Evan’s NHL Daily: Former Players Rip Tortorella, Avalanche Rule Power Rankings

Just a few days after scratching his Captain, a few former NHL players seem to be lining up to tell their stories about John Tortorella. One of them has done it time and time again, while a former enforcer tells a story about how little respect he was shown by the coach.

With just a few weeks left in the regular season, the Avalanche are red hot, and that means a lot of outlets believe they’re the best team in the NHL.

All that and more in this Thursday edition of Evan’s Daily.

Colorado Hockey Now

I really don’t know if the Avalanche are going to be able to afford Jonathan Drouin this summer, but his overall growth has been phenomenal.

The Avalanche will be back at practice on Thursday ahead of their extended homestand, and we’ll have a practice report.

Power Rankings

Are the Avalanche the best team in the NHL right now? Well they’re certainly the hottest team in the NHL, and various power rankings from different outlets have them ranked highly for that reason.

CBS Sports has the Avalanche at #1, noting that MacKinnon is (obviously) on a roll, and the goaltending has stabilized.

THN also has them at #1. As of a few days ago, Daily Faceoff had them at #5.

It’s hard to argue against them being the top team in the NHL right now. Mittelstadt has come in and changed the complexion of the forward group immediately, Georgiev has improved, Annunen has stepped up, and they’ve still some of the most talented players in the world. Still a month to go as they look to earn the top spot in the West.

Tortorella Ripped

There are a lot of former players who loved playing for John Tortorella. Michael Del Zotto is one of them, saying that you “always knew where you stood” with the coach. On the flip side, he has some very vocal detractors.

Andre Roy won a Stanley Cup with Tortorella in 2004 and told the story of how Tortorella told the Lightning that Roy had played his last game in the NHL.

“[John Tortorella] and Mike Sullivan never talked to me” 😳

Andre Roy’s tenure in Tampa ended on a very sour note ⬇️

🎧: https://t.co/usZ5iG0pKG
📺: https://t.co/0D1px7FmTC pic.twitter.com/Wo9vEUodjn

— The Cam & Strick Podcast (@CamandStrick) March 19, 2024

Then you have Brandon Dubinsky, who has not been afraid to share his opinion of Tortorella in the past. With the scratching of Sean Couturier, Dubinsky felt the need to chime in.

Torts..your tactics are getting old..instead of scratching and embarrassing your capt and one of your best players how about try and tell him I’m giving you 20 mins tmrw night no matter what with PP & PK and go play free have fun and fucking get it done? @NHLFlyers #freecouturier

— Brandon Dubinsky (@BDubi17) March 20, 2024

I like Torts, but I can’t remember the last time a team scratched their Captain. It should be noted that Couturier has not exactly been lighting the world on fire. He has just one goal since Jan. 6, and just three assists in his last 14 games. The Flyers have been treading water for a while now, but the Eastern Conference is so bad that no one is stepping up to take those last few playoff spots. Torts is trying to go with who he thinks is playing best, but scratching your Captain is a bold move.

National Hockey Now

Is it time for Mike Sullivan to face tough questions about his future?

Is Roman Josi joining the Norris party late?

Could the Blackhawks look to the Avalanche as a blueprint to win?