Tocchet’s arrival opens up many possibilities for change in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Flyers made the hiring of Rick Tocchet as head coach official last week. Tocchet, 61, was rumored to be the Flyers’ top choice going back to the firing of his predecessor John Tortorella; ultimately, those rumors were more true than any of us actually knew. 

It has been well documented at this point, but Tocchet was not only the Flyers’ top choice, he was in a “class of his own,” as one source with the team said to me. The Flyers did conduct a thorough and legitimate search to find their new bench boss, but it was always Tocchet’s job to lose based on all indications from sources and the reporting of other pundits across the league.

General manager Danny Briere made the decision to zero in on Tocchet pretty clear after last Friday’s introductory press conference. Tocchet’s communication skills, ability to relate to players and motivational intuition all contributed to the hire being exactly what the Flyers wanted. And let’s not ignore the elephant in the room, that Tocchet is also a former teammate of both Briere and president of hockey operations Keith Jones. 

The Flyers did have other candidates highly regarded in the search, most notably former interim head coach and associate coach Brad Shaw. According to sources, Shaw was fairly upset at not getting the job. Though the Flyers had interest in keeping Shaw on as an assistant coach to work on Tocchet’s staff, it was ultimately refused by the former. First reported by Charlie O’Connor, Shaw will not be returning to the Flyers’ bench in any capacity. There was no guarantee that Shaw would’ve gotten the job on Tocchet’s staff; according to sources, Shaw would’ve had to go through another interview process. 

In terms of the assistants, I’m told that the Flyers will start that extensive process this week. With a holiday yesterday, the Flyers will start locking in today to begin rounding out Tocchet’s staff. There has been a lot of speculation regarding who the assistants could be, with former Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson and former Flyer Mark Recchi being thrown out as possible candidates. I can’t say one way or another if those names are true – the Flyers have kept this fairly tight to the vest, even going back to the process to hire Tocchet – but the former Flyer connection is there with both Richardson and Recchi. 

One of the things that Briere pointed out in his presser on Friday was the ability to attract players to the Flyers now that Tocchet is behind the bench. Briere mentioned that he had already received calls from agents; was he insinuating that the Flyers are no longer on no-trade lists now that Tortorella is gone? The Athletic ran a player poll recently that listed Tortorella as the coach that players wanted to play for the least. I can’t say for certain this was one of the reasons why the Flyers zeroed in on Tocchet as much as they did, but given Briere’s comments on Friday to the media, it would be easy to connect those dots. 

So does Tocchet’s hiring signal an aggressive offseason for the Flyers? 

I don’t expect an aggressive summer in the way of trades and free agents, but the Flyers are going to look to make additions on the margins. It has been well documented to this point, but the Flyers’ plan has always been to push down on the gas pedal in 2026 when the dead money on the cap due to the Cam Atkinson buyout and the retention of salary on Kevin Hayes and Scott Laughton comes off the books. The Flyers’ newfound cap space will coincide with the salary cap skyrocketing past $100 million; in a year’s time, everything will come together for Briere and company to really go for it. 

I do expect the Flyers to find some help at center. They are armed with seven draft picks in the first two rounds of the NHL Draft this year, so there is a legitimate path to the Flyers finding a way to swing a trade to try and land a decent player to bolster their center ice position. Again, I don’t expect the Flyers to go big game hunting and land a player with a large salary, but the wealth of trade capital the Flyers have in the way of draft picks can open doors that would not normally be afforded to them. 

Many have wondered about Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi, who seems to be on the outs in the State of Hockey. According to sources I spoke with earlier in the season, the Flyers did have a conversation with Wild GM Bill Guerin regarding the 2020 first-round pick. Ultimately the Flyers passed on Rossi, as it was explained to me the fear of what the player will be away from Kirill Kaprizov and how he would perform in the playoffs. 

I can’t say for certain which names the Flyers will target this summer, but don’t expect it to be a big fish – though they will look to add. 

Tocchet’s arrival signals a new age for the Flyers that will prioritize a healthy environment for players. The gas pedal is not going to be slammed this season, but the pieces are being put in place in order for that to happen in a year’s time. The big money contract (five years at $5.25 million) was handed over to Tocchet for a reason; with the Boston Bruins and Seattle Kraken hot on his tail, Tocchet was in the driver’s seat. Tocchet bought into the Flyers’ plan and stability through ownership, and is now in lockstep with Briere and Jones as they enter the next phase of their rebuild.