ortorella won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year after leading the Blue Jackets to the best season in the club's 17-year history last season. Columbus posted a 50-24-8 record and 108 points, which was the fourth-best record in the NHL and represented a 32-point turnaround from 2015-16. The Blue Jackets ranked second in the League in goals-against average (2.35 per game), sixth in goals-for (3.01), ninth-T in penalty killing (82.5 percent) and 12th in power play efficiency (19.9 percent). The club also boasted the third-best goal differential in the NHL at +54.

"I'm very appreciative of the opportunity I have to coach this team and be part of a wonderful community that has been very welcoming to my family, so I thank the McConnell family, Mike Priest, John Davidson, Jarmo Kekalainen, our staff and the entire organization," said Tortorella. "I'm proud of the steps we've taken as a team and I look forward to continuing to work with a very good group of coaches and players."

Tortorella became the sixth coach in NHL history to win multiple Jack Adams Awards as he previously won the award in 2003-04 after leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 46-22-14 record, Southeast Division title and a Stanley Cup championship. He was runner-up for the award in 2002-03 after guiding Tampa Bay to the first division title in club history with a 36-25-21 mark and in 2011-12 with the New York Rangers, whom he led to an Atlantic Division title with a 51-24-7 record.

On Dec. 18, 2016, Tortorella became the first U.S.-born coach and the 24th in NHL history to record 500 wins in a 4-3 overtime victory at Vancouver. The Boston native is the winningest U.S.-born coach in NHL history and has compiled a 530-432-131 record (.545) in 1,093 games with Columbus, Vancouver, NY Rangers and Tampa Bay.