The Philadelphia Flyers fired John Tortorella on Thursday, replacing him with Brad Shaw on an interim basis. 

Tortorella, 66, had a year remaining on his contract. Following a 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, he expressed frustration over the Flyers' recent decline in the standings, sounding like he wasn't keen to continue coaching a rebuilding team. 

Under Tortorella, the Flyers exceeded expectations since last season. They narrowly missed the post-season last year despite management's hesitant rebuilding approach and the lack of experienced goalie depth following Carter Hart's mid-season departure.

They were still in the chase this season. However, trading away Scott Laughton, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost and Erik Johnson gutted their roster depth, which was further weakened by a recent injury to blueliner Rasmus Ristolainen. They wound up tumbling down the standings and out of contention. 

Finding a suitable replacement will be management's off-season priority. 

The Hockey News’ Adam Proteau and Jonathan Bailey suggested David Carle of the University of Colorado as a candidate. Before Tortorella’s firing, Philly Hockey Now's William James suggested the same. Ben Kuzma of The Vancouver Province wondered if Canucks coach Rick Tocchet might land behind the Flyers' bench.

TSN's Pierre LeBrun mentioned Carle and Tocchet, pointing out that the latter is the only current NHL coach on an expiring contract, though it comes with a club option for next season. He wondered if Joel Quenneville might be part of the Flyers' search.

LeBrun also cited interim coaches Joe Sacco in Boston and Anders Sorensen in Chicago. He mused about Peter Laviolette's future if the New York Rangers miss the playoffs. The Hockey News’ Sam Carchidi and Proteau also wondered about AHL Lehigh Valley coach Ian Laperriere as an option.

Tortorella Gone, But Many Flyers Problems RemainJohn Tortorella has a lot of redeeming qualities, including the fact he develops a culture with his hard-driving, old-school style.

Before his firing, Tortorella felt the Flyers had to improve their goaltending after this season. He indicated Hart's departure last season left the position in turmoil, relying on inexperienced goaltenders Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov. As a result, the Flyers have one of the league's worst goals against per game (3.45).

Kevin Kurz of The Athletic believes Fedotov's future with the Flyers is in doubt. He has a year remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $3.275 million, a 5-13-3 record, a 3.21 goals-against average and a .877 save percentage. 

Back To The Future: Flyers Plagued By Same Old Goalie IssuesFor most of the last four decades, the Philadelphia Flyers have been the poster child for mediocre-to-poor goaltending.

The Flyers will find the market is thin this summer for free-agent goaltenders with starter experience. The notables include the oft-injured Fredrik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes, Jake Allen of the New Jersey Devils, and Vitek Vanecek of the Florida Panthers. 

John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks is the only noteworthy goalie in the trade market. He carries an average annual value of $6.4 million through 2026-27 and a 10-team no-trade clause. The 31-year-old Gibson might not be keen to swap a rebuilding team in Anaheim for one in Philadelphia.

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Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby wrote his name in the NHL history books once again on Thursday. 

With a goal against the Buffalo Sabres, Crosby became the first NHL player ever to record 20 seasons where he’s averaged at least one point per game. He broke the tie with Wayne Gretzky, who had 19.

Crosby has 80 points in 72 games this season, 17 more points than the second-leading scorer on the Penguins, Rickard Rakell. Crosby missed two games before the 4 Nations Face-Off, meaning he can only play a maximum of 80 matches this season.

The 37-year-old could still break some massive franchise records set by another all-time great, Mario Lemieux.

Lemieux is the Penguins' leader in goals with 690 and points with 1,723. Crosby gained the lead in the assist column earlier this season and currently has 1,058 helpers.

It’ll take some time for Crosby to beat Lemieux in goals and points, but he’s well within reach. He could even get it done before his next two-year contract expires.

Crosby only needs 48 more points to become Pittsburgh’s all-time points leader. He’s more than capable of setting that record in the first half of next season.

In every season where Crosby has played at least 40 games, he scored at least 47 points. As long as he stays healthy, he won’t break a sweat on his way to becoming the franchise’s point leader. If we use his 1.11 points-per-game average from this season, he’s projected to record eight more points this season and break Lemieux’s record 36 games into 2025-26.

Penguins Crosby Joins Exclusive Club With Another 80-Point Season Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby scored a first-period goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, March 27, securing his 14th 80-point season.

Breaking the goals record will be a bit more of a challenge. 

Crosby has 618 career goals, 73 away from breaking Lemieux’s 690-goal marker. In the next two seasons, Crosby will have to get close to 40 goals in each of those campaigns to become the club’s all-time goal leader. 

Last season, he scored 42 goals, his most since the 44 he recorded in 2016-17.

The goal to give him the point per-game record was his 26th of the year. In the season's final eight games, he’s on pace to score two or three more goals. He’ll have to return to his production from last season if he wants any chance to break the record, but at this point, it’s tough to doubt what Crosby can do.

As for the team, they lost 7-3 to the Sabres, sit 26th overall in the NHL standings and are projected to miss the playoffs for the third straight season.

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