I know it may seem like the Philadelphia Flyers are back to their old tricks by hiring alumni, but this time around it has a different feel and might allow the “New Era of Orange” to not only succeed but kick into high gear sooner than initially thought out.
Hiring Rick Tocchet was reportedly meticulously thought out by the Flyers brass and they were determined not to be outbid for his services. One main theme that has come about why they hired him is that Tocchet will be able to help with the recruitment of players and to bring in talent in future seasons to come – something that many believe his predecessor severely lacked.
However, the most important part of Brière’s search was looking for a teacher, a communicator, and someone who could build relationships. which was something he alluded to at his end-of-season press conference.
“One thing I want to make clear is that the plan doesn’t change here, Rick has been part of this before, Rick has coached some younger teams, some veteran teams, and we see him as the long-term solution for our head coaching position,” said Flyers General Manager Daniel Brière.
“You asked me what we were looking for in a coach, one thing that I said was that we needed a teacher and I don’t think there’s anyone better than Rick to teach our young guys.”
Brière later continued, “The other thing that I mentioned was that we needed a communicator. That’s one thing Rick Tocchet does and that is that he builds relationships. He’s good at it, I’ve talked to a lot of players around the league, players that are still playing, players that are now in management positions, scouting positions, or coaching positions. The one thing that kept coming up is how good of a communicator he is with his players and how he builds relationships. Which is part of the reason I am so excited to have him as our next head coach.”
It wasn’t the storybook ending that Tocchet would have wanted in Vancouver, especially after claiming the Pacific Division title last year and winning the Jack Adams Award as the league’s best coach. Their 2024-25 season was unique in that everything that could have gone wrong went absolutely wrong and it started at the very top.
The Elias Pettersson-J.T. Miller feud broke out early in the season and transitioned all the way through to the trade deadline. Management essentially told Brock Boeser they would not be extending him, Thatcher Demko’s injuries continued to pile up, and up-and-coming youngster Dakota Joshua was diagnosed with testicular cancer before the season started.
Not to mention their front office’s lack of asset management from previous years. They essentially traded Miller, Bo Horvat, Danton Heinen, and 2 first round picks for Filip Chytil, Filip Hronek, Victor Mancini, Marcus Pettersson, and Drew O’Connor.
Tocchet oversaw some offensive explosions with Pettersson and Miller each reaching 100+ points in the last few seasons, Quinn Hughes’ evolution into becoming of the best defensemen in the league that was encapsulated by his 92-point season in 2023-24, and Boeser was a consistent 25+ goal scorer when he wasn’t battling injuries.
Now with the Flyers, Tocchet is looking to build on what they’ve accomplished over the last few years with John Tortorella and he’s looking forward to the challenges ahead. He mentioned that he’s liked a lot of what he’s seen over the years – albeit in limited fashion – and that there’s a lot of good things to work off from.
When asked what made the Flyers a more attractive landing spot than some other teams like Boston and Pittsburgh, Tocchet had a laundry list of reasons, including stability and what he believes is a very bright future:
“Stability, box checked, relationships, box checked, passion and the fanbase, box checked, but I’m a big relationship guy. Working with good people makes you successful so for me those are the attractive things. Obviously the roster of the team, the potential, the prospect pool, the cap space that’s coming here, there’s a lot of positives for this job. It’s an attractive job. It’s one of the best jobs in hockey and I’m very fortunate to get it.”
When posed a similar question about what made Tocchet stand out to him and the rest of the Flyers management group, Brière was aware of all the good he’s done for Vancouver and even Hockey Canada, but he was more impressed with his stint in Arizona than anything else:
“For me when I look at the track record, one of the most impressive parts that stood out was his stint with the Coyotes. He had a pretty depleted lineup at the time and a team that probably – I remember at the time that the experts were saying – that the Coyotes would be last in the NHL and he made them competitive and he did make the playoffs the one year and they were in the running playing good games, that body of work for me was probably the most impressive part of his coaching…”
Because Tocchet is known for being such a great communicator and so good at building relationships, he was asked about the process and what he does to ensure that everyone has a voice:
“They’re smart guys and they want to know why… and it’s my job to make them buy into it but you have to accept it as a coach and I enjoy that. I’m a partner with the players, it’s not a dictatorship. You’re not going to last in this league if you’re going to tell these guys what to do every day and have all these types of rules. If you partner up with a player, listen to them, there’s going to be accountability don’t get me wrong but I think it’s important to let the players steer the ship too. They have a lot of good ideas, I’ve learned a lot from a lot of great hockey players…”
Brière then said, “There’s no doubt that Rick is going to make us more enticing for players to come here, there’s no doubt about that. There’s already agents calling and letting us know – and that’s kudos to him for the relationships that he built and the reputation that he’s built over the years – and it’s so positive in that regard that there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s going to make us a more attractive team to join.”
In regards to the rest of his coaching staff, Tocchet said that he will do his due diligence in the hiring process but is well aware of the sore spots that need to be addressed, primarily the power play:
“We got some things we’re looking at, think it’s important that we do this properly. The power play is a sore point and I get it, it’s something that we’re going to have to dive into. I have some thoughts on it and there’s some really good people out there that we’ll take a look at and there’s some guys on this team that we can unleash because there’s some guys that have offensive minds and we have to let them be creative with the power play…”
The final question posed was to Tocchet and what he sought out as the expectations for the Flyers heading into 2025-26, considering they’re still in a rebuild and haven’t made the playoffs in 5 years. He alluded to the idea that he’s very excited about the direction and it was certainly a huge part as to why he chose the Flyers.
“Get the team to play better. Every individual has untapped talent, it’s my job to untap it. I think the direction, I know where this is going, I actually love the direction that these guys have laid out. I believe in it and I want to be a part of the solution. I know what I gotta do to keep the ball going and there’s a lot of tools here to work with and that’s what attracted me to this job.”
Tocchet worked with Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim at the 4 Nations Face-Off but he’s aware of what the rest of the roster has to offer and he’s looking forward to unleashing and untapping their potential. It’s going to be a long road to playoff contention but hiring the right head coach was the first step.
It’s going to be an extremely important off-season ahead of them and the Flyers will turn their attention towards the draft, where they hold 7 picks in the first two rounds. Free agency is going to be interesting as well with the opportunities for offer sheets, so perhaps this was the jumpstart to a busy summer, that should provide some sort of fireworks, one way or the other.
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