John Tortorella hired by ESPN!

According to a report from Columbus Blue Jackets insider Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, former Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella has been hired by ESPN to serve as an analyst for the 2021-22 NHL season.

Check it out:

Tortorella's contract with the Blue Jackets was not renewed this offseason, effectively making him a free agent for any of the NHL's 32 teams to hire. But with the Seattle Kraken, Arizona Coyotes, New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres all cinching up their coaching vacancies this offseason, there's simply no one left for Tortorella to sign with. Throw in the fact that it's not exactly a secret that Tortorella's coaching style has a shelf life and he has a habit of grinding players down until they simply tune him out completely. Given the Blue Jackets' on ice performance this season and given the fact that Torts is coming up on half a decade in Columbus... it was time for him to move on. And maybe the fact that he wasn't snapped up this offseason proves that there's a wave of change amongst the NHL's coaching ranks these days. After all, Mike Babcock was held up as the gold standard for over a decade but he's sat on the sidelines for nearly two full seasons now. 

To be honest, I could see Tortorella doing well in media. Sure he's been prickly with the media throughout his coaching career, but when he's done media stints for TSN in the past I've enjoyed his analysis and candor. I'm also willing to bet that the veteran coach has an "out clause" that would enable him to bail on ESPN if an NHL coaching role pops up. To me, he's exactly the kind of guy you bring in to help an underachieving team get over the hump and get things back on track. Would anyone be surprised to see Torts back in the NHL if a team like the Winnipeg Jets, Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks, Philaedlphia Flyers or Pittsburgh Penguins get off to a slow start? Torts can get you results in a short period of time and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him parachuted into a team midway through the 2021-22 NHL season.