Flyers Exit Interviews: Shaw Open to Options in Future with Flyers

One of the main questions about the Flyers offseason is one that was already brought to the surface with nine games to go in the regular season. Who will be the next head coach of the Flyers?

After firing John Tortorella on March 27, the Flyers turned to associate head coach Brad Shaw in the interim. The Flyers finished the season 5-3-1 over the final nine games, including winning five of the first six games under Shaw.

“Really good experience for me as far as seeing the other side of the bench and what all that job entails,” Shaw said. “It was a great chance to work with guys from a different perspective, and it really is a very different perspective. It’s probably about a 15-foot walk but might as well be a mile and a half with how different they are the jobs. 

“But like I said, I was going to have fun with it. I had fun with it. We as a staff, we tried to have fun with it. I thought it was great for me, great to sort of go through the process of seeing what it was all about even in an interim basis. I had a real good time.”

Shaw’s style is a fit for where the Flyers are now. Tasked with handling the defense and penalty kill as an assistant, multiple players saw signs of growth and develop early on in Shaw’s time with the Flyers. 

“I think I need to teach,” Shaw said. “I think I need to know the players well enough to be able to keep them accountable without it feeling like it’s a personal attack. I think that it really didn’t change much. I think a lot of the concepts that I was teaching on the penalty kill and to the defenseman all basically pertained to five-on-five play as well. So, there wasn’t really a lot of different messaging. 

“I just think that I don’t have 20 years of experience like Torts does, so I needed help. I needed input from the players. I needed input from the locker room. I needed input from the guys that were on the ice as to what was working and what wasn’t, not only with the input from the staff as well.”

So now, as things shift to the offseason and the future of the Flyers franchise behind the bench, it seems likely that Shaw will get some consideration for the head coaching job. He’s set to meet with GM Danny Briere and the management team next week, and certainly is interested in taking on the role full-time.

“I have interest, sure,” Shaw said. “I was told they’d be part of the process of the hiring of the full-time head coach, and so I assume that at some point we’ll talk about that.”

If Shaw is not given the head coaching job permanently, he did add that he would be interested in returning in an assistant role.

“I’ve got three years invested in this defense core. And a lot of the main players that I feel like I have good relationships with. From that point of view, I think that continuity has a big value,” Shaw said. “I’ve enjoyed my time here. I’ve enjoyed how I’ve been treated and how my family’s been treated. It’s been fantastic. So, yeah, I would definitely consider that.”

One thing that Shaw did focus on was the group that is currently in the room. He said that whether he remains the head coach or if someone else takes over, the group they are getting knows the identity and culture that has been build and is ready to continue that.

“That’s a really good room right now,” Shaw said. “Whoever comes in and is the head coach has the benefit of getting a room that understands what work ethic is, understands how to play together, understands a lot of the team based things that were instilled and I think as long as that leadership group stays intact, I think you get that similar feel. I think the growth from within and some of our young players only helps that room, because it increases the internal competition which makes everybody better.”

And because of those qualities, Shaw feels like it won’t be long before the Flyers are back in the running again for playoff appearances and a chance to contend.

“I don’t think we’re that far. I talked to [Travis Sanheim] about that, and he said it feels like you’re a long way off. We were three wins away from the next playoff team. And then you start going through the process of ‘remember that game we blew?’ And you remember those two points we kind of felt like we gave away or could have done a better job with. 

“We need to get better in every aspect. Special teams have to get better. Goaltending has to get better. Our defensive core has to get better. Our forwards have to get better. Some of that’s going to be from within, from growing, and some of it’s got to be from the outside. How the upper management has that plan and how they piece all that together that’s up to them. I just know that I don’t feel far away as the coach, as you work with this group.”