Flyers bring in Tortorella following disappointing season

After the NHL Draft, free agency and other offseason moves, NHL.com is examining where each team stands ahead of the 2022-23 regular season, which starts Oct. 7. Today, the Philadelphia Flyers:

2021-22 season: 25-46-11, eighth in Metropolitan Division; did not qualify for Stanley Cup Playoffs

Key arrivals

Tony DeAngelo, D:The 26-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 8 for three draft picks and signed a two-year contract three days later. DeAngelo, who was born in Sewell, New Jersey, had 51 points, including an NHL career-high 41 assists, in 64 regular-season games and 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games last season. … Nicolas Deslauriers, F:The 31-year-old signed a four-year contract on July 13. Deslauriers had 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in 81 games with the Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild last season, including three goals in 20 games after being traded to the Wild on March 19. … Justin Braun, D: The 35-year-old, who signed a one-year contract to return to Philadelphia on July 13, had 18 points, including an NHL career-high six goals, in 69 games with the Flyers and New York Rangers last season. After being acquired by New York in a trade on March 21, he had two points (one goal, one assist) in eight regular-season games and one assist in 19 playoff games. … Troy Grosenick, G: The 32-year-old signed a one-year contract on July 13 after he went 16-6-4 and led the American Hockey League with a 2.00 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in 30 games with Providence last season. Although Grosenick has only made four starts in the NHL, because he signed a one-way contract, he will likely be the backup to Carter Hart this season. … John Tortorella, coach: The 64-year-old was hired on June 17 to replace Mike Yeo, who took over after Alain Vigneault was fired on Dec. 6. Tortorella is 14th in NHL history with 673 wins in 20 seasons as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets. He also won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004 and the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year twice (2004, 2017).

Key departures

Oskar Lindblom, F: Lindblom signed a two-year contract with the San Jose Sharks on July 13, one day after the Flyers bought out the final season of his three-year contract. He had 26 points (12 goals, 14 assists) in 79 games last season. … Martin Jones, G: Jones signed a two-year contract with the Seattle Kraken on July 13. He was 12-18-3 with a 3.42 GAA and .900 save percentage in 35 games (33 starts) last season. … Nate Thompson, F: Thompson, who is still an unrestricted free agent, had three points (one goal, two assists) in 33 games last season.

On the cusp

Cam York, D: The 21-year-old, who was selected with the No. 14 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, had 10 points (three goals, seven assists) and averaged 19:05 of ice time in 30 games last season. York also had 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) in 34 games with Lehigh Valley of the AHL. … Wade Allison, F: The 24-year-old, a second-round pick (No. 52) in the 2016 NHL Draft, sustained a knee injury in his only NHL game last season that caused him to miss seven weeks. Allison had 17 points (10 goals, seven assists) in 28 AHL games. … Bobby Brink, F: The 21-year-old, who had surgery for a torn labrum this offseason and is expected to miss several months, had four assists in 10 games last season after signing a three-year, entry-level contract on April 10. A second-round pick (No. 34) in the 2019 draft, Brink also led the NCAA with 57 points (14 goals, 43 assists) in 41 games to help the University of Denver win the national championship. … Noah Cates, F: The 23-year-old, who was selected in the fifth round (No. 137) of the 2017 NHL Draft, had nine points (five goals, four assists) in 16 games after signing a two-year, entry-level contract on March 27. Cates also had 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 37 games as a senior at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

What they still need

To stay healthy. Defenseman Ryan Ellis played only four games last season, his first in Philadelphia after he was acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators, because of what he called a "multilayered" lower-body injury. He said in May that he expects to be healthy for training camp along with centers Sean Couturier (back surgery) and Kevin Hayes (abdominal/hip surgery), who each missed significant time last season. Forward Joel Farabee could miss the start of the season after he had disk replacement surgery in his cervical region on June 24.

They said it

"We'll be a much-improved team. We'll be a competitive team. A lot of things that we really struggled with last year, I feel we have a chance to be considerably better at, whether it's our goals against, our structure, our penalty kill, and our power play in particular." -- general manager Chuck Fletcher

Fantasy focus

DeAngelo could have sneaky fantasy appeal if he falls in drafts after going from a Stanley Cup contender in the Hurricanes to the Flyers, who have missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons. DeAngelo should quarterback the first power-play unit with Couturier and right wing Cam Atkinson, who has thrived under Tortorella in the past (NHL career-high 41 goals with Blue Jackets in 2018-19). DeAngelo should be considered a fringe top 30 defenseman and top 150 player after ranking 11th in points per game (0.80; minimum 20 games) at his position last season. -- Anna Dua

Projected lineup

Scott Laughton -- Sean Couturier -- Cam Atkinson
James van Riemsdyk -- Kevin Hayes -- Travis Konecny
Noah Cates -- Morgan Frost -- Owen Tippett
Nicolas Deslauriers -- Patrick Brown -- Tanner Laczynski
Ivan Provorov -- Tony DeAngelo
Travis Sanheim -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York -- Justin Braun
Carter Hart
Troy Grosenick
Injured: Ryan Ellis (lower body), Joel Farabee (upper body)