Despite the turmoil, York praised Tortorella, who fell just nine games short of completing three seasons at the helm of the Flyers, ending his tenure in Philadelphia with a 97-107-33 record and 227 points in 237 games. “He taught me a lot of really good things,” York said. “He’s a really good coach, and I wish him the best of luck down the road.”

An incident between John Tortorella and Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Cam York this week contributed to a deteriorating relationship between coach and team that led to Tortorella’s firing on Thursday morning, a team source said.

The low-hanging fruit is Owen Tippett, who has had a down year after signing an eight-year contract extension last winter. One of the bigger positive development stories under Tortorella originally, Tippett’s progression stagnated this year; he has fallen out of the team’s top six and has remained there even under Shaw.