The 2026 NHL Draft is right around the corner. It is going to be the moment where all 32 NHL teams try to carve out at least a little bit of their future — which players could possibly join them in a few years and contribute to the team’s overall success as much as they hope they will.
And while it is a fool’s errand to try and fix the current issues a team has in the draft — unless you get a bona fide superstar at the top of the draft and he will be playing for your team right away — there could be some consideration made. We know all far too well that the Flyers are capable of doing this, since they have gone out and targeted a center in just about every single draft in the Danny Briere regime and it continues to be a problem for the actual team.
But, what about who will be behind the bench?
Again, it’s a little ridiculous to draft specific players because you think your current coach would love them and use them well, but there is something to be said about Rick Tocchet. Because, it seems like we’re in it for the long haul — and especially now since in his very first year of being the Flyers’ head coach, they made the playoffs. So there is the possibility that in three or four years, when these prospects drafted this year start banging on the door to the NHL, Tocchet is still going to be in Philadelphia.
We would personally clown on just about any team that would make a selection based on who their head coach is, because that changes far too often to really have an effect. But, if Rick Tocchet was in the scouting meetings and had a big say into who the Flyers would take at certain spots, and then those players were actually on Flyers teams when Tocchet was still around, who would he push for?
We can think of a few prospects who fit the Tocchet Player mold perfectly.
Maddox Dagenais, C/LW
Maddox Dagenais was the first name that came to mind. It was almost immediate. He’s a big, powerful guy, who loves to hit people but not just in a straight-forward way but use his 6-foot-4 frame to lay down a reverse hit and has been punishing poor little junior players in the QMJHL for the majority of this past season.
While we can debate about whether or not the Flyers should take this player if he’s available when they pick at 21st overall, because it is certainly a possibility, Dagenais is a joy to watch a highlight reel of.
More than his hits, Dagenais is an inside ice type of player. Not just floating around on the perimeter, but playing in the dirty areas of the ice. And he kind of came out of nowhere. It might be a story that people love to fall in love with — a player who wasn’t on anyone’s radar and might not have even been drafted, used his draft year opportunity in a big way and has now surged into the first round.
Dagenais isn’t some low-pace player, either. He is active in the forecheck and wants to disrupt play when his team doesn’t have the puck, and is generally always looking to cause a stir near the crease to try and take advantage and maybe score a goal when his team does have possession. We can just see Tocchet falling head over heels for this big and mean and violent guy from Montreal.
Gleb Pugachyov, LW
Gleb Pugachyov might not just be a player that Rick Tocchet likes to coach, but just about every single coach in the hockey world. He’s the type of player that every single team could use — whether it is higher up on a bad team or an underrated winger on a championship-caliber squad.
The 6-foot-3 Russian will storm his way through just about any single opponent. Already with a solid base of 198 pounds with his frame, Pugachyov has been heralded as the most physical player in the entire draft class. He’s an extremely good skater that can pick up immense speed going downhill and he uses that straight-line quickness to absolutely destroy dudes left and right.
Oh, and he can score, too. Pugachyov put up three points in 13 KHL games, which is pretty good as a draft-eligible skater who isn’t a Michkov-level prospect. And when he was playing down in the MHL, he scored 10 goals and 24 points in 33 games. Even if his scoring touch doesn’t translate to the NHL, he is bound to be that type of fourth-liner that is so annoying and physical and teams hate playing against.
Rick Tocchet just read that description and is drooling.
Alexander Command, C
While we have gone with a couple of ultra-physical guys to start off the list as sort of lay-ups for some prospects that Tocchet would theoretically love, Swedish center Alexander Command feels like a player that he would crave to have down the middle of the ice.
Command is not super big, at roughly 6-foot-1 and 187 pounds, but he is someone who would rather die than give a team back the puck. Command would rather have some player spit in his face several times if it meant him being able to set up a scoring chance down low. There’s just a maturity to his game that is unlike a whole lot of players in this draft class, while also maintaining a high enough ceiling that, if you squint, could be a second-line center on a good team.
He scored 44 points in 30 games in the U20 Nationell league and did get a cup of coffee in the SHL with six games under his belt. He should make the leap up to the pros next season and face some real tests of just how his mature and physical and competitive game really lasts against the best players in the country.
Tocchet would love the way he can use his body to his team’s advantage — to have this workhorse down the middle of the ice would be a blessing for him.
Giorgios Pantelas, RD
Let’s look at a defenseman. While Tocchet has been blessed to coach some of the world’s best blueliners, he certainly does love a dependable player that can just secure a bottom pairing like nothing else. And, if needed, play in the top four.
Giorgios Pantelas is one of the first that came to mind in this draft class. He’s not extremely exciting but the right-handed defenseman uses his physicality in a smart way to stop plays before they happen. The Brandon Wheat Kings rearguard has played in a support role to other more offensively gifted defense partners, so he has a whole lot of experience being that calming stabilizer and potentially covering a lot of ice in case of some misreads in the other team’s zone.
There is a really smart, defensive player here and at worst, there’s another Noah Juulsen type of player here that can eat up minutes in case of injury. The best case is that he sort of does play like a top-of-his-game Rasmus Ristolainen with limited actual puck touches but is able to break out of his zone well and provide a balance next to his defense partner that likes to rush up the ice and join the attack from time to time.
Adam Novotny, RW
Why not a forward that truly has a fairly high ceiling? Teams need to actually score goals and Adam Novotny can do that pretty well.
This Czech winger basically has it all. His skating is top-notch, he has an insanely powerful shot, he has the vision and passing ability to be a big-time offensive threat, and his physical tools can help round it all out and keep him effective even if he doesn’t score. He’s sort of the ideal top-six winger for almost every single team in the hockey world. You don’t really have to worry about Novotny whenever you send him over the boards, and that is simply why Tocchet would love him so much.
He’s not a dangler or has any big weakness in his game that needs to be covered up. Novotny can battle it out on the forecheck and then set up teammates so well for a scoring opportunity if he forces a giveaway. He might not have the violent streak of a Dagenais, but there is a real mean physical winger in here that has a lot of skill — to punish an opposing team in multiple ways. Probably someone who Tocchet wishes they could clone and just make the entire top six forward group out of this same guy.
