If you've known me for a while, you know that I haven't always thought highly of Flyers coach John Tortorella. Hell, I even said if he was made coach of the US Olympic Hockey Team that I'd root for Canada. However, the job he did in year one with the Flyers wasn't bad. He took over an underachieving team who looked like they were sleepwalking in parts of the previous season and made them at least entertaining. This isn't an indictment of his ability to coach; he's proven in multiple places that while his influence can push a contending team over the brink into a playoff team, and has won one Stanley Cup in his fourteen seasons as a head coach.
Where Torts falls short, and where I think he is a detriment to the rebuild, is in his ability to connect with and understand his players. He tries to play his cards close to his chest with regards to his thoughts on players and their position with the team, but as we saw this season with certain players, he isn't the best at this. Kevin Hayes, the team's lone all-star, was practically given away after the season. Tony DeAngelo was bought out. What do these players have in common? They both drew the ire of Tortorella during the season, ended up in his dog house, and because of the way he treated them, it was blatantly obvious to anyone paying attention that neither fit the long term plans of the team. Hence, when they were offered up for trades, teams knew they could wait until the offseason and get them for next to nothing, or in the case of James Van Riemsdyk, absolutely nothing, as he was allowed to walk in free agency. I guess JVR shouldn't count against him since that was while Fletcher was in charge, but as completely inept as Fletcher was as a GM, I'm sure Torts didn't help.
Now, I'm not saying that any of the above should still be in the Black and Orange. I would have preferred DeAngelo never put it on in the first place. What I AM saying is that as a GM, if your coach is basically tipping your hand at who on your team you don't value, you're at a distinct disadvantage when trying to acquire new talent to help rebuild your roster. Maybe this season, Danny Briere and Keith Jones have a chat with Torts and get him to work with them on players that aren't cutting it. Maybe they have some kind of arrangement that makes it easier for them to try to unload those players for more than a half-empty can of birch beer. I'm willing to give Tortorella the benefit of the doubt (yeah, I know he's going to be super happy to hear that) and assume that he'll work with the new co-GMs. Hopefully he proves me right, and the rebuild can begin in earnest this year. If not, don't be surprised if Jonesy and Danny are looking for a new head coach to help steer the team through the rebuild.
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