Tortorella Using Youth Movement To Shape Team's Identity?

Twenty-three year old Owen Tippett has been showing he's growing on both sides of the puck under Tortorella since the start of the season. Racking up goals(10), assists(6) and total points(16) while also managing to help slow down or stop the opponent on the defensive side using his reach to break up plays and his body to block shots.

Twenty-three year old Noah Cates is also thriving under Tortorella. While he only has a few goals(3), assists(8) and total points(11) his growth is truly showing on the defensive side of the puck as he continues to adjust to playing in the middle, which is a brand new position for him. While many believe he likely would have thrived at the NHL level under any coach, chances are it would not have been in the middle. That was, by his one admissions, a Tortorella envisioned idea that he's currently still experimenting with and watching play out game after game.

Twenty-three year old Morgan Frost, who initially struggled at the start the season, is another player beginning to show strides. Frost struggled quite a bit as he bounced around the lineup a little bit and only managed to accumulate less than ten goals(6) and even amount of assists(6) to record more than ten points(12), but he has really started to produce on the new line with Owen Tippett and James van Riemsdyk. In their short time together the line has has showed tremendous chemistry as they've racked up quit a few points to help the team offensively.

Tortorella's assessment initially had twenty-one year old Cam York spending time in the AHL to start this season, but upon doing "the little things" correctly and finding success with the Phantoms while doing it, he was recalled a couple weeks ago, and is starting to show the strides the head coach knew he was capable of. As a result, he has remained in the lineup while veterans like Nick Seeler and Justin Braun play musical chairs with the sixth and final available defensive lineup spot.

It's not all about just the players below the age of twenty-five either.

Twenty-five year old Travis Konecny, who has been given a much bigger role under the new head coach, has had a rebound season. He plays all positions, is currently he team's leading goal scorer(14) has an equal amount of assists(14) and is quickly closing in on Kevin Hayes(who has 29 points) to be the team's points leader. Despite his hand injury earlier in the season, TK is still currently on pace to score about 30 goals over the entire 82 game season, which - if reached - would be a brand new career high in goals for the forward.

While Tortorella claims he doesn't know goaltending and leaves all things regarding the position to goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh, there's no denying that thus far during Torts reign as head coach, twenty-four year old Carter Hart has thrived. After having what most consider two consecutive down seasons, he has rebounded quite nicely so far this season. It's likely due to a combination of things, but it's still undeniable. The goalie has been the Flyers best player in 95% of the games he has started. When he's their best player, he usually backstops him to a win; when he's not, it's almost an automatic and guaranteed loss. His stats(.912 Save%, 2.82 GAA) look pedestrian to the naked eye, but if you ignore the stats and actually watch his play, the underlying numbers and the eye test will tell a much different story. If you need even further proof of how well he has played on a team lacking a lot, look no further then the number of saves the team has forced him to make thus far on the season. The Flyers starting goalie currently leads all NHL goalies with 729 saves.

Tortorella's plan is not an "overnight sensation", nor has it ever been meant to be. The front office may still be going through the Seven Stages of Grief where they're currently stuck in the "denial" stage, but the head coach is not. With or without the front office's help, he's determined to use the youth movement as he attempts to shape this team's identity. To start it may be a fairly ugly identity, but it'll be more of an identity than they have had in recent years none-the-less, and the ultimate hope is that with a few good draft picks, a bit of deadweight cut off(via trades, buyouts, etc) that their identity will eventually begin to look scary good instead of just plain scary.