Miller's Opinion: Tortorella Should've Been A Jack Adams Finalist If The Flyers Made The Playoffs

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If the Philadelphia Flyers made the postseason, head coach John Tortorella should’ve been nominated for the Jack Adams Award.

The Flyers came within four points of making the playoffs in a season where projections had them toward the bottom of the standings. A late-season eight-game losing streak ultimately ended their fate of making the playoffs. The fact that they got that close is a testament to the coaching done by Tortorella and his staff.

ESPN ranked the Flyers 29th in their season preview power rankings. This was ESPN’s best-case scenario for Philadelphia:

“Philadelphia is far from win-now mode. What qualifies as success is taking a step forward; simply being better than it was a year ago. The Flyers have exciting young players like Cam York who get much-needed experience against NHL talents and begin building confidence. Travis Konecny — still with the team despite constant rumors he’d be traded — ignites the Flyers’ offense early and that does eventually allow GM Danny Briere to flip him at the trade deadline for valuable assets in Philadelphia’s ongoing re-tool. The Flyers are fun, but don’t hurt their chances of grabbing another good spot in the draft lottery.”

The Flyers got an incredible season out of Travis Konecny (33 goals, 35 assists), and Cam York got a ton of NHL experience in a high-ranking role on the blue line.

Danny Briere made terrific moves at the trade deadline and sold off a key defenseman in Sean Walker, yet Tortorella still got the most out of his team. He also had to navigate the Carter Hart situation.

The finalists for this season’s award are Vancouver Canucks’ Rick Tocchet, Nashville Predators’ Andrew Brunette, and Winnipeg Jets’ Rick Bowness.

All three coaches are deserving, but all three teams are much closer to winning and should’ve made the postseason. Nashville had a substantial winning streak late in the season but was decent otherwise. Vancouver had a massive turnaround from last season to this season and won the Pacific Division. Winnipeg was good all season, but Bowness, in my opinion, would be the coach taken out of the nominees for Tortorella if the Flyers made it to the dance.

While the Flyers killed their chances of getting in with the eight-game losing streak, Tortorella coached them with passion, pride, and structure, which his team benefited immensely.

Without Tortorella behind the bench, this team would be in the mix for Macklin Celebrini and have a high chance of winning the 2024 NHL Draft Lottery. Instead, they finish too high in the standings to have a slim chance at the No. 1 pick.

Tortorella will continue to develop his team, and the prospect pool will continue to grow and become NHLers.

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