13 coaching candidates the Flyers could target to replace John Tortorella

Let the speculation begin.

Now that John Tortorella has been fired, rumors will swirl about who the next Flyers coach will be.

Of course, the official word likely won’t come until the offseason, which starts in 21 days, but there are several intriguing candidates.

“I’m not sure exactly what we’re going to be looking for as a coach,” Flyers general manager Danny Brière said Thursday after cutting ties with Tortorella. “One thing I can tell you is we have a young team. A coach who can teach is going to be important to start with. But as far as all the traits, I think it’s a little too early to really dive deep into that.”

» READ MORE: Flyers GM Danny Brière says decision to fire John Tortorella wasn’t down to ‘one thing’ but ‘a series of things’ since the trade deadline

But it is fair to say there are a wide range of styles out there, as well as several up-and-coming coaches who could make an impact.

“We’re not going to close off any coaches because of their age,” Brière said. “If they’re the appropriate coach, we’re going to keep everything open. We don’t want to limit ourselves to it. But at the same time, if any young coach fits the bill, then, yeah, we might go for it.”

Here are 13 candidates the Flyers could consider to replace Tortorella:

There already is speculation that the job is the ex-Flyer’s if he wants it, but several steps must be taken first for that to happen. The Vancouver bench boss’ deal expires at the end of the season; however, the Canucks hold a club option for next season. It has been a tough, drama-filled season in British Columbia for the Canucks and Tocchet, who won the Jack Adams Award last season as the NHL’s top coach. Tocchet, who turns 61 in April and is a former teammate of Brière and president Keith Jones, would be a considerable switch-up from Tortorella at least in one regard. Vancouver GM Patrik Allvin recently told The Athletic: “What I really like is his ability to communicate with people. The hours he puts in there, to having individual meetings with players, I think that’s paying off.”

Pat Ferschweiler

A late-comer to the potentials, but probably one that should have been atop the list is the Western Michigan bench boss. Even before leading the program to its first national championship, he put the school back on the map, with some help from Flyers prospect Alex Bump, the NCHC’s forward of the year. Ferschweiler brings an NHL pedigree, having served as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings for five seasons before heading home to Kalamazoo, Mich. — he is a WMU alum and former teammate of Keith Jones — and runs his college team like an NHL head coach would.

The 35-year-old Carle, who turned to coaching after a heart condition was diagnosed before the 2008 NHL draft, has become one of the game’s best young coaches and figures to be a hot commodity. Now in his seventh season at the University of Denver, he has led the Pioneers to six NCAA men’s tournament appearances, three Frozen Fours, and two national championships (2022 and 2024). In January, Carle won his second straight gold medal with USA Hockey at World Juniors, the first time the nation has won back-to-back titles. Aside from having connections to Bobby Brink and Massimo Rizzo, who won NCAA titles with him, he is the younger brother of former Flyers defenseman Matt Carle.

Just because Sullivan, 57, is on the Tortorella coaching tree, do not expect the same vibes from the veteran bench boss. But unless Sullivan gets fired by the Pittsburgh Penguins — which could happen as they are about to miss their third straight postseason — he would not be available to the Flyers until after the 2026-27 season. Sullivan got the job in Pittsburgh midseason in 2015-16, and by June was holding the Stanley Cup. He won it again the next season, but the Penguins have not been out of the first round since 2017-18. Cool and calm — the majority of the time — he led the Americans to a second-place finish at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

» READ MORE: Opinion: The Flyers didn’t fire John Tortorella. He fired himself. And his timing was right. | Mike Sielski

The Flyers’ interim coach, Shaw should get a long look as the team’s next head coach. Tortorella’s right-hand man across multiple teams, Shaw is the polar opposite of the ex-coach in terms of demeanor and process. Respected throughout the NHL for his development of defensemen, he’s been a key cog in the growth of several Flyers blueliners, including Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen. He’s a former NHLer who has been behind benches for decades, but Thursday was just his 41st game as the No. 1 guy, which includes a stint with the New York Islanders in 2005-06. At nearly 61, Shaw said after getting his first win at the Flyers’ helm that he wasn’t sure he wanted the job, but “I told myself I was going to enjoy these nine games, just in case they are the last nine games that I get to do it. If it goes longer than that, then great.”

Bumping up the organization’s American Hockey League coach sometimes is the typical step for NHL teams, but Laperrière, 51, is doing solid work preparing the Flyers’ next generation in Lehigh Valley. He does have a connection with the majority of the squad, and, while a demanding coach, is a polar opposite, demeanor-wise, of Tortorella. Whether they want to move him out of that spot is to be determined, but, as Brière said, he wants a “coach who can teach.”

The former Edmonton coach was an observer at the Flyers’ training camp this past September, almost a year after he was fired by the Oilers. Woodcroft, 48, went 79-41-13 (.643 points percentage) in Alberta but was let go 13 games into the 2023-24 season after a slow start and failing to get the high-octane squad over the postseason hump the previous year.

Love is a two-time AHL coach of the year — in his first two seasons there — and a current assistant coach with the league-leading Washington Capitals, and the question isn’t if but when he gets a top job. At just 40 years old, he checks off several boxes and has Hockey Canada ties to Jamie Drysdale and Jakob Pelletier, the latter of whom he also coached in the Flames organization.

» READ MORE: A timeline of the John Tortorella era in Philly

There’s no denying that Nelson has put in the work and is high on the list for several clubs. The 55-year-old has led Hershey to back-to-back Calder Cup championships, the third and fourth of his coaching career (he won one with Grand Rapids as the head coach and Chicago as an assistant), and was the Oilers’ midseason replacement for Dallas Eakins in 2014-15. He compiled a 17-25-9 record with a young Leon Draisaitl in the year before Connor McDavid entered the league.

Quenneville has not coached in the NHL since 2021 because of his role in covering up an alleged sexual assault on a player in 2010 by then-Chicago Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich. The cover-up went beyond the borders of the league as his recommendation allowed Aldrich to keep working in hockey, where he later was convicted of assaulting another young man. There’s no denying Quenneville’s successful track record as a three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach, but there would be moral ramifications for hiring him, and, at 66, the same age as Tortorella, has he too lost a connection with today’s players?

Halpern, 48, has developed his coaching chops over the last seven seasons serving next to the game’s best coach, Jon Cooper. Although Halpern never won a Cup across his 976 NHL games, he has won two with the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant coach.

Another former NHLer, Savard has quickly built up a strong coaching resumé and is now an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs — whose head coach is another ex-Flyer, Craig Berube. Savard, 47, has experience coaching young players — he led Windsor to the Ontario Hockey League final in 2022, and, as a former elite center in the league, can help the Flyers’ centers, especially Noah Cates and Jett Luchanko, hone their craft.

Pandolfo, 50, knows a thing or two about winning. A two-time Stanley Cup champion with New Jersey as a player, Pandolfo spent seven years in various roles contributing to a consistent contender with the Boston Bruins before becoming head coach in 2022 at his alma mater, Boston University. With a win on Saturday, the Terriers will reach the Frozen Four for the third time in three seasons under the former Devil. Pandolfo started as a development coach with Boston, and his work with the Terriers — like Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson, two of the top candidates for the Calder Trophy — shows his ability to work with and build up young players.

» READ MORE: The Flyers look poised to land a top-5 draft pick. Here are six center prospects they could target.