Former Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella isn't close to throwing in the towel on his coaching career, but the veteran bench boss was well prepared to say any talk of an NHL return right now is premature.
Tortorella, 67, is without a job at the start of a season for the first time since the 2021-22 season, when he was between jobs after spending six seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
With the Blue Jackets, of course, Tortorella worked closely with GM Jarmo Kekalainen, who just took over the Buffalo Sabres in the wake of Kevyn Adams's firing.
Longtime NHL head coach Lindy Ruff is back with the Sabres for his second stint, but there are no guarantees that arrangement remains in place with the Sabres sitting last in the Eastern Conference with a 14-14-2 record and just 32 points while playing the Flyers at the time of this writing.
As such, Tortorella, now an analyst with ESPN for the time being, was asked by reporter Emily Kaplan if he had gotten any calls from his old friend Kekalainen, which he vehemently denied in classic Tortorella fashion.
Ex-Flyers Coach John Tortorella Recounts Golden Matvei Michkov StoryTortorella dished on Michkov's surprising but enthusiastic penalty box strategy, which goes to show how well the two understood each other while they were together on the Flyers."No, I have not, Emily," Tortorella was quoted as saying to Kaplan by Mike Harrington of Buffalo News. "Don't even start."
Tortorella is live in-studio covering the Flyers-Sabres game on Thursday night and offered commentary, in his own way, on some things the Sabres players are doing, what they aren't doing, and how they can respond to their GM's dismissal.
One thing is for sure, though: the connection to Kekalainen and the success those two men had in Columbus with talents like Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Zach Werenski, and even Seth Jones, is an obvious link.
Plus, Tortorella kicked off his NHL coaching career with the Sabres, serving as an assistant coach for the franchise from 1989-90 to 1994-95 before taking over as the head coach of the AHL Rochester Americans for two seasons.
Matvei Michkov Says He Was 'Very Upset' When Flyers Fired John TortorellaThe relationship between star <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> rookie Matvei Michkov and fired head coach John Tortorella was much better than many have made it out to be.
Tortorella, of course, has been out of work since being fired by the Flyers on March 27, though he is on the United States' staff for the 2026 Winter Olympics - a team that could feature Flyers star Trevor Zegras.
A return to an NHL bench doesn't appear to be imminent just yet, but don't be surprised to see Tortorella back coaching at some point this season.