John Tortorella sends clear message to Tage Thompson as Sabres coaching rumors swirl

The Buffalo Sabres were on the ice for the first time since the firing of Kevyn Adams as general manager. He was replaced by Jarmo Kekalainen, who has over a decade of experience as general manager from his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Even though Kekalainen has been with the team the entire season, he made it clear that he is evaluating everything. There might not be a better person to shed some light on what he is looking for than John Tortorella, who is currently an analyst for ESPN.

Tortorella was the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets for six of those seasons that Kekalainen was general manager, so he knows the type of players he wants. So during the first intermission of the Sabres' game against the Flyers, it was rather telling that Tortorella zeroed in on Tage Thompson.

Tortorella wants Tage Thompson to lead by example for the Buffalo Sabres

In the clip, Torotrella dissects the Flyers' first goal that began with Tage Thompson following Bobby Brink along the board. However, Brink circles back and beats Thompson to find Noah Cates for the one-timer.

"He is the type of guy that has to say come with me, I am going to show you the way. The general manager just lost the job, our coach is flapping in the wind, let's take care of business here," Tortorella said.

There is no question that the Sabres did not come out with much energy or didn't look any different than they did through the 33 games of the season. It was certainly surprising to say the least considering it was their first home game since December 1st and were returning with a three-game win streak.

Those two things alone should have helped them play with a little more fight and energy. The Flyers were winning almost every loose puck, spending most of the period in the Sabres' zone and not allowing Buffalo to do much on the other end as they had 12 shots on goal to the Sabres' four.

Buffalo Sabres supposedly have not called John Tortorella...yet

If the Buffalo Sabres were to replace Lindy Ruff, then John Tortorella would be a logical choice for Jarmo Kekalainen. He would begin coaching the Blue Jackets in 2015 after Columbus started the season 0-7. He remained the coach through the 2020-21 season, and the Blue Jackets made the playoffs four times during his tenure.

It would also be a bit of a homecoming for Tortorella as he began his NHL coaching career as a Sabres' assistant coach in 1990 before moving on to be head coach of the Rochester Americans for two seasons in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

On Thursday night, Emily Kaplan of ESPN said that she asked Tortorella if he had heard from the Sabres. He confirmed that he has not heard from them, but you have to wonder how long that will be true if Buffalo keeps having the type of performance they do.

It will be interesting if a coaching change does happen because Tortorella made it clear that the struggles fall on the players. He also said he thought Lindy Ruff was a really good coach and it wouldn't be surprising if Kekalainen has the same opinion that there needs to be some roster changes before a coaching change is considered.