Philadelphia Flyers hire Rick Tocchet as head coach
Danny Briere has made his first head coaching hire as Philadelphia Flyers general manager, and it's a familiar face. The Flyers named Rick Tocchet as their next head coach, the team announced Wednesday.
Tocchet is well-known to Flyers fans, having played 11 of his 18 NHL seasons with the team. He was a teammate in Philadelphia with Flyers president Keith Jones and played with Briere with the Coyotes. He was inducted into the Flyers' Hall of Fame in 2021. He spent years serving as a Flyers analyst on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
"I am very happy to welcome Rick Tocchet as our head coach," Briere said in a statement. "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. 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."
Tocchet, 61, comes back to Philadelphia after serving the past three seasons as the Vancouver Canucks head coach. The Canucks declined Tocchet's option for next season, but reportedly offered him a new contract to stay. He opted to leave Vancouver to come home to Philadelphia.
"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," Tocchet said in the team's announcement. "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."
The Canucks were 108-65-27 in Tocchet's three seasons as head coach. He won the Jack Adams Award for guiding Vancouver to a 50-win season in 2024 before losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round. The club finished 38-30-14 and missed the playoffs last season. In his nine-year coaching career, Tocchet also led the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Arizona Coyotes.
"Family is a priority, and with my contract lapsing, this becomes the opportune time," Tocchet said in a statement on April 29. "While I don't know where I'm headed, or exactly how this will play out for me over the near term, I feel like this is the right time for me to explore other opportunities in and around hockey."
How did the Philadelphia Flyers get here?
The John Tortorella era in Philadelphia came to an end earlier than anticipated. The Flyers took a considerable step back in their third season under Tortorella, leading to the club firing him with nine games left on March 27.
In firing Tortorella, Briere praised the 65-year-old for the culture he helped establish and for his role in setting a high standard in the locker room. However, Briere also hinted that several things were happening behind the scenes that contributed to Tortorella's departure, including his comments after a loss in Toronto two days before his dismissal.
"It's one of the things that happened along the way," Briere said in March. "That's not the specific reason, and there's not one specific reason. It's one of the things that has happened along the way. There's been different ones. Don't just focus on that."
After taking a step forward in Year 2 under Tortorella, even flirting with a playoff berth, the Flyers regressed significantly in the 2024-25 campaign. At the time of Tortorella's firing, the orange and black were 28-36-9 and had lost 12 of their previous 14 games. They finished strong under interim head coach Brad Shaw, winning five of their final nine games. The club finished the season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, tied with the Boston Bruins with 76 points.
"It's no secret that last year we probably overachieved from what the expectations were. This year, we underachieved. I still feel like we're a much better team and much closer than where we finished in the standings," Briere said at the team's breakout day. "I've always said the players would dictate that. There are guys who really took a big step forward. There are a few guys who regressed. I don't think we're that far off. I think we're at a stage now where we're going to shift a little bit from subtracting from the roster into trying to start to add and help the team."
Will Brad Shaw remain on the Flyers' coaching staff?
On April 23, the Flyers announced changes to their coaching staff, parting ways with assistant coaches Rocky Thompson, Angelo Ricci and Darryl Williams. Two coaches not included in the changes were Shaw and goalie coach Kim Dillabaugh. Shaw and Dillabaugh could still end up leaving as part of the new coaching staff, but the Flyers' retention of both indicates that the front office would like to keep them.
Before taking over as interim head coach, Shaw's main responsibility as assistant coach was overseeing the Flyers' defense. Several defensemen have taken steps over the past few years under Shaw's tutelage, and they've sung praises for Shaw.
When the Flyers fired Tortorella, they were in the midst of a six-game losing streak and losing 12 of their previous 14 games. In nine games with Shaw as interim head coach, the Flyers' on-ice product turned around. Philadelphia finished the season 5-3-1, averaging four goals per game in its nine games under Shaw.
"He did a really good job [as interim head coach]," Briere said at the team's breakout day. "It was kind of a different approach than Torts had, and some guys really stepped up and seemed like they were a little freer."
During the Flyers' breakout day, Briere said the team would consider Shaw as the head coach. Ultimately, the Flyers decided on Tocchet instead. It's unclear at this time if Shaw will remain on the Flyers' coaching staff.
