Where do the Flyers stand with their coaching search? And beyond Rick Tocchet, who are the top candidates?

It feels like forever, but the Flyers’ season only ended 11 days ago with a loss to the Buffalo Sabres on April 17.

Across the next two days, the players, coach, and general manager chatted with the media, providing insight into what went wrong — and on a lesser scale, right — in 2024-25.

On Thursday, the wheels started turning toward the future as GM Danny Brière fired assistant coaches Rocky Thompson, Darryl Williams, and Angelo Ricci. Brad Shaw, who served as the interim coach down the stretch, and goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh remain with the club.

» READ MORE: Flyers GM Danny Brière has not disclosed his offseason to-do list. We wrote one for him.

But the biggest to-do on Brière’s list is hiring a new head coach. Here is where things stand as the Flyers prepare for 2025-26.

Although expected after the season, the Flyers fired coach John Tortorella with nine games left on March 27. The move came two days after he stated postgame: “I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now.” The Inquirer later learned there was also a heated verbal argument between Cam York, who was benched in that game, and the now-fired Tortorella in Toronto.

Brière said on March 27 that the firing was building: “It’s not one thing, it’s a series of things that have happened. Probably a little bit more in the last three weeks that escalated since probably around the trade deadline or right after that.”

At his end-of-season availability, captain Sean Couturier revealed he “just felt that at times, I was getting pushed aside” by Tortorella. Couturier was one of several players over the past two seasons who stated they were never given an explanation why they were healthy scratched or benched.

According to a team source, the Flyers have not started the coach search in earnest. Aside from waiting to see how the chips may fall after the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, team president Keith Jones, Brière, and scouts are in Texas at the Under-18 World Championships. The Flyers have seven picks in the first two rounds and 11 overall in June’s draft, and several top prospects — like Swedish center Anton Frondell — competing at the U18 tournament.

And, a quick reminder, the last regime didn’t hire Tortorella until June 17. Alain Vigneault was hired nine days after the 2018-19 season ended, but Dave Hakstol was hired 37 days after the 2014-15 season concluded. There is no set timetable.

» READ MORE: 13 coaching candidates the Flyers could target to replace John Tortorella

The Flyers are one of seven NHL teams looking for a new bench boss, joining the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Boston and Chicago each utilized interim coaches during the season after letting the top guy go. Greg Cronin (Anaheim), Peter Laviolette (New York), and Dan Bylsma (Seattle) were fired after their respective seasons ended, and the Penguins announced on Monday they “agreed to part ways” with two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Sullivan.

As of Monday, the Canucks and Tocchet are still tied together. The 2024 Jack Adams Award winner’s contract expires at the end of June, and Canucks president Jim Rutherford revealed at the end of the season that the club would not be picking up its option. Rutherford said they want to sign him to a new deal.

According to the latest episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, the Canucks and Tocchet met on Friday and the biggest snafu to signing is the lack of a practice facility for the team.

» READ MORE: Brad Shaw is ‘having a blast’ as an interim head coach. The Flyers are having fun, too.

“I think if you’re the one team that doesn’t have one, and the nights where your main rink is not available, and you kind of have to go into a public rink. It’s a little bit different,” Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman said. “I could see why that would drive a coach crazy.”

A Flyers Hall of Famer as a player, Tocchet has long been rumored to be the top candidate for the Flyers’ job — even before Tortorella was fired.

The Inquirer has learned that David Carle, the coach at Denver and the brother of former Flyers defenseman Matt Carle, is “not a good fit” and is not expected to be a serious candidate for the job. Carle removed himself from consideration for the Chicago job over the weekend and is now expected to return to Denver.

It also doesn’t sound like Pat Ferschweiler, who just coached Western Michigan to the school’s first NCAA championship and was a college teammate of Keith Jones with the Broncos, is planning on leaving college.

So with Tocchet unavailable — at least for now — what options are there for the Flyers? Brière has stressed he wants someone who can teach and communicate effectively.

Maybe they don’t have to look very far. Shaw did a solid job over the final nine games, going 5-3-1 and allowing the players to play free without worry of getting benched for a mistake.

He also fits the standard in the NHL of finding a coach who’s a bit of an opposite to the guy you just fired. Tortorella was a demanding, grinding coach, and Brière said at his end-of-season chat with the media that it may be time to “give a little bit more freedom to the players to try things and to let their talent come out.”

So, who would fit that role?

Laviolette is a former Flyers coach, but has bounced around lately and is probably not the right guy to inherit a young up-and-coming team. Joel Quenneville, who is looking to get back into coaching and recently met with Anaheim, would come with additional baggage given his role in the Blackhawks sexual assault scandal. And Cronin is rumored to have been even more demanding than Tortorella, which no one ever thought would be possible.

How about Sullivan? He may come from the Tortorella coaching tree and can be demanding, but he’s not over the top and allows some freedom to his players. Aside from his Stanley Cups, he also has the experience of coaching stars, like Sidney Crosby and Matvei Michkov’s countryman, Evgeni Malkin. Sullivan, 57, is expected to be a hot commodity and has been strongly linked with the vacancies in New York and Boston.

Jay Woodcroft is a name that has been brought up around the Flyers. He observed some of Tortorella’s training camp in September, and in October, TSN insider Pierre LeBrun said, “Woodcroft would be more appealing to a team in transition. Trying to get to the next level and grow with a coach long-term.” He has been spending his time since getting fired by the Edmonton Oilers in 2023 learning and growing through observation, and it could be interesting to see how he fits in Philly.

One of two American Hockey League candidates could snag the job, too. Amid his third straight postseason appearance with Lehigh Valley, Ian Laperrière recently told The Inquirer he is interested in the top job. The Phantoms are set to face another possible candidate, Hershey Bears coach Todd Nelson, when the teams meet this week in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

» READ MORE: Phantoms coach Ian Laperrière is in playoff mode, but he’d like a shot at the Flyers’ coaching job

And there are several NHL assistants, including Tampa Bay’s Jeff Halpern, Toronto’s Marc Savard, and Washington’s Mitch Love, who are expected to receive head coaching consideration across the league. The aforementioned three are in the postseason, and remember, the Flyers are waiting until the end of the first round of the playoffs to really start things up. Plus, there could be a few surprise candidates available by then.