After all the speculation, it appears as if the Philadelphia Flyers will hire Rick Tocchet as the 25th head coach in franchise history.
The news was originally hinted at by NHL analyst John Buccigross, who has had the tendency to get his predictions correct in recent years. He tweeted about the Flyers and John Tortorella a few years ago before it came to fruition as well as Joel Quenneville to the Anaheim Ducks days before it came to pass.
Tocchet had previously been behind the bench for the Vancouver Canucks but mutually parted ways with the organization at the end of the 2024-25 season. He posted a 108-65-27 record for the Canucks over the last 3 seasons, which included a Pacific Division title in 2023-24 with a 50-23-9 record.
Canucks captain and superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes sang the praises of Tocchet as their season neared its end in early April.
“I believe that with Rick and Footy [assistant coach Adam Foote] and the way that they coach and structuring how we are defensively, if we add another player or two and have some guys within our group play better next year than they did this past season, I think we can be a really, really successful team. We’re very structured, we don’t give up much, we have maybe the best goalie tandem in the league, and we have a great D-corps and others that are coming that will help us. The point is, if we get Rick back and add a piece or two, we can be very successful. He’s an amazing coach. You look at me individually and my game, he’s been amazing for me — amazing for a lot of guys. He’s just a great person, first of all. That’s a guy you want to compete for, you want to play for. And he’s a terrific coach. I think just the way Rick coaches, how solid we are defensively and structured, he gives us the chance to win every night. At times, we might have been a little outmatched. But I think he’s a terrific coach. Last year, he won the Jack Adams Award, and this year, I think he’s probably been even better. But whatever he does, it’s his decision. Obviously, I’d like to have him back. And I think he knows that.”
He made previous pit stops in Arizona and Tampa Bay where he posted a 125-131-34 record with the former between 2017-18 and 2020-21 and a 53-69-26 record with the latter between 2008-09 and 2009-10. He was also an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins during both of their Stanley Cup runs in 2016 and 2017.
The Flyers had Tortorella behind their bench for most of the last 3 seasons where he posted a 97-107-33 record over 237 games, which stands as the 9th-most games coached by a bench boss in franchise history. They failed to qualify for the postseason for a fifth consecutive season, which is a feat they’ve only managed to post one other time between 1989-90 and 1993-94.
News about Tocchet had begun to swirl almost immediately after he left Vancouver with the Flyers right at the top of the list. They had him circled as their number one option but it was always on Tocchet at the end of the day and whether he wanted to continue behind a bench or in front of cameras as an analyst.
Eventually he decided to return to his roots where he spent 11 years during two separate tenures as a player. He recorded 232 goals and 508 points in 621 games with 1,815 penalty minutes during the regular season and an additional 27 goals and 60 points in 95 games with 349 penalty minutes in the postseason. Tocchet’s 1,815 PIM remains a franchise record.
The Flyers had reportedly previously interviewed Pat Ferschweiler from the University of Western Michigan with his ties with prospect Alex Bump as well as Flyers President Keith Jones. They also held associate coach Brad Shaw in high regard and it was always viewed that had they struck out on Tocchet they would have gone back to Shaw, who held the interim tag after he assumed duties at the end of the season.
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