Flyers’ John Tortorella on team’s rebuild: ‘We knew we were going to go through some pain’

Things have not been great in the City of Brotherly Love.

Despite some optimism heading into this season, the Philadelphia Flyers are once again near the bottom of the standings. Thanks to losses in 10 of their last 11 games, nine of which have come in regulation, the Flyers have some solid odds heading into this year’s NHL Draft Lottery as they’re on their way to missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a fifth straight season.

When speaking to the media on Tuesday in the lead-up to the team’s matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Flyers head coach John Tortorella admitted it hasn’t been easy, but he believes in the process.

“For the three years I’ve been here,” Tortorella explained. “The guys that are going to be the foundation of a team that’s going to win someday here, when we get to that point, I think they’ve done their job. I want them to continue doing their job through this. Just trying to get through it. Trying to get to the finish line.”

Currently, the Flyers (28-35-9) are last in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres for the worst record in the Eastern Conference. With the team being well out of the postseason race for some time, Tortorella states that he’s changed his approach to the team.

“There’s nothing coming for us after April 17th … I just want us to concentrate on it and try to get there. So, I’ve changed my coaching. I’ve changed the style of play based on our lineup. So, we’re all trying to do it with dignity, do it the right way, and try to get to the end. And then we’ll see where we go as an organization after.”

Some on the outside might worry that another long off-season might hurt the development of rising stars such as Matvei Michkov and Bobby Brink. Yet, Tortorella assures that the Flyers’ brass has been very transparent about how tough the process will be before the team becomes a winner again.

“(Our management staff) have been in constant conversations as far as the pain we were going to feel. When a number of players left, this was a necessary part of this rebuild and this has been talked about for over a year, what this year was going to be. I say our players kept us competitive until near that deadline when everybody started leaving … We knew we were going to go through some pain.”

The Flyers and Maple Leafs are set to drop the puck a little after 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.