VOORHEES, NJ — There is, according to Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella, a method to all the early line-shifting madness.

The Flyers have started games with 20 different forward line combinations this season, and based on Friday’s practice, there will likely be at least one or two more on the horizon. It’s a topic that has blown up a bit in recent days with this post on X that was also referenced in the TNT broadcast before Wednesday’s game.

“It’s not like I’m a mad scientist over there just trying to throw things around,” Tortorella said.

Through six games, the Flyers have started games with 18 (!) different forward line combinations. Not sure how anyone will develop chemistry when things are in the blender so often.

— Kevin Kurz (@KKurzNHL) 23 October 2024

In the coach’s defense, his primary goal right now — other than trying to end a six-game losing streak — is to get individual players going, especially those who are key pieces of the future. At the top of that list is Tyson Foerster and Owen Tippetta pair of forwards who stepped up last season and who the Flyers hope will continue to improve incrementally, if not drastically. They have to create and score goals.

Foerster has already come out of the lineup once, sitting Tuesday night in the first of two straight games with capital letters but returns for Wednesday’s rematch. The 22-year-old mentioned on Friday that he needs to “hold on to the puck more, not just throw it away, and try to win my 50-50 battles. That’s what I was big on last year, and I’ve got to get back to that.

As for Tippett, perhaps his second-period goal against the Capitals on Wednesday, his first of the season, has him feeling good about himself going into the Flyers’ two home games this weekend. Tippett has a total of 20 shots on goal through seven games, but has missed the net 16 times, tied for the fifth most in the league.

Joel Farabee is another forward who hasn’t done much lately. He is scoreless in his last four games with a minus-7 rating, and he went just 8:58 on Wednesday.

All this has made it difficult for Tortorella to find the right lineup, and the right lines.

“Especially in the situation we’re in right now, we’re struggling offensively,” Tortorella said. “I wish I could just roll with it. But when you’re struggling offensively and you see that something can work in a game after certain situations, I’m going to stick with it, so you have to change other things as well. … Don’t get me wrong ( that) I’m back there just throwing people all over the place Every decision I make with lines is I hope to help the team.

“When a team struggles offensively, I think I have to do it. If I didn’t, you’d probably say, ‘Why the hell doesn’t he change his lines?'”

So, what now?

Tippett, who has played more than 36 minutes with the rookie Matvei Michkov at five-on-five, was instead aligned with Morgan Frost and Garnet Hathaway on Friday. Tortorella mentioned how he hoped Tippett and Michkov would develop some chemistry together, but it just hasn’t happened. They have yet to be on the ice together for a single Flyers goal at five-on-five (and two-on).

So instead, the coach will do something he was hesitant to do before – move their most dangerous forward, Travis Konecnyfrom the right wing to the left wing to bring him back in line with Michkov, as he thinks there might be something there.

“I like that chemistry,” Tortorella said. “I’ve used Tipp and Mich pretty much to see if something would work, and it hasn’t. Tipp sometimes has good chemistry with (Frost), I tried all three together, and I tried two together. It just hasn’t worked .

“A lot of it is, when a number of guys are struggling, it’s hard to figure out who’s going to be (with) who. When (Konecny ​​and Michkov) play together, there’s some chemistry there. So we’re going to try to stick with .”

As for Farabee, Tortorella said he met with the forward on Friday. His task now is to give the 24-year-old a chance to break out of his slump, but also to give the other new combinations a chance to succeed.

“I have to make a decision, if (Farabee) doesn’t play better I might have to take him out,” Tortorella said. “And I don’t want to do that until I’m fair with him and give him an opportunity with some ice time. That falls on me.”

The biggest problem, according to Tortorella and others in the locker room, is that the Flyers simply haven’t had enough of the puck. It starts with a better forecheck, something that was in focus on Friday.

“We were working on the pre-check, so I think that was probably the point,” Scott Laughton said. “Get the puck up the ice, and we’ve got to win more puck battles. We’ve got to make it harder for guys to get out of their zone. It feels like we’re spending a little too much time in our zone, where we don’t have the energy to come up forecheck.”

It’s just one item on what Tortorella described as a “laundry list” of things the Flyers need to work on amid their rocky start. What he believes is that even if the Flyers remain one of the NHLs youngest team, they are better than they have shown so far.

“We’re going to take a beating. There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But we’re not as bad as this.”

Luchanko’s status unclear

The Flyers are in ongoing discussions about what’s next for rookie Jett Luchenko, who is likely to be a scratch for the third straight game on Saturday.

Tortorella is hesitant to throw him into the lineup during a losing streak.

“In the mess we’re in right now at the beginning of the year, I’m not looking for an 18-year-old to try and get us out of it,” he said.

At the same time, the Flyers are surely aware that him sitting in the press box every night is not the way to develop him properly. Luchanko has played in four games and could play in as many as five more before the Flyers have to decide whether to keep him or reassign him to Guelph in the OHL.

“It’s still a state of flux with him in terms of what we’re doing,” Tortorella said. “When I’m in that situation, I kind of have to turn to the team that’s really struggling right now and go with some veteran guys. It’s hard to throw him in there right now and try to help us out of this mess.”

Meanwhile, Luchanko has some new roommates. He moved in with the defender Eric Johnson and his wife in New Jersey about a week ago.

(Photo: Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)