The 63-year-old, who has been working as a television analyst for ESPN this season, confirmed on Tuesday he's had discussions with Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher. Tortorella most recently coached the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2015-21.
"Very fortunate to have the opportunity," Tortorella told the network. "But I will leave it at that."
The Flyers fired Mike Yeo on May 3 after they finished eighth in the Metropolitan Division and 15th in the Eastern Conference with 61 points (25-46-11), failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season. It was the first time the Flyers missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons since a five-year drought from 1989-94.
Philadelphia was 17-36-7 under Yeo, who was promoted from assistant to replace Alain Vigneault as coach on Dec. 6.
Tortorella is 673-542-132 with 37 ties in 1,383 games as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and Blue Jackets. He has the second-most wins by a United States-born coach in NHL history, behind Peter Laviolette (717).
A two-time winner of the Jack Adams Award voted as NHL coach of the year (2004, 2017), Tortorella led the Lightning to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2004, and the Blue Jackets to their first postseason series victory in 2019, when they became the first team to sweep the winner of the Presidents' Trophy in a best-of-7 series.
The Flyers are one of six teams searching for a coach, along with the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, Detroit Red Wings, Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks. The Jets announced on May 2 that Dave Lowry, who replaced Paul Maurice as coach on Dec. 17, could be interviewed for the job during their coaching search. The Blackhawks' coaching search will include Derek King, who replaced Jeremy Colliton as coach on Nov. 6.
The New York Islanders hired Lane Lambert, who was promoted from associate to replace Barry Trotz on May 16.
