Flyers hire former player Rick Tocchet as 25th head coach in franchise history

Tick, tick, boom, the Flyers got their guy on Wednesday.

Rick Tocchet, 61, was hired as the 25th head coach (including interims) in team history, the Flyers announced Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not released.

Before John Tortorella was fired on March 27, several reports indicated that Tocchet was high on the team’s short list of coaching candidates if they made a change.

Why was Tocchet on the short list of not just the Flyers but reportedly a leading candidate in Boston, Seattle, and Pittsburgh?

Since hanging up his skates, he has built a strong resumé and gained experience as an assistant coach and bench boss, most recently over the past 2½ seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, with whom he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2023-24. He also brings three Stanley Cup rings with the Pittsburgh Penguins, one as a player and two as an assistant coach under Mike Sullivan.

» READ MORE: In hiring Rick Tocchet, the Flyers are getting a ‘great communicator’ and a coach players ‘want to play for’

“During this process, it became clear that Rick was the absolute right coach to lead our team. He has enjoyed the highest level of success both as a player and coach,” general manager Danny Brière said in the team’s press release.

“Rick’s ability to teach and understand his players, combined with his passion for winning, brings out the best in young players at different stages of their development and has earned the respect and confidence of highly talented All-Stars and veteran players alike.”

Oh, and he knows all about Flyers hockey.

A member of the Flyers Hall of Fame, Tocchet played 621 of his 1,144 NHL games with the Orange and Black, accumulating 508 points and a franchise-record 1,815 penalty minutes across two stints. One of 19 players to serve as captain for the organization, he is a former teammate of Brière’s in Phoenix and team president Keith Jones with the Flyers.

Now he’ll go from sitting on the bench at the building known as the Wells Fargo Center (soon-to-be the Xfinity Mobile Arena) to running it.

“I’ve always been a Flyer at heart and have taken that passion and energy that embodies this city and organization with me throughout my career. ... I couldn’t be more excited to lead this team back among the NHL elite where we belong.

“We have a lot of work to do and much to accomplish, but I am confident in the direction we are heading and determined to get us there.”

» READ MORE: Six things to know about Rick Tocchet, the Flyers' next coach

Philly is coming off a season where it slipped down to the last spot in the Eastern Conference after narrowly missing the playoffs the previous year. Despite the drop, the future looks bright as the Flyers move forward in their rebuild, officially stepping into Year 3 under Brière and Jones.

Tocchet has amassed a 286-265-87 record across three teams as a head coach (.516 points percentage). The Ontario native’s teams have qualified for the playoffs just twice in nine years, although he inherited losing teams in the middle of the season on two occasions and took on a significant rebuild in Arizona.

With Vancouver, Tocchet was 108-65-27 (.608 points percentage), and led the Canucks to within one game of reaching the Western Conference finals in 2023-24. He won the Jack Adams Award that year as the NHL’s top coach.

“The Philadelphia Flyers have a reputation for being hardworking and hard to play against,” said Tony Granato, who had Tocchet as an assistant in Colorado.

“Torts tried to instill that there, and made a good push to bring back that style of play, or that reputation of what the Flyers are. Rick Tocchet lived it. He was one of the perfect examples of what that was. He’s the same way behind the bench, and he expects the same of his players.”

There is no denying credit goes to Tortorella for laying a strong foundation and culture inside the dressing room. But now is the time to start creating the home on top of that base.

Up and down the Flyers roster are young players trying to develop their games, whether it be Bobby Brink and Emil Andrae, a rising star in Matvei Michkov, or established top-of-the-lineup players in Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim.

Tocchet brings extensive experience working with forwards, players trying to find their footing, and superstars, and also has a reputation for running top-tier power plays. He has coached names like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay, Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg in Colorado, and just helped Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes, who told Sportsnet in April that Tocchet is “an amazing coach” and “a guy you want to compete for,” win a Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman.

» READ MORE: Social media reacts to Rick Tocchet returning to the Flyers

“What is impressive about Rick is that players gravitate towards him and develop a strong relationship in the process,” Jones said in the press release. “There is a genuine trust that he will do everything he can to bring success to the team.”

Although he may come across as a Tortorella retread, thanks to the right winger‘s hard-nosed style during his playing days, he is not. Yes, Tocchet is demanding like Tortorella, and expects his players to come prepared, but his demeanor and messaging are different.

“He’s always been a great communicator, and he was when he was on the coaching staff,” said Walz. “... And the one thing I‘ll say about Rick is he’s open to listening. As hard and as tough as he is mentally, and was as a player, he wants assistant coaches around him, and he wants people around him who are not yes guys. He loves ideas. He loves people who think outside the box.”

The Flyers have not announced any further additions to the staff, or provided any clarification on interim Brad Shaw’s future. Shaw, who ran the Flyers’ defense and penalty kill under Tortorella before becoming interim coach for the final nine games, said during his end-of-season press conference that he would be open to staying as an assistant coach again.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will the Flyers be despite bringing Tocchet into the fold. However, he will do just fine.

“Tocc’s a worker, Tocc’s a grinder, Tocc’s a guy that’s going to be there early in the morning,” Granato told The Inquirer. “He’s going to be working on the ice, early with players. He’s going to be there until the wee hours and whatever, just to help and be ready and prepare.”

The puck doesn’t drop on the 2025-26 season until October, but the work starts now.