The Philadelphia Flyers can’t go through a proper rebuild with John Tortorella as the head coach. While some may see that and think it doesn’t matter because the Flyers are a good team this season and look like they should make the playoffs, the other way of seeing things is that they weren’t able to gather valuable draft capital and build up their farm system with talented young players like they could’ve with 4-5 years of being very bad.
Not all rebuilds are the same, and in the case of the Flyers, the direction they are going could actually work. The end goal is always the Stanley Cup, and who’s to say that they can’t get hot at the right time and win this season if they make the playoffs. The great thing about hockey is that any team has a chance and there is so much unpredictability.
The Flyers have had two top-7 draft picks over the last two years. Those were definitely rebuilding years, but they have taken a giant step forward in Tortorella’s second season with the team. I believe it is because it takes a bit of time to adjust to his system and everyone has now bought in. He gets every single player to play hard, no matter their skill level. It wears teams down and always keeps the Flyers in games. We’ve seen it with the Columbus Blue Jackets before this with a group that wasn’t the most talented – but they knocked off the powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning in four games.
One of those two top-7 picks, Cutter Gauthier, decided that he didn’t want to play for the Flyers. Say what you will, but to the outside eye, Tortorella’s coaching style may scare off certain talent from wanting to play for him. He really cares about his players, but his style isn’t for everyone. This did remove a very promising young forward from the equation, but may have pushed the Flyers forward a year by bringing back Jamie Drysdale, a 21-year-old former sixth overall pick in 2020 who already has NHL experience and can play top-four minutes.
The expectation was that the Flyers would be on the rise by the time Matvei Michkov came over, which will still be a few years yet. The thinking is that they are through the rebuild and in the retooling phase. While there is a bit of time before the trade deadline to see where the team actually sits in the standings, Danny Briere doesn’t seem to want to stray from the plan of still building for the future.
This has a few players being mentioned in trade rumors, but intelligently, nothing has happened yet. It doesn’t send a great message to sell off players when a team is pretty firmly in a playoff spot. If they fall, then we could see the Flyers head on that path. But for now, Tortorella has the Flyers playing to their full potential and it has built a great culture around the team. They may not get their proper long rebuild that some organizations need, but they may not end up needing it. Time will tell.
