How Rick Tocchet’s teams performed on the power play in Year 2

The Philadelphia Flyers enter the 2026-27 season with hope. A playoff appearance and a playoff series victory over Pittsburgh has upped the anticipation ante. As well, fans are eager to see what the team does with a new backup goalie in Joseph Woll. The same can be said for what Porter Martone does in his first full season after such a terrific introduction. And, of course, the spotlight will also be focused on Matvei Michkov to see if he can rebound from what was a subpar season. There is a lot to look at, but one sticking point is going to be whether or not the Flyers show some signs of life with the power play. Without going into great detail, it has sucked stupendously most of this decade. It\'s something Philadelphia has to improve on if they want to go deep into the playoffs. It\'s also something Rick Tocchet and his coaching staff are going to have to figure out at some point this season. Preferably far sooner than later.

So, with that in mind, perhaps something can be gleaned from how Tocchet\'s teams have fared with the power play in the second year of his tenure with his previous three teams compared to year one. Obviously, there are differences in personnel with six different rosters over six different seasons. And some teams were more heavily stacked when it comes to working the power play to near perfection. However, it\'s important to see if something can be taken from the information which might see Philadelphia finally break that glass ceiling into league average or a top 20 league ranking in 2026-27. Note that because Tocchet coached all but 16 games in 2008-09 replacing Lightning coach Barry Melrose, we used that information as his first year. We also used 2023-24 as Tocchet\'s first proper season with Vancouver as he only coached 36 games in 2022-23 after Vancouver canned Bruce Boudreau. And, finally, all analytical numbers are based on five-on-four power plays as, generally, that\'s the predominant power play situation.

Tampa Bay: The first two seasons on the power play

Rick Tocchet entered his first full season as a National Hockey League head coach with a few gems at his disposal when it came to special teams, namely the power play. A generational sniper like Steven Stamkos doesn\'t come along too often. Nor does a Hall of Famer in Martin St. Louis hurt either. Toss in Vincent Lecavalier and you start to realize Tocchet couldn\'t possibly screw up the Lightning power play, even if he tried. In 2008-09, Tampa Bay scored 61 power play goals and had an efficiency of 17.78 per cent which put them nineteenth in league rankings. And generally the trio of Stamkos, St. Louis, and Lecavalier made up a large share of the overall total. Lecavalier had 10, Stamkos had nine, and St. Louis, Vaclav Prospal, and Ryan Malone had seven each. Also contributing but not in a huge way was Cory Murphy (four) while Mark Recchi, Gary Roberts, Matt Pettinger, Jussi Jokinen and Steve Eminger each had a pair.

Season Power play goals Power play goals league average Power play chances Power play chances league average Power play efficiency Power play efficiency league average Players with 4+ power play goals Games with multiple power play goals 2008-09 61 65 343 341 17.78 18.95 6 15 2009-10 63 55 326 304 19.33 18.22 5 14

In Tocchet\'s second year with Tampa Bay, the power play was essentially the same, just a hair more effective due to having 37 fewer chances and scoring two more goals. The 2009-10 season was dominated by Steven Stamkos, who had 24 of Tampa\'s 63 power play goals. St. Louis, Malone, and Steve Downie all had seven each, while Lecavalier had five. Other multiple power play goal scorers included Kurtis Foster and Alex Tanguay with three apiece, while Jeff Halpern and Andrej Meszaros had a pair each. Essentially, a lot of the same faces, but with Stamkos far and away leading in year two.

In terms of the more analytical numbers below, the Lightning were marginally better in some statistics, but were notably down in terms of the high danger chances for and the related percentages. As shown below, there\'s a 10 percent difference in the high danger chances for percentages from year one into year two. Although different factors would go into it, perhaps the simplest explanation would be how much Tampa relied on Stamkos -- and in particular his howitzer from his wheelhouse on the side -- to score. While it\'s not a high danger chance in the dirty areas, or creating much traffic for the opposition, having a shot as powerful and dangerous as Stamkos was more effective further away than any possible chance for a garbage goal or deflection. Again, the Lightning didn\'t need much help crafting a steady power play. And Tocchet didn\'t seem to attempt fixing something that was in no way completely broken.

Season Corsi for Corsi for % Shots for Shots for % Goals for % Expected goals for Expected goals for % High danger chances for High danger chances for % 2008-09 763 84.31 449 81.34 87.30 53.14 86.15 176 85.44 2009-10 796 86.15 442 84.51 89.93 48.78 84.45 131 75.29

Arizona: The first two seasons on the power play

As talented and heavily stacked Tampa Bay was on the power play, Tocchet experienced a very different tier of talent when he took over his first season with the Coyotes. The team was not great with the man advantage in 2017-18, and the 41 goals was nine below the league average. In fact, everything was below average, with the opportunities just under the average and the power play percentage also under the bar. Of the 41 goals, both Clayton Keller and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had six each, with Christian Fischer and Brendan Perlini having five each. Derek Stepan, Alex Goligoski, and Anthony Duclair had three goals a pop, while Christian Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun, and Tobias Rieder had two each. The Coyotes weren\'t juggernauts with the power play, resulting in just six games where they scored two or more with the man advantage.

Season Power play goals Power play goals league average Power play chances Power play chances league average Power play efficiency Power play efficiency league average Players with 4+ power play goals Games with multiple power play goals 2017-18 41 50 243 250 16.87 20.18 4 6 2018-19 42 47 258 239 16.28 19.78 4 4

The following season, Tocchet didn\'t do a lot different, and the results were essentially the same despite having roughly 20 more power play chances to cash in over the league average in 2018-19. Alex Galchenyuk lead the Coyotes with nine goals, while Ekman-Larsson had five. Conor Garland and Nick Schmaltz had four each, while Chychrun, Vinnie Hinostroza, Dylan Strome, and Jordan Oesterle had three. Only Brendan Perlini was the other Coyote to have multiple power play goals with a pair. The Coyotes also only had four games where they scored two or more power play goals, a scant amount even for a poor power play.

