March 27, 2025
Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images
Denver's David Carle has been an increasingly popular name among potential NHL head coaching jobs.
John Tortorella got fired Thursday morning.
Brad Shaw is taking over the Flyers' bench in the interim for the nine games they have left this season, but now general manager Danny Brière and the front office will be commencing a head coaching search for wherever their rebuild goes next.
Their options aren't crystal clear just yet, and likely won't be until the season is officially over, but there are a few immediate names that jump out.
Here's a rundown of five possibilities...
Carle is the immediate route many will jump to.
The 35-year-old is the star coach on the rise from having built the University of Denver into a collegiate hockey powerhouse, with two national championships in the past three seasons, and from having led Team USA to back-to-back gold medals in the IIHF World Junior Championship.
The NHL is a different beast from college and international juniors, but the Flyers are a young team, and Carle has already proven more than capable of getting the best out of young players.
It will probably take a lot to sway him out of the situation he has built up for himself in Denver, and the Flyers would more than likely not be the only NHL club calling him about possible interest over the next couple of months, but Carle is lining up to be the No. 1 coaching get for the teams who are going to be looking for one this spring, provided one can get him.
Everyone is talking about Rick Tocchet and Philadelphia for next year.
— Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) March 27, 2025
But may I propose one David Carle. https://t.co/zWtOSqSB8b pic.twitter.com/tsbPM62StY
The safe route, and maybe one that would only serve as a bridge to the coach for when the Flyers are truly ready to compete, rather than a true long-term solution – at least from where things sit right now.
Tortorella has let Shaw run games behind the Flyers' bench before, but this interim run to close out the season will be his extended look.
As a defensive specialist, Shaw has done wonders for the development of defensemen like Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Jamie Drysdale.
If he can extend his influence up to the forwards, or put a staff in place who can take the right steps with them, he could, in theory, keep the Flyers moving along as the front office tries to fill out the rest of the roster.
The connection is obvious there.
Tocchet is a former Flyer of 11 years across separate stints, a fan favorite, and in his early days as a player, a high-scoring breakout star.
He's no stranger to the area, or the organization, but his coaching career has taken him elsewhere throughout the league.
He was an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins when they won their back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, and as a head coach, he's manned the bench for Tampa Bay Lightning, the Arizona Coyotes, and now the Vancouver Canucks.
Tocchet hasn't led his teams to that same level of success he had as an assistant in Pittsburgh, granted, at the time he was in Tampa and Arizona, and even in Vancouver now, there was always some sort of greater organizational turmoil going on around him.
Tocchet is on an expiring contract with the Canucks. They have interest in extending him, but the team is still in the playoff hunt, so Tocchet is setting those talks aside until after the season, per TSN league insider Pierre LeBrun.
The question now, though, is: Would the Flyers job suddenly opening up be enough to shift how Tocchet weighs his options once it is time for him to consider what's next?
EARLY TRADING - @PierreVLeBrun on Tortorella's exit from Philly, speculation on Rick Tocchet and his expiring contract, and monitoring the NHL coaching carousel: https://t.co/d93UjYNCc3
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) March 27, 2025
Watch an expanded Insider Trading later today on SportsCentre and https://t.co/BQGeAnElqf pic.twitter.com/NdvfA4ACWy
Keeping in mind that there are still some names currently employed, for now, the Flyers can look around and go other established routes, like with Andrew Brunette if he becomes available (did well in the interim with Florida and got Nashville to the playoffs last year before they fell apart this season), or Mike Sullivan if he gets let go from the Penguins.
The one key thing to remember, though, is that whoever is next has to excel at developing and leading a young team.
So basically, if the Rangers were to fire Peter Laviolette, don't go back down that well. He's a coach for a team that's ready, not one that is still a major work in progress.
A real wild card, and perhaps not the time just yet, considering she's still only in her first season with Seattle, but if Campbell does have interest in taking the next step up, at least a call to see what she could bring wouldn't hurt.
She's played, she has the coaching resume from overseas, in international play, to the Calder Cup Finals in the AHL alongside current Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma, and now in the NHL.
It would mark a major culture shift, not just in the NHL, or in hockey, but in all of professional sports.
That being said, the NHL has a notorious reputation for recycling the same list of coaches over and over again without much deviation, while Campbell has a building reputation as a newer, more forward-thinking mind.
A scenario where you would hire wouldn't be just a massive swing, but a clear statement that these aren't the same old Flyers.
MORE: Flyers fire John Tortorella as head coach
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