Brad Shaw and the Flyers are focused on doing ‘the right things’ as they play out the string

These days, Brad Shaw feels like a substitute teacher.

Handed the reins of the Flyers after John Tortorella was fired on March 27, he’s in charge until the end of the season as interim head coach. But don’t expect Shaw to be a pushover. He is keeping a close eye.

“We all remember school when the teacher was there, and it was some pretty good discipline in the room. And as soon as you had that substitute teacher, certain people took advantage of that said substitute teacher,” he said with a laugh on Monday. “I think I pretty much know which guys are going to try that here. So I tried to preempt it, maybe with some of them, and try to maybe watch it a little closer, but it’s kind of where we’re at.”

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The Flyers are nearing the end of their season. Eliminated from the postseason Saturday, they still have five games remaining across the next 10 days, beginning Wednesday on the road against the spiraling New York Rangers (7:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, Max).

Shaw isn’t a disciplinarian, far from it, but he does have expectations and a style of play he believes can work. As much as this is a time for certain players to play for jobs in the NHL, this also is a time for him to audition as the permanent bench boss.

“I’ve asked them for five more 2½-hour business meetings,” he said. “Let’s treat it that way. And, outside of the actual meeting, continue to prepare the way you have to, but enjoy yourself.”

Fun is a word Shaw and the players have used a lot since Tortorella was fired. But the interim coach added that it is a fine balance. While he wants his players to enjoy the last few days they will be together — because there always are additions and subtractions in the offseason — he needs them to maintain focus.

“I think we want to build for the future here,” captain Sean Couturier said after practice Tuesday. “We have five games here to kind of make sure we get good habits in place and play the right way and grow as a team. It’d be nice to go into the summer feeling somewhat good about ourselves and bring it into next year. So I think that’s kind of the motivation [we’ve] got right now.”

Good habits sometimes slip at this time of year with nothing to play for, but the Flyers have a strong locker room, filled with a mix of veterans and young players. As the 32-year-old Couturier, one of only four Flyers over the age of 30, said, he wants “to see young guys take a step forward and take accountability and make each other accountable.”

“I think everyone’s been self-evaluating,” winger Travis Konecny said. “That’s the best thing about this team, I think some of the older guys, you have messages or maybe have some conversations with them about stuff, but like a lot of our young guys do it on their own.

“They’re coming in, ready to play and be professionals since they got here. And it might not always show as far as the game and mistakes and stuff like that, but as far as off the ice, those are the guys. A lot of those guys lead the way in that category. They do a lot of the right things.”

But it doesn’t hurt when you have veterans in the room, like Konecny, Couturier, and Garnet Hathaway. Often spotted in the locker room checking in on the younger guys or giving them advice, Hathaway is serving as a mentor. After 601 NHL games, the 33-year-old knows how important it is to be consistent but to also enjoy the here and now.

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“I think there’s two things that I’ve heard and try to implement in my day-to-day stuff: Be in the moment and be grateful,” Hathaway told The Inquirer. “Being out a month, I think I got hit pretty quick with how big a part this locker room has in my life and how much it means to me.”

Hathaway recently missed 15 games after a blindside hit by Boko Imama of the Pittsburgh Penguins in late February.

“Once you leave the game, you can’t get it back,” he said. “But, I think just to be grateful in the moments that you have here was the biggest thing to take away.”

Olle Lycksell cleared waivers and was sent to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. The forward, who is a “Group 6″ unrestricted free agent this summer — free agents who are at least 25 years old with three years of NHL experience but less than 80 NHL games played — had five assists in 19 NHL games this season. Lycksell represents a significant playoff add for the Phantoms, as he still leads the team in scoring with 41 points (20 goals, 21 assists) despite playing only 40 games in the American Hockey League. The Phantoms have four more regular-season games before the postseason.