I’d like to believe that I speak for most Flyers fans when I say I’m somewhat relieved that the 2021-2022 season is finally over. It’s been a long season that has had many lows, and not many highs. This off-season is very important when talking about the direction of the franchise, and it’s starts behind the bench.
Mike Yeo was named interim head coach of the Flyers on December 6th when the team fired Alain Vigneault. Yeo did not fare any better than Vigneault, as the Flyers went 17-36-7 under the interim head coach. On May 3rd, general manager Chuck Fletcher announced that they would not be bringing back Yeo as the head coach. So, that brings us to this important question: Who is the next head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers? Here are the top 5 coaching candidates the Flyers should consider:
John Tortorella
While I don’t think Tortorella is the perfect coach for the direction where this team should be going, it’s clear the Flyers are going to try to aggressively retool. I’m of the opinion that the Flyers should strip it down and start from scratch with a true rebuild, and if that was to happen, Torts wouldn’t be the right guy for the job. If an aggressive rebuild is the way they want to go, they shouldn’t go for recycled head coaches; they should be eyeing up-and-comers out of the NCAA, a la Dave Hakstol, if you will.
John Tortorella is a divisive figure among the hockey community. He’s loud, he’s arrogant, and he coaches a boring style of hockey. At least some would say boring while it is successful. Tortorella has quite the resume. He’s coached in 1,383 games for a record of 673 wins, 541 losses, 37 ties, and 132 overtime losses. He has also won the Jack Adams award twice, and has a Stanley Cup victory to his name. Sure, that happened all the way back in 2004, but he knows what it takes to win hardware.
What intrigues me the most about Tortorella is the success he had with the Columbus Blue Jackets and the ability to lead them to play well above their expectations. Their roster was flawed and many fans did not expect much from Columbus, but he turned them into a perennial playoff team during his tenure. Tortorella lead Columbus to the playoffs 4 out of 6 seasons as the head coach. I’m not sure that he would instantly make the Flyers a Cup contender, but he could get more out of the roster and turn them into a competitive hockey team.
Jim Montgomery
Montgomery is an intriguing name. Ultimately what it boils down to is if he wants to become a head coach again. He was fired by the Dallas Stars back in 2019 due to concerns about alcohol abuse. Montgomery checked himself into rehab in January of 2020 and he’s been serving as an assistant coach for the Saint Louis Blues for the last 2 seasons.
Montgomery spent time as the head coach of Denver University from 2013-2018 while making the NCAA tournament every season. He also made the Frozen Four twice, while winning one National Championship in the 2016-2017 season.
He only spent one and a half seasons as the coach of the Dallas Stars before getting fired, but he had an impressive 60-43-10 record.
Rikard Grönborg
This might be an “outside of the box” pick, but that’s why I like Grönborg. He’s currently the head coach of the ZSC Lions of the National League in Switzerland. The reason this is such an “outside of the box” name is because there have only been only two non-North American head coaches in the history of the NHL. For whatever reason, it just doesn’t happen.
There will definitely be a learning curve for Grönborg to transition into a head coach in the NHL, most specifically coaching a team on a smaller sheet of ice. He does have a substantial amount of success as a head coach, including at the national stage. He’s won a silver medal as the assistant coach for Sweden in the 2014 Olympics, and won a gold medal as the head coach in the 2017 IIHF World Championship.
Rikard Grönborg has an intense personality. Remember the Peter Laviolette and Dan Bylsma feud back in 2012? Grönborg had a similar incident with a Swiss coach this past season. What intrigues me the most about Grönborg is the fact that it would be a unique hire, and the Flyers should absolutely consider adding him as their next head coach.
Rick Tocchet
Every Flyers fan is familiar of Rick Tocchet dating back to his playing days. There’s no question he was and still is a fan favorite. He got his start as a head coach in the NHL with Tampa Bay back in 2008 where he spent two seasons with that title. He then spent time as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins where he won two Stanley Cups in 2016 defeating the San Jose Sharks and in 2017 defeating the Nashville Predators. He then got his second opportunity at head coaching where he spent four seasons with the Arizona Coyotes from 2017-2021. His career head coaching record is 178-200-60.
Tocchet seems to be somewhere between a great assistant coach and a below average head coach. I’m not enamored with him as a head coach, but his relationship with current players could be beneficial to a hockey team. The biggest reason I’m not sold on Tocchet as the Flyers next head coach is because they don’t need another “old boys club” member. They need new voices throughout the entire front office, and Tocchet doesn’t bring a new, fresh voice. He certainly hasn’t had a ton of success as a head coach in the NHL.
Paul Maurice
Maurice has a lot of respect in the hockey community among front offices. He has coached a number of hockey games, totaling 1,685 games for the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, and most recently, the Winnipeg Jets. He resigned as the head coach of the Jets in December of 2021.
The biggest knock on Paul Maurice is that he’s never won a Stanley Cup which is a fair concern. He’s spent 24 seasons as a head coach and only made the playoffs 9 times, 4 of which came in the last 5 years. Although he hasn’t exactly gotten deep into the playoffs, his teams are usually competitive, and just his experience behind the bench alone is a good attribute to have as a head coach.
Only time will tell who becomes the next bench boss for the Philadelphia Flyers and until that happens, the only thing we have to look forward to is May 10th… the NHL Draft Lottery, baby.
