After dumping head coach John Tortorella in late March, it didn’t take the Philadelphia Flyers too long to settle on their new bench boss: Rick Tocchet. A longtime player of theirs with plenty of head-coaching experience at the NHL level, it’s an excellent fit on paper.
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But it’s not quite as simple as that. There’s a glass-half-full argument for why the hire was great, and a glass-half-empty argument for why you should be skeptical. So, for the sake of fairness, let’s dive into both.
Glass Half Full: Tocchet’s Communication Skills
Just two weeks before his firing, Tortorella was called out on social media by Hall-of-Fame defenseman Chris Pronger. The legendary former Flyer shared a few critical thoughts, but one in particular stood out: he argued that Tortorella lost the respect of the locker room in both 2023–24 and 2024–25. At least to some extent, the Flyers’ management probably agreed.
This context is important because the opposite has been said about Tocchet—players are loyal to him. While two of his stars clashed last season with the Vancouver Canucks, he’s very well-liked. His guys will tell you that much.
Conor Garland has almost exclusively been coached by Tocchet at the NHL level—he’s very familiar with the 61-year-old’s way of doing things. Amid the Canucks’ excellent 2023–24 campaign, he told The Canadian Press, “I know guys have dealt with stuff that he’s helped them with mentally, and he makes sure you’re doing all right. That’s why guys love playing for him. It’s not just ‘Are you playing well for me?’ He worries about guys, and that’s what makes people want to run through a wall for him. That’s why you have such buy-in.”
Over the years, players have come to the defense of Tortorella, too. But what sets Tocchet apart from the Flyers’ former bench boss is that compassion. In any team-oriented environment, having a likable leader matters—a lot.
Some of the best coaches in the sport aren’t necessarily schematic masterminds—they’re brilliant communicators (Jon Cooper, Paul Maurice). Tocchet is the latter, and it showed during his first press conference. Unlike Tortorella, he’s very transparent with fans, media, and his players. Willing to work as a team instead of going the dictatorial path, that’s a shift from what the Flyers just had. Based on his comments, the locker room is about to be a much more open environment.
Instead of the Flyers’ head coach refusing to speak to the media after a loss, fans and players can expect accountability. In a city that bleeds for that kind of openness, it’s not a surprise that Tocchet has won over the majority—74.8% of polled fans “agree with the decision” (from ‘Flyers fan survey results: Solid support for Briere, Tocchet; Michkov will be a star,’ – The Athletic – July 31, 2025).
Glass Half Empty: Team-Wide Accomplishments as Head Coach
Then, we have the actual facts of the matter. If you care more about results than intent, let’s just say Tocchet’s résumé isn’t as colorful.
Despite being an NHL head coach for nine seasons, Tocchet has only appeared in the playoffs twice, with just one series victory to his name (excluding the 2020 Qualifying Round). He might’ve won the Jack Adams Award in 2023–24, but he’s suffered the same fate behind the bench that the Flyers have as a team over the past decade-plus—being stuck in the murky middle.
Furthermore, most of the league’s bench bosses have had a tremendous single-season success as a head coach at some level. Whether it be in juniors, college, or a professional league, most of these guys have led a team the distance, or close to it. However, that’s not the case for Tocchet—it makes him an outlier. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but that’s just not the same.
Tocchet’s teams haven’t been statistically dominant under the hood, either. He’s taken on tough jobs with the aforementioned Canucks, Arizona Coyotes, and Tampa Bay Lightning, but the Flyers won’t be much easier, will they?
At this stage, fans are left hoping Tocchet is the guy. There’s no hard evidence to say he is.
So, where do you align? Are you a glass-half-full kind of person, willing to give Tocchet a chance because of his style? Or is the statistical profile too discouraging for that kind of optimism? Feel free to leave your thoughts below!
