The slumping Philadelphia Flyers fired coach John Tortorella on Thursday and named Brad Shaw interim coach.
Tortorella had been hired in 2022 to oversee the team’s rebuild and the Flyers were in the playoff hunt last season until the final week. But they have dropped to eighth place in the Metropolitan Division this season and are in a 1-10-1 slide.
“John played a vital role in our rebuild,’ general manager Daniel Briere said in a statement. ‘He set a standard of play and re-established what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer. John’s passion on the bench was only equaled by his charitable work in our community. As we move into the next chapter of this rebuild, I felt this was the best for our team to move forward. I’d like to thank John for his tireless work and commitment to the Flyers.’
Tortorella had overseen the development of rookie Matvei Michkov this season and had benched him at times and made him a healthy scratch on a few occasions, calling it ‘part of the process.’
‘With young guys, they can watch games, too, as far as development,’ he told reporters in November. ‘It’s trying to help them.’
Tortorella finishes his Flyers tenure with a 97-107-33 record. His 770 wins rank second among U.S.-born coaches.
Shaw, promoted from associate coach, went 18-18-4 as New York Islanders head coach in 2005-06 after the team fired Steve Stirling.
The Flyers are the fifth NHL team to make a coaching change this season, following the Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings.