Brad Shaw had a real shot at becoming the Philadelphia Flyers next head coach. It's uncertain where he fell in the final decision, but there had been talk that the team was highly considering the former defensive coach.
The Flyers played well in the final stretch under Shaw, going 5-3-1 while numerous younger players saw their offensive production kick up. Tyson Foerster scored nine goals in the final nine games, all under Shaw. Matvei Michkov had three two-goal games and 12 points overall. Jakob Pelletier had nine points, with all three of his goals for Philadelphia coming with Shaw as the interim coach.
It seemed that his calmer approach was working. But was a nine game sample size enough to go off? Of course not. However, Shaw had been an assistant coach for years and had done incredible work. But ultimately, the Flyers went in a different direction, hiring Rick Tocchet.
At the end of the season, Shaw mentioned that he was not opposed to the idea of returning as an assistant coach if he was not chosen to run the team. He had put in years of work with the defensemen and built relationships that he enjoyed.
Charlie O'Connor of PHLY (subscription required), a well-known and trusted source in the Philadelphia landscape, broke the news that Shaw had decided to move on.
"A source close to the situation confirmed to PHLY Sports that Brad Shaw will not return to the Flyers’ bench as an assistant under Tocchet, and will explore other opportunities. The decision, apparently, came from Shaw himself. He informed general manager Daniel Briere on Thursday that after running the team as an interim head coach and coming so close to earning the full-time job during this process, it would be very difficult to return to his old post as assistant at the end of the Philadelphia bench."
Flyers fans won't be happy with Brad Shaw not returning
Shaw's biggest influence was felt with his work on numerous defensemen. Travis Sanheim was nearly traded to St. Louis before Torey Krug invoked his no-trade clause to void the deal. Reenergized and ready to prove everyone wrong, Sanheim has turned into a top-pair defenseman for the Flyers. He eats minutes up, averaging 24:30 this season. He even played over 30 minutes on a few occasions.
Rasmus Ristolainen went from being called one of the worst defensemen on the team to one of the best. Shaw helped simplify his game while still finding a way to keep his physical edge. While injuries have affected him in recent years, he was arguably one of the team's best defensemen in 2023-24. He put up career-bests in nearly all of his advanced metrics, though he was limited to 31 games. He followed that up with strong numbers this past season.
Nick Seeler has been one of Shaw's biggest successes. Seeler nearly left hockey a few years ago before joining the Flyers. He turned that into a four-year deal with added trade protection and an almost permanent spot in the top four. Similar to Ristolainen, Seeler played his best season defensively. And while those numbers dropped this past year, he played the most overall minutes of his career.
Jamie Drysdale has begun to turn his game around under Shaw and could become the player he was drafted to be. Just as Ristolainen and Seeler two years ago, Drysdale's numbers defensively were his best, albeit in only 24 games. This season was a step down, but he stayed relatively healthy, which was a huge step.
Sensing a theme here, though? The success that Shaw has had with numerous defensemen is why he had previously been in consideration for head coaching jobs before this season. And it's why he had a legitimate shot to win the Flyers job.
Tocchet will have a big test ahead of him when it comes to filling out his next staff. Replacing Shaw might be his most important task.