The Philadelphia Flyers have their new head coach. News broke not long ago that former Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes, and Tampa Bay Lightning coach Rick Tocchet has been hired by the Flyers.
How did we get here? Former Flyers head coach John Tortorella was fired back on Mar. 27 and was replaced by Brad Shaw the interim coach. The Flyers, at that point, were struggling tremendously and felt that they needed change. General Manager Daniel Briere made the move, and some would argue it was beneficial. Under Shaw, the Flyers went 5-3-1 in the final nine games of the 2024-25 season.
Then, the offseason came. Would the Flyers take the interim tag off Shaw and make him the head coach? Would they turn to the collegiate level and look at coaches such as Pat Ferschweiler of Western Michigan or David Carle of the University of Denver? The organization had a lot of interviews to conduct and thinking to do regarding who they think would be best for the team and the “rebuild” they’re going through.
Other coach’s names were thrown in the mix as well, but they ultimately decided to bring Tocchet home. Tocchet was drafted by the Flyers back in 1983 with the 19th pick of the sixth round (121st overall). He ended up playing for the orange and black from 1984 through 92′ and then again from 1990 to 02′. Overall, he played 1,144 games, tallied 440 goals and 512 assists for 952 points and was a plus 84 in his career.
There have been plenty of mixed feelings about such hire all over social media. I’ll be completely honest. I didn’t know how to feel about Tocchet being the new coach of the Flyers. With how the team is structured and the current rebuild phase they’re in, I just didn’t see him being a fit. Plenty of people feel the same way. I definitely wouldn’t mind being proven wrong, but I do hope that Tocchet can lead this team in the right direction and closer to contention.
One reason why fans have mixed emotions is because Tocchet has only one playoff series win in the last nine years. This surely doesn’t give anyone high hopes for the future of any team. The last time the Flyers were in the playoffs was back in 2019-20 or the bubble year. They, unfortunately, were eliminated by the New York Islanders in the second round after beating the Montreal Canadiens in the first. We can only hope that Tocchet can lead the way to another playoff appearance.
According to Anthony SanFilippo on X, Tocchet is signing a five-year, $25M contract for Philadelphia.
Is this the right move for a team like the Flyers? Only time will tell.
Welcome back to Philadelphia, Rick!
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