Since re-joining the Philadelphia Flyers as the 25th head coach in franchise history, Rick Tocchet has been all the rage in the media and in national circles. And for good reason.
One of the main draws for Tocchet, in the eyes of Flyers GM Danny Briere, is his attractiveness to players around the league. Veterans, youngsters, and All-Stars from all kinds of different teams are apparently clamoring to play for Tocchet.
And, while many Flyers fans were skeptical of Briere’s early Tocchet impressions and considered them to be tropes or buzzwords to generate hype, there’s truth to it.
For instance, we know that Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes loves Tocchet. Now, we’re coming to find that the love for Tocchet extends well beyond active players, too.
On Thursday’s NHL Network panel, former NHL enforcer Stu Grimson and ex-All-Star goalie Cory Schneider sung Tocchet’s praises and gave the Flyers props for landing the big fish of this offseason’s hiring cycle.
“Yes, the Flyers are trying to improve their roster on the ice and become a perennial playoff team and eventually a contender, but, if you think about it, as much as anything, it’s a cultural rebuild,” Grimson said. “To me, Rick Tocchet actually picks up the mantle, picks up the baton and carries it forward.
“You’re picking up the development of these young guys and nurturing that, and to me, no better fit for a guy like Rick Tocchet. No knock on [John Tortorella], but when a guy like Rick Tocchet walks to the center of the room, a guy who’s had a brilliant career… do you know a lot of guys who had 30 goals and 300 penalty minutes in a single campaign?
“That’s a pretty rare player, so when a guy like that walks to the center of the room, you’ve got the attention, you’ve got the respect of this group right out of the gate. This is an important place for the bookmark to be inserted and Tocchet takes over going forward. I’m really excited to see what this team looks like a couple years from now under the Tocchet regime.”
Some strong words from Grimson and a ringing endorsement, especially given how Tortorella’s reign in Philadelphia ended with sputtering, fumbling quotes about the state of the team and an alleged verbal clash with Cam York, among other things.
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When your coach has your respect and attention beyond a shadow of a doubt, that’s not something that happens.
From Day 1, Tocchet will be an improvement in this aspect.
Schneider, too, believes Tocchet and the Flyers are a perfect match, even beyond the product on the ice. And that’s just how the Flyers are as an organization, too. It comes with the territory, literally.
“I think when he opted out of Vancouver, it was a bit of fait accompli that he’d end up in Philly. The match just seemed too perfect,” Schneider added, piggybacking off Grimson. “Tocchet and Philly just seemed to make sense. It’s not just a team and organization. It’s a city, it’s a culture, it’s an identity. And I think he fits that identity.
“I think he’s a great follow-up to Torts. I think he’s like a Torts-lite, in the sense that he’s a great communicator. I think that’s his best attribute. Communication is so paramount in the league today with young players. You have to be able to talk to them, explain to them, let them know where they stand.
“I think a guy like Michkov is going to really thrive underneath him, because [Tocchet] may not demand quite as much defensively as Torts did; he might free you up a little bit offensively, but still instill those habits, the accountability, what he expects out of you. Continuing that culture while maybe freeing some guys up more to do more things, be more creative, use their skill more.”
Flyers: Olympic Champion Predicts Matvei Michkov’s Future Under Rick TocchetIlya Vorobyov, a former Russian national team head coach and Olympic champion, sees lots of defense in the future of Matvei Michkov under new Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet.
Matvei Michkov, for example, had the ultimate challenge of playing for a disciplinarian like Tortorella in his first NHL season, and even sat out two games entirely as a healthy scratch to the chagrin of hockey fans everywhere.
But the budding Flyers star still managed to post 63 points and lead all NHL rookies in goals with 26. Just imagine where Michkov could go offensively with less emphasis on holding his position in the defensive zone.
Plus, wingers like Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, and Bobby Brink all had good, not great, seasons offensively and could all stand to take a step or two forward in that department. Tippett, especially, is rapidly losing developmental runway and is coming off his least productive full season in Philadelphia.
A drastic improvement from Tippett is just the tip of the iceberg of what the Flyers are tasking Tocchet with for the next five seasons.
Fortunately, Tocchet has believers in his ability well outside the confines of the Flyers Training Center and Wells Fargo Center, which should at least inspire a bit more of confidence in his skeptics and critics in the short term.
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