When John Tortorella was let go by the Philadelphia Flyers last week, he became the first name on what’ll become a growing list of fired head coaches as teams get eliminated from the playoffs through the spring.
The Flyers went 28-36-9 under Tortorella in what was his third season behind the bench in Philadelphia. He was dismissed after saying “I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season” following an embarrassing 7-2 loss.
The team has gone 3-0-0 since associate coach Brad Shaw took over for Tortorella as the interim head coach. It’s been a successful start for Shaw, who’s in his first head coaching gig in the NHL since manning the bench for the New York Islanders in the latter part of the 2005-06 season.
If the Flyers opt to move in a different direction this off-season, there are a few interesting options available, including two former Oilers. Jeff Marek wrote about Philly’s coaching vacancy at Daily Faceoff, mentioning Jay Woodcroft and Todd Nelson as names who should get consideration for NHL jobs in the summer.
Plenty of names are popping up for the Philadelphia Flyers coaching position. And while Rick Tocchet’s name may be the one on everybody’s lips, there are plenty more who should get some consideration. Internally, Ian Laperriere, head coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, will certainly get a conversation, and I would hope interim head coach Brad Shaw will be given a chance to keep the job. But let’s go over a couple more.
Jay Woodcroft was at the Flyers’ training camp as a guest earlier this season and since his departure from the Edmonton Oilers has been travelling the world to observe and learn different ways to approach working behind the bench. Numerous trips to Europe and a thumb on the pulse for everything happening in the NHL has Woodcroft ready when the next opportunity calls.
At some point Todd Nelson will get back to the NHL. The resume is too good, including his most recent pair of Calder Cup wins. In some ways his success has worked against him as his teams are still playing when most coaching interviews and decisions are taking place in the deep into the spring.
Woodcroft joined the Oilers as an assistant coach in 2015-16 when they hired Todd McLellan. After three seasons on the bench in Edmonton, he took over as the head coach of the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League in 2018-19 and had success developing young talent.
The Oilers made Woodcroft their head coach in February of 2022, replacing Dave Tippett in the role. He led the team to the Western Conference Final in 2021-22 and the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 but got fired after a disastrous start in 2023-24.
Nelson was the head coach of the Oklahoma City Oil Barons, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate before Bakersfield, for five seasons between 2010-11 and 2014-15. He led the team to the playoffs in his first four seasons with OKC and was called up to coach the Oilers after Dallas Eakins was fired in December of 2014.
The Oilers finished the 2014-15 season 17-25-9 with Nelson behind the bench. He left the organization in the off-season after the team hired Peter Chiarelli as general manager and McLellan as head coach. Since then, Nelson has won the Calder Cup three times, once with the Grand Rapids Griffins and twice with the Hershey Bears.