Flyers Higher Ups Warn Fans

Which means that it's not only going to be a busy off-season, but one that sees quite a few players subtracted, which is a word Tortorella has mentioned a number of times over the last several weeks. It's very possible that we see players that were once thought to be part of this team's future shipped out to other teams.

Anyone shipped out won't have to wonder much about why they weren't a part of this teams future because Tortorella was very forthcoming about why most guys will be shipped out, and it has a lot to do with their inability to take accountability. That was the main topic on Monday during Tortorella's media availability.

Back in the beginning of the season Tortorella made it abundantly clear that he wanted to get to know the players. Some fans couldn't understand what he meant, or how he could possibly say he didn't know certain players when they've been in the league for several years now. Was he living under a rock? No. In fact, what Tortorella meant didn't pertain to a certain players name or likenesses, but to their personalities and work ethics. For those that had been here for years, he knew their names from coaching against them and even being on pre and post game panels for different networks when he was in between coaching jobs. However, knowing a name versus truly knowing a player/person are two very different things. Over the course of an 82 game, 6 month long season (and that timeline doesn't even include training camp and pre-season) Tortorella learned who each player was. For some, he liked their attitude and their approach to taking accountability; for others, he could do without it.

During his availability, Tortorella would not name any specific players or even give a specific number in regards to how many he expected to see subtracted this off-season, but he made it clear that unlike the beginning of the season he now "gets" each player and can tell which ones are going to be willing to take accountability and which ones prefer to pass the blame onto their teammates, so-to-speak.

Those he's not a fan of will likely be shipped out during the off-season, or at least some of them will be, and while we can probably guess a few of those he's not thrilled with, there's a good chance there's a few more we aren't so privy to.

While Tortorella doesn't have the control to trade or not trade players, he will have his say in who stays and who goes. While Briere still has the "interim" tag attached to his title and has no idea if/when it will be removed, he still made it a point to make it abundantly clear that no player moves will be made unless everyone from the head coach up to the CEO is in full agreement.

With that said, however it's worth noting that Tortorella was also quick to point out that any players that do end up getting shipped out this off-season will not be bringing back "big" returns. Which means they're approaching the process from a stand point of: Anyone shipped out may be talented enough to acquire a draft pick that falls within the first three rounds of the draft, or maybe even bring back a prospect who is on the cusp of making it into the bottom-six of an NHL lineup, but they will not be 'big name' ticket pieces.

Tortorella made it clear this team isn't close to going for those players yet. They're at the beginning of the rebuilding process, and that means while seeing which youngsters may fit in the future, they'll also be bringing in more potential building blocks via trade(s).

In other words, there's a very good chance it's going to get much darker for Philadelphia hockey fans before there's the dawn of light for them to grasp onto.