tortorella has kept the Flyers competitive for the most part despite a clear shortage of high-end offensive skill.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Olivia Reiner and Giana Han

Published Apr. 7, 2023, 3:53 p.m. ET

The 2022-23 season is coming to an anticlimactic and merciful end for the Flyers, who have lost five straight and now “boast” the league’s seventh-worst record.

With just four games remaining in this slow drip of a season, we checked in with beat reporters Giana Han and Olivia Reiner one final time to get some perspective on what they’ve seen of late from the Orange and Black:

Q: John Tortorella has vacated the bench for a few games recently and instead watched from the press boss. What do you make of this and do you get the inkling this could support recent speculation about his potentially moving upstairs one day?

OR: Tortorella said that he thinks the players could use a different voice calling the game day shots at the end of a long season. Two, he wants to give his assistants the experience of serving as a head coach, seeing it as a beneficial opportunity for their development. Three, he wants to be able to have conversations in-game with interim general manager Danny Brière about personnel and style of play heading into a critical offseason. Would Tortorella potentially move to the front office in the future? He said Thursday that he hasn’t even “thought about anything like that” and that he views himself as a coach. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t hold a front-office role at some point down the line, but for now, Tortorella says he is focused on his current job.

GH: Tortorella said he wants to give his assistants the chance to run the bench and the players a break from hearing his voice. I don’t know how effective that actually will be, especially since the players have said the assistants preach the same things as him and it’s only for a few games at a time. As for sitting with Brière, it can’t hurt for Tortorella to have more time to share his opinions with the interim general manager. I don’t want to speculate on a potential front-office move, but I do know Tortorella got back into coaching because he missed the locker room and interacting with players.

Sticking with Tortorella, how would you evaluate/grade what he’s done this season in his first year as head coach?

OR: Tortorella came into this season with the goal of establishing a foundation upon which the Flyers can build for the future. It was a solid start — very rarely did the Flyers lack effort in their performances and their resiliency helped them stay in games, characteristics they lacked last season. A handful of key members of the Flyers’ young core took positive steps in their development under Tortorella, including Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, Noah Cates, and Cam York. He’s getting as much as he can out of a roster that lacks high-end skill and offensive firepower. Overall, it’s been a mostly positive first season with Tortorella leading the charge.

GH: Some of the young players have flourished this season under the new coach. Others have struggled to find their footing. Some of the veterans have fixed lifelong bad habits. Others have regressed. There were impressive win streaks as well as times of utter disappointment. It all seems to even out. The Flyers are a more resilient team than they were last year, and Tortorella certainly got them to play hard.

The Flyers may be limping to the finish line, but Morgan Frost has been a recent bright spot. Where do you envision him fitting in long-term?

OR: As he achieves more consistency in his game, pending-restricted-free-agent Frost is playing his way to a qualifying offer in the offseason. If the Flyers sign Frost to a new contract and trade Kevin Hayes, who was a top-six center going into this season and has been moved up, down, and around the lineup, then Frost figures to slot in as the Flyers’ second-line center next season. If Frost wants to hold that second-line spot long-term, he will need to continue on a positive trajectory, consistently showcasing his offensive skill while playing a reliable 200-foot game.

GH: This might sound crazy because he’s one of the young guys right now, but I see Frost being one of the older guys of the youth movement. By the time the Flyers’ current prospects and future high draft picks hit the NHL, Frost will be a relative veteran. If he continues to improve, he can be one of the guys who fill a supporting role for those young stars. Until then, he will help provide some offense and skill to keep the Flyers competitive.

Defenseman Ivan Provorov, meanwhile, looks to be a player going in the wrong direction. What have you seen from him this season and do you think he is playing his final games in orange and black?

OR: Three seasons after leading NHL defensemen in power-play goals (seven), Provorov has been taken off the power play and put in primarily defensive situations over the latter part of this season. But instead of seeing his defense improve as a result, his underlying numbers aren’t very encouraging there either. Provorov ranks 167th among 208 defensemen who have played at least 500 minutes TOI in even-strength defense (-1.9), which measures defensive goals above replacement, according to Evolving Hockey. Given his performance and the fact that he will be 27 years old next season, the Flyers could stand to benefit from trading him as they look to get younger.

GH: The biggest headline Provorov has made is for boycotting Pride Night. Other than that, he hasn’t been incredibly noticeable. For the most part, he’s been consistent, but he hasn’t proved he’s the No. 1 defenseman the Flyers were hoping he’d become. He’s the Flyers’ highest-paid blueliner, which might scare teams away, but there might be just enough term on his deal to hopefully sweeten a potential deal. The Flyers are certainly listening on Provorov, but I’m not sure whether teams will offer something worthwhile in return.

A lot has been made of the Flyers’ lack of high-end prospects, but it seems like several young players have made significant strides this year in the AHL. As the Lehigh Phantoms gear up for the playoffs, which players should Flyers fans be keeping tabs on?

OR: All eyes should be on winger Tyson Foerster, who is coming off both a strong AHL season (20 goals and 24 assists in 61 games) and an eye-catching NHL stint with the Flyers (three goals and four assists in eight games). He figures to have a strong chance of making the Flyers out of training camp next year. Elliot Desnoyers is also having an impressive first pro season (21 goals and 19 assists in 60 games) and could make a push for a fourth-line role with the Flyers next season. On defense, I’m eager to see how the newly signed Emil Andrae (a goal and three assists in five games) continues to acclimate to the North American game. Goalie Sam Ersson (.904 save percentage, 2.68 goals against average in 37 games) also figures to be a key part of the Phantoms’ playoff run.

GH: Foerster is of course the first name that comes to mind. He impressed in his NHL debut. Now it’s time to see how he steps up when every game matters. With his shot and his physical play, he could be an important part of the Flyers’ future. Desnoyers was another player Tortorella really liked during his NHL stint because of his hockey smarts. Ronnie Attard and Egor Zamula are two defensemen to watch. Winger Bobby Brink is still trying to get back in it after offseason labrum surgery, but he has experience shining in tournament-style play. Finally, Ersson has impressed in both the NHL and the AHL.