John Tortorella has never been one to shy away from being blunt.
As the Philadelphia Flyers traverse their way through an organizational rough patch, the outlook of the rebuild is raising questions—questions that Tortorella has answered forthright.
Tortorella shot back at a reporter recently who suggested the he might not be the Flyers coach after his four-year contract expires.
“How do you know what my tenure is?” Tortorella said per The Athletic.
“I really don’t give a (expletive) what people think — how long I’m going to be here, or should he be here?” he said. “That stuff never bothers me. I’m so locked in to trying do my job the best I can each and every day for (management). The other nonsense and s--- that’s out there, it’s noise to me. … That’s part of the business. But that never influences how I go about my business and never will.”
Many skilled players have come and gone in the Flyers organization since Tortorella took over the helm in 2022, including the most recent trade deadline departures of Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost and Scott Laughton.
If a player doesn't fit cohesively into Tortorella's system, they are replaced. But if Tortorella sees the potential or values certain attributes about their game, general manager Danny Briere has respected the coach's opinion.
“I love working with (Briere) because we’re very open in our dialogue,” Tortorella said on Feb. 26. “And Jonesy is the same way. I think it’s imperative that the general manager gets information from the coaching staff, that are dealing with these players every day — in practice, games, on the bench, in the locker room, how they act, how they carry themselves in the weight room — all that.
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