John Tortorella Signs Two-Year Extension

The Columbus Blue Jackets locked up their front office recently to multi-year contracts, and now have done the same with their head coach. The fiery John Tortorella was heading into this final season under contract but has signed a two-year extension that will keep him behind the Columbus bench through 2020-21. GM Jarmo Kekalainen explained why he has kept Tortorella around:

Our team has been one of the winningest in the NHL over the past two seasons and John Tortorella has played a critical role in that success and in raising the level of our team’s play since his arrival. His passion and commitment to being the best has permeated our team and we believe will lead to even greater success in the future.

Tortorella has been with the Blue Jackets since 2015, and has led the Blue Jackets to a 129-87-23 record over that time. The team hasn’t been able to get past the first round of the playoffs, but seem primed to at least compete for the postseason for the foreseeable future. Built on a foundation of solid defense and goaltending, Tortorella has enough talent on the roster to compete for the Stanley Cup this season if players like Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky aren’t shipped out at the deadline. Both stars are heading into the final year of their contracts and could make or break the Blue Jackets’ season.

For an in-your-face coach like Tortorella, it is extremely difficult to operate without some contract assurances. Throughout the years there have been several examples of players feuding with the vocal coach, but in Columbus things have gone relatively smoothly over the past few seasons. That’s not to say there haven’t been incidents, but the Blue Jackets investment for another two seasons doesn’t come as much of a surprise given that Tortorella is one of the few coaches to boast two Jack Adams trophies for Coach of the Year.