The Philadelphia Flyers have fired coach John Tortorella as the team sits in second-to-last place in the Eastern Conference. The team also announced associate coach Brad Shaw will take the reins as Philadelphia’s interim head coach.
Philadelphia Flyers fire John Tortorella, promotes Brad Shaw
“Today I made the very difficult decision to move on from John as our head coach,” Flyers general manager Daniel Briere said in a statement. “John played a vital role in our rebuild. He set a standard of play and re-established what it means to be a Philadelphia Flyer. … As we move into the next chapter of this rebuild, I felt this was the best for our team to move forward.”
Tortorella spent the last three seasons as the Flyers’ coach and led the team to a 97-107-33 record during that span. The Flyers are currently in a rebuilding phase and are on a six-game losing streak, including losing 11 of their last 12 contests.
Most recently, the Flyers suffered a 7-2 loss at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, bringing Philadelphia’s record to 28-36-9 (65 points) on the year.
Brad Show experience
Shaw has been a member of Philadelphia’s coaching staff since July 2022 and previously served as an interim coach with the New York Islanders during the 2005-06, accumulating a 18-18-4 record.
Tortorella was originally hired by the Flyers during the 2022 offseason and was tasked with coaching a young Flyers team. The Flyers failed to make the playoffs in any of Tortorella’s three seasons at the helm.
The Flyers have the fifth-fewest points across the NHL and likely will land a top-five pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Philadelphia owns 13 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, including three first-round selections Briere has amassed in trades over recent seasons.
