There’s a big difference between teams that are actively shopping players and those just listening to offers.
Until Friday, the NHL trade deadline, the Flyers might be somewhere in the middle.
Nearly a month ago, it was no secret young veterans Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee were on the trading block. No doubt there were several suitors but the Calgary Flames seemed to have the players the Flyers wanted most, so the deal was done.
Now the hot rumors involve two 30-year-old players, Scott Laughton and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Given their ages, and the status of their contracts, either one could easily have a new address this time next week.
General manager Daniel Briere has been stockpiling draft picks since he took over his position in May, 2023. The fact that he’s in almost total rebuild mode would suggest there’s a plan in place to keep getting younger and with more salary cap flexibility in the years ahead.
That’s why he wasn’t willing to keep shelling out big bucks for Frost and Farabee, a pair of former first-round draft picks who sort of hit the wall this season.
There’s also an “X” factor in all this, namely the status of coach John Tortorella, whose contract runs through the 2025-26 season.
The question here seems to be: Has Briere been bringing in players who fit Tortorella’s style of coaching or does it even matter, if the veteran coach decides to retire in the spring of ’26? That’s not going to happen before then. Or if the Flyers themselves decide to go in a different direction.
Tortorella would give you the idea he doesn’t care about next week, much less next season. During media sessions he sounds like he doesn’t even know the team’s schedule a week or two in advance.
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re always looking to improve your team,” Tortorella said on Wednesday. “We have to improve our team. Danny is listening, he has to listen because we’re in that stage where we have to improve our team.
“Scotty is loved here but you can’t fall in love. I don’t think anybody is a lock (to not be traded). You can’t make a trade just because you think you have to make a trade. When you try to get better, there are going to be some casualties.”
Tortorella has made it clear he’s not going to walk away from this job until his contract is up. Somebody will have to give him the boot before he packs his bags.
From this vantage point, Briere appears to be keeping the faith that Tortorella is the right man to continue this development project.
In turn, Tortorella keeps coming back to the idea of getting the right people in place to make a sustained run in the future.
“If we win a few more, does it say to the manager, ‘yeah,’ we want to be there (in the playoffs),’ but I still think you can’t miss any steps here as far as staying in neutral and hoping,” the coach said.
“So if we want to be competitive and a competitive playoff team, we have to be better, personnel-wise. Every team is trying to get better. We have to do the same. Especially the situation we’re in. You can’t get soft here because you get stuck in the mud.”
In essence, it doesn’t matter who the next coach will be. The type of character players needed will always fit the trademark of the Flyers.
Tortorella refers to this type of performer as being “on the bus” as opposed to being “off the bus” when it comes to the team’s long-range future.
The profile includes how a player performs in games, on the bench, in the locker room, how they carry themselves in the weight room and so forth.
“You need that before you make the determination ‘are they on the bus?’ Or do we have to look to move them maybe to help us down the road in the future to make us better?” the coach said.
Tortorella seems to have the Flyers’ best interests in heart, even those after he’s long gone.
““I make the decisions that are best for the hockey team while I’m the head coach,” Tortorella said. “I don’t look at how many years I have left.
“I’ve never gone about my decision-making; all my information to the general manager based on trying to keep my job. Whatever question is asked of me in this type of situation, I’m going to be honest. Today, tomorrow. . . until Danny says, ‘Get the hell out of here. We’re done with you.’ ”
