Philadelphia Flyers outline why new coach Rick Tocchet will thrive: ‘We didn’t take any shortcuts’

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PHILADELPHIA — It’s already well-established how tight the bond is between Rick Tocchet and Keith Jones. That was reinforced on Friday at Wells Fargo Center, as Tocchet was officially introduced as the Philadelphia Flyers’ 25th head coach.

As the Flyers’ leadership group emerged from behind a black curtain for the event, Jones, the president of hockey operations, joked to Tocchet that he was “walking the plank.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Tocchet quipped, eliciting laughter from a crowd of approximately 500 season-ticket holders, employees and dignitaries.

Later in the news conference, Tocchet mentioned how, as a player, he “really enjoyed playing for a guy like (former NHL head coach) Jim Schoenfeld. Maybe Jonesy, not so much.”

Jones, who played for parts of four seasons under Schoenfeld in Washington, couldn’t help but shake his head, while simultaneously cracking up at Tocchet revealing that unfortunate bit of information.

But Flyers general manager Daniel Briere, who was the ultimate decision-maker when it came to hiring Tocchet to replace John Tortorella, didn’t know him nearly as well. Sure, they were teammates at one point on the Coyotes in the late 1990s. But that was two and a half decades ago.

And, at least according to Briere, Tocchet’s familiarity with Jones and his history with the Flyers organization as one of its greatest all-time players didn’t give him an edge on the competition, which included half a dozen other serious candidates.

“We asked him all the same questions we asked everybody, from relationships, to the technical stuff, to how he ran his bench, and the room, and management. We went through the whole gamut with him, just like we did with everybody else,” Briere said. “We didn’t take any shortcuts because of his name, or because he had ties to the organization. He went through the whole process like everybody else, and it became clear he was the guy.”

Part of that process was ensuring that Tocchet did, in fact, want to coach again right away after what was an unpleasant 2024-25 season in Vancouver. There was rampant speculation that Tocchet might return to his place on the TNT in-studio panel, rather than get behind a bench again so soon after things went sideways with the Vancouver Canucks.

Tocchet did admit that going back to broadcasting was an attractive option. But, ultimately, signing a five-year, $27.5 million with an organization that still means so much to him personally was too enticing to pass up.

Why? When it came to his proverbial checklist of what he was looking for in an employer, Tocchet first mentioned that the “stability box is checked.”

“If you look at what coaches want, there’s a lot of draft picks, there’s a lot of prospects, untapped talent,” Tocchet said. “The stability, obviously, of ownership. I walked around that practice facility, I walked around (the arena). There’s so many tools to work with. The practice facility, with three sheets of ice — those are attracting things to help me be even a better coach.”

That ownership stability wasn’t something Tocchet enjoyed in the pre-Jeff Vinik days in Tampa Bay, when he was head coach there for nearly two full seasons, nor was it in Arizona in his four seasons with the Coyotes. And, it was notable that Tocchet mentioned the Flyers’ practice facility in Voorhees, N.J., which has undergone significant renovations in recent years. The Canucks don’t have an official facility outside of Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver.

“I just think there’s a lot of tools for me to work with here,” Tocchet said.

And Tocchet, the thinking goes, can be a tool for the organization, too.

When the Flyers made the official announcement on Wednesday, there were statements attributed to Briere, Jones and team governor Dan Hilferty that all mentioned, to varying degrees, Tocchet’s ability to relate to and communicate with players.

That was something that Tortorella didn’t always do, whether by design or not. And, it’s something that Tocchet believes is even more important when it comes to today’s athletes.

“I’m a partner with the players,” Tocchet said. “It’s not a dictatorship. You’re not going to last in this league if you think you’re going to tell these guys what
to do every day and have all these type of rules. But I think if you partner up with a player, listen to them — and there’s got to be accountability. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely my job to steer the ship, but I think it’s important that you let the players steer the ship, too.”

Said Briere: “That is one thing Rick Tocchet does, (is) he builds relationships. He is good at it. I talked to a lot of players around the league. Players that are still playing, players that are now in management positions, scouting positions, or coaching positions. The one thing that keeps coming up is how good of a communicator he is with his players, especially how he builds relationships.”

Jones, whose rolodex runs as deep as anyone in the league, echoed Briere.

“The players want communication, they want to know where they stand, they want to be in the conversation, they want to be able to have a voice,” Jones said. “That’s something that Rick excels at, not just through our conversations with him, but through conversations with players that have played with him, people that have worked with him, people that he knows well, and people who know him well. The homework’s been done, for sure.”

In other words, Tocchet’s reputation around the league, according to those individuals Briere and Jones spoke with, is rock-solid. And considering the Flyers expect to turn the corner on their rebuild as soon as next season, and could start adding players shortly, having the well-respected Tocchet behind the bench could aid them in that difficult task.

Briere sure thinks so. He emphatically got that point across when asked Tocchet might help attract potential targets.

“There’s no doubt that Rick is going to make us more enticing for players to come here,” Briere said. “There’s already agents calling and letting us know that. And that’s kudos to him for the relationships that he’s built and the reputation that he’s built over the years. It’s so positive in that regard that there’s no
doubt in my mind that, yes, it’s going to make us more of an attractive team to join.”

That’s despite what happened with the Canucks this season.

For much of the past two years, Briere and Jones — and Tortorella, before he was fired — spoke about how vital it was to build a strong team culture. Nearly every decision the organization has made in terms of player movement since Briere was named general manager was made with that at the forefront of their collective minds.

But the Canucks cracked for a portion of last season under the weight of a rift between star centers J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. It was something that Tocchet couldn’t prevent. He was asked whether, in hindsight, there was something different he could have done to avert that club from losing its way until Miller was eventually dealt to the New York Rangers on Jan. 31.

“Sometimes things happen and there’s not a bad guy,” Tocchet said. “Sometimes, people are looking for the bad guy in this. Some things just don’t work out, and you have to move on from it. Have I learned from things? Yeah, definitely.

“But even during that tumultuous time … I’m really proud of that team that we were only a few points out of a playoff spot, with all that went on. I give the players a lot of credit for that. That’s something that, you always learn from experiences, and evolve as a coach.”

There’s no word yet on what Tocchet’s staff will look like, other than it won’t include defense/penalty kill specialist Brad Shaw, who was a strong candidate for the head coaching job before he informed Briere on Thursday that he’d be moving on. The only assistant coach confirmed to be remaining is goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh, after Briere cleaned house with the rest of the staff last month in order to let Tocchet build it out how he prefers.

But even with so many notable changes to the staff, and perhaps more change to come this offseason with the roster, Briere still sees the organization as traversing the path they’ve envisioned all along. There’s just a new guy in charge of the day-to-day.

“The one thing I want to make clear is the fact that the plan doesn’t change here,” Briere said. “Rick has been part of this before — he has coached some younger teams and some veteran teams. We see him as the long-term solution.”

(Photo of Keith Jones, Daniel Briere, Rick Tocchet and Dan Hilferty courtesy of Philadelphia Flyers)

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