Analytically, three statistics stand out in terms of year one over year two. The shots for percentage was down nearly seven per cent in the second year, and the expected goals for was also down almost six per cent. When it came to the high danger chances for, Arizona had 44 fewer of those in 2018-19 than they did in 2017-18. With no true game-breaker or sniper on their roster, the Coyotes had to essential score by committee at even strength. And, outside of Galchenyuk\'s output in Tocchet\'s second year with Arizona, the power play contributions were essentially spread out across a number of players.

Season Corsi for Corsi for % Shots for Shots for % Goals for % Expected goals for Expected goals for % High danger chances for High danger chances for % 2017-18 612 87.18 321 85.52 82.00 44.73 88.80 155 85.64 2018-19 592 84.09 315 78.55 83.72 38.84 88.01 111 82.84

Vancouver: The first two seasons on the power play

When Tocchet took over from Bruce Boudreau to close out the 2022-23 season, nobody expected the possible turnaround the following season would hold. Tocchet earned a Jack Adams award, the Canucks were considered strong contenders, and the future looked extremely bright. That first year saw Vancouver score 58 power play goals, and have a better than average power play thanks to players like Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, and Elias Pettersson. Toss in Brock Boeser, and Vancouver had a relatively potent quartet to work with. Boeser led all Canucks with 16 power play goals, with Pettersson having 13, and Miller with 10. Fourth, but certainly not least in terms of talent, was Hughes with five. Andrei Kuzmenko and Elias Lindholm had three each, while Filip Hronek and Pius Suter had two goals apiece.

Season Power play goals Power play goals league average Power play chances Power play chances league average Power play efficiency Power play efficiency league average Players with 4+ power play goals Games with multiple power play goals 2023-24 58 52 257 247 22.57 20.96 4 12 2024-25 50 48 222 222 22.52 21.64 5 8

Given how successful 2023-24 seemed to be for Vancouver, the expectations the following year were not met. That didn\'t mean Vancouver fell off a cliff regarding the power play, but things just didn\'t gel the way many anticipated. They scored eight fewer power play goals, and had 35 fewer chances. Despite the drop in goals, the efficiency was almost identical. Jake DeBrusk had 14 power play goals, while Boeser had nine. Pettersson and Conor Garland had seven each, while Quinn Hughes had five. The only other multiple-goal scorers on the power play with two each were Miller and Pius Suter.

What clearly stands out in the deeper data are the drastic decreases in some areas. The chances for dropped substantially from 753 in 2023-24 to just 572 in 2024-25. The shots for declined over 27 percentage points, while the high danger chances for dropped by an even 25 per cent. Same goes for the expected goals for. The drop in those numbers didn\'t result in a huge decline in terms of the basic numbers, but showed that there wasn\'t the offensive oomph or punch in Tocchet\'s second year with the club versus the first year. The inner locker room turmoil was well-documented. That turmoil resulted in the numbers on the ice not quite being up to snuff.

Season Corsi for Corsi for % Shots for Shots for % Goals for % Expected goals for Expected goals for % High danger chances for High danger chances for % 2023-24 753 89.11 380 84.82 88.52 60.34 91.19 200 88.89 2024-25 572 86.40 274 81.55 88.68 45.52 89.46 150 88.24

Philadelphia: The first season on the power play

We won\'t rehash past horrors, but we\'re obligated to look at the Flyers last year on the power play under Tocchet. It was bad. The team scored 37 times on the power play, and had six games where they scored two or more power play goals in 2025-26. They had roughly the league average in opportunities, but as has been said repeatedly, couldn\'t execute. Trevor Zegras had 10 goals, and Matvei Michkov had four. A quintet of Flyers had three each: Christian Dvorak, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, Tyson Foerster, and former Flyer Bobby Brink. Porter Martone had a pair. So did Travis Konecny.

Season Power play goals Power play goals league average Power play chances Power play chances league average Power play efficiency Power play efficiency league average Players with 4+ power play goals Games with multiple power play goals 2025-26 37 50 235 236 15.74 21.11 2 6

The fact there were only two players who scored four or more power play goals tells you how awful things were. Tocchet\'s never encountered such a dearth as he did last season. In Arizona he had at least four who could lay claim to that number. Meanwhile being 13 goals below league average was appalling. In short, just very bad.

What is surprising though is that the analytical numbers for the 2025-26 Flyers are similar (and sometimes higher) than what Vancouver had when they potted 50 goals in what was considered a down year. The Flyers had more shots for, and a far higher expected goals number (58.54) than Vancouver did (45.52) in 2024-25. Some might argue the team had chances and couldn\'t finish. And when looking at the high danger chances for, that has a ring of truth to it. Only the 2023-24 Canucks under Tocchet had more high danger chances. The 2025-26 Flyers had the identical number of high danger chances as the 2008-09 Lightning, which might come as a shock. And last year\'s team in Philadelphia had the highest high danger chances for percentage of any Tocchet-led club in its first two seasons.

Regardless, these numbers have to improve in order for the Flyers to see one or two steps forward when it comes to playing with the man advantage in 2026-27. They did a great job killing a lot of their own power plays last year. They can\'t beat themselves like that again this year.

Season Corsi for Corsi for % Shots for Shots for % Goals for % Expected goals for Expected goals for % High danger chances for High danger chances for % 2025-26 619 88.05 303 83.93 82.50 58.54 92.96 176 93.12

Stats courtesy of Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.

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