John Tortorella's recent suspension may have been a strategic move, the Leafs' have the most depth they've had in some time, and fans may soon see a playoff battle of Florida, writes Adam Proteau.

Welcome back to Screen Shots, a regular THN.com feature in which yours truly breaks down a few hockey topics and analyzes them in a few brief paragraphs. Let’s get straight down to brass tacks.

Philadelphia Flyers coach John Tortorella is scheduled to return from a two-game suspension Saturday in Philly’s game against Boston. The Flyers went 1-1-0 in their two games without Tortorella, who was also fined $50,000 for his interaction with an official in Philadelphia’s 7-0 drubbing by Tampa Bay last Saturday.

But don’t take Tortorella’s latest incident to mean he’s an out-of-control hothead. To the contrary: he knew exactly what he was doing when he went at the official – turning the focus away from his team’s through-and-through defeat at the hands of a Bolts team that the Flyers could wind up being in a battle with for one of the two wild card berths in the Eastern Conference – and putting the heat on himself instead.

We’ve given Tortorella his due credit for evolving as a coach over the years, and in this latest incident, he was clearly trying to motivate his squad into putting up a tougher battle in what are really must-win games for them between today and the end of the regular season. Philly has overachieved in many regards this year, but if they falter now and wind up finishing 10th or 11th in the East, they’re going to miss out on a high draft pick this summer. Tortorella would much rather his players get back to their early-season form and act ostensibly as a spoiler team playing with house money.

The Flyers’ next six games are all against teams that expect to win those games – two games against the Bruins, and one game against Toronto, Carolina, Florida and the New York Rangers – and Philadelphia could easily lose out on a playoff berth if they don’t put up a good fight. Tortorella’s return Saturday could inspire his players to hang tight to a playoff spot, but even if he does go off again, against either the officials, the media at large, or the opponent he’s facing on any given night, it’s far more likely to be by design than it is to be some angry outburst.

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ trade deadline acquisitions were mostly about depth, but you can see why Buds GM Brad Treliving made smaller moves to shore up his overall depth: he now has created legitimate internal competition at every key position. On defense, Toronto now has seven capable blueliners – including revelation Simon Benoit, who has at least temporarily been squeezed out of a job – and eight D-men if you include injured veteran Mark Giordano.

Similarly up front, Toronto now has 15 players capable of being in the lineup on any given night, and that includes injured veterans Mitch Marner and Calle Jarnkrok. At some point beyond this season, the Leafs are going to have to make decisions on many of their secondary talents – most notably, it seems like fourth-liner David Kampf is making far too much money ($2.4 million) and will be shopped around in the summer – but at the moment, at least, Buds coach Sheldon Keefe can continue experimenting with his roster to see what version provides the best results. Toronto can look to internal improvement to help take the pressure off their “core four” forwards, and they can also now play well if the injury bug does bite into them.

Finally, as the rest of the regular-season takes shape, there’s a looming battle of Florida on the horizon for the Panthers and Lightning. Indeed, there’s a possible first-round matchup if the Panthers win the Atlantic Division and the Bolts squeak into the playoffs in the second and final wild card berth. The Panthers are clearly a better team than Tampa at the moment, but the potential fireworks that would come in a first-round series between the two teams would be thrilling.

The Lightning tried their best to improve at the trade deadline, but so did the Panthers, and only one of those two teams is likely to make it beyond the second round of the playoffs. Being in good shape health-wise could be the difference-maker in a Bolts versus Cats post-season showdown, but there’s lots to like on both sides, and the Lightning could wind up upsetting the Panthers as part of a deep playoff run. First-round matchups are fluid, but there seems to be a battle of the Sunshine State in store, and hockey fans are going to be the beneficiaries of such a matchup.