John Tortorella finds work outside of an NHL coaching position
Things have been extremely quiet on the John Tortorella front since his contract as head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets expired at the end of the season. The two sides mutually agreed to part ways after six seasons. Many assumed Tortorella would be quickly snapped up by another team looking for a new bench boss, but all vacant positions have been filled and Tortorella was left on the sidelines. However, at least for now, it appears he has found work elsewhere.
"Told former [Blue Jackets] coach John Tortorella has been hired by ESPN to work as a studio analyst beginning this fall," said Aaron Portzline, who covers the team for The Athletic.
Torts is, of course, known for saying whatever is on his mind in the most blunt way possible, so he should at least be entertaining as a studio analyst. That said, there are plenty of questions over whether we'll see Tortorella back behind an NHL bench. Many have speculated that his style just does not work with today's players. Through six years with Columbus, his best finish was losing in the 2nd round of the playoffs. There are also several players that decided not to re-sign with Columbus after hitting free agency, while others asked to be traded. While Tortorella has never been specifically pegged as the reason for this, many have wondered if he was the main factor.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Quinton Byfield | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Vince Dunn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Roslovic | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Warren Foegele | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brayden Point | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nazem Kadri | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Brock Boeser | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Casey Cizikas | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirby Dach | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Anders Lee | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jaden Schwartz | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 37 | 26 | 10 | 1 | 53 | |
Golden Knights | 35 | 24 | 8 | 3 | 51 | |
Devils | 39 | 24 | 12 | 3 | 51 | |
Capitals | 35 | 24 | 9 | 2 | 50 | |
Wild | 36 | 22 | 10 | 4 | 48 | |
Maple Leafs | 37 | 22 | 13 | 2 | 46 | |
Panthers | 37 | 22 | 13 | 2 | 46 | |
Oilers | 35 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 45 | |
Kings | 35 | 20 | 10 | 5 | 45 | |
Hurricanes | 36 | 22 | 13 | 1 | 45 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||