Rick Tocchet is the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers and is going to bring his experience to lead this next phase of this team’s rebuild on the ice. But, given how he used the rosters he previously coached, who are some current Flyers that he is going to love coaching? There certainly are some players that Tocchet could grow an affinity for.
What is a typical Rick Tocchet player, though? We do know that he obviously likes players that bring some sort of edge to the game, but also won’t specifically prevent most skilled players from showing what they can do at the opportune time. It’s that balance that he likes, from what we can tell.
We won’t know specifically who Tocchet grows to really love having on his new team until several months from now, but let’s take some educated guesses.
Owen Tippett
Owen Tippett is wandering the wilderness right now. He was the first player on this team that received a long-term contract extension from Danny Briere and has followed up that commitment with a fairly quiet 20-goal season where he shot significantly fewer shots than the season that caused the Flyers to be comfortable giving him that eight-year extension.
Now, he’s questionable to be part of this team for the foreseeable future but we could certainly see Tocchet loving a player like him. One of the rare combinations in the NHL of having top-end speed while boasting a very solid frame as a 6-foot-1, 210-pound winger. He is just Power on the wing. Speed, size, and a wicked shot. All those tools available to him and just needing the right person to solve the puzzle for him to eventually turn into a reliable top-end scorer in this league.
Tocchet is not afraid of handing snipers pivotal roles on his team. Maybe coaches would tend to be slightly cautious of a player who if he isn’t scoring, doesn’t provide a whole lot else, but considering that Phil Kessel and Brock Boeser are two players who Tocchet utilized very well — the latter scoring 40 goals just two seasons ago — we could see Tippett finding his game and his new coach giving him an opportunity to do so.
Travis Sanheim
Well, this is sort of an easy one. At his introductory press conference last week, Tocchet was already praising Travis Sanheim, referencing his time coaching him at the 4 Nations Face-Off as a part of Team Canada.
“When he made the roster, how well he played in the Four Nations, I mean, I’m telling you, I was behind that bench, and that’s high-level stuff,” Tocchet said about Sanheim. “I had the best seat in the house, and to see him perform with the best defensemen in the league, that’s a big plus. To get a front-line defenseman like that on your team is a plus for me.”
While Sanheim certainly won’t be as reliably elite as Quinn Hughes was under Tocchet, there’s no reason to think that the new Flyers coach is wrong here. He is a mobile, big defenseman that is even better defensively than offensively, and can move the puck up the ice as well as anyone in the league. Every team needs that monster transition blueliner and Sanheim could certainly be that for Tocchet’s Flyers.
Rasmus Ristolainen
Tocchet played Tyler Myers more than any other defenseman on the penalty kill last year for the Canucks. And at even strength, Myers led every single Canuck not named Quinn Hughes in ice time. Basically, Tocchet loves a tall guy with some reach and is not as mobile as he once was.
In comes Rasmus Ristolainen. He might not provide the reach and is a couple inches shorter than Myers, but he can play that same role for Tocchet. Someone to just be a presence beyond the skilled blueliners. Ristolainen should have some sort of role on this team, and it wouldn’t surprise us if he inches up closer to the top of the minutes leaderboards once he fully recovers from his injury.
Like John Tortorella and Brad Shaw, Tocchet was able to bring an extra level of effectiveness out of previously terrible defensemen. Will it be at the same level as Shaw and Tortorella? Possibly not. But Ristolainen wouldn’t be a horrible disaster like he was before Philadelphia and there’s no reason to think that the Finnish blueliner would suddenly forget the teachings of Brad Shaw as soon as Tocchet gets in his ear.
Bobby Brink
There are a couple reasons why we think Bobby Brink could find himself as a coach’s favorite after a few months of the season. He improved his on-ice impact so well throughout last season that he has put himself in the conversation as a mainstay on the Flyers’ third line behind Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny on the right side, but could easily be elevated into the top six if need be.
Conor Garland did a whole lot of Tocchet as this past season went on. The rambunctious-but-diminutive winger played a sizeable role for the Canucks’ offense and was extremely reliable to do something on most shifts. Tocchet isn’t obsessed with size and if Brink can just bring more of the juice like Garland, it’s easy to project.
And even looking at what Tocchet did for Clayton Keller, is a good sign. We’re not comparing the level of Keller to what Brink can do. That feels ruthless to expect that level of play from Brink, but before Tocchet really engrained his style in Keller, the young Coyotes forward would be an extreme perimeter player. Never getting involved in the high-danger areas and banking on the same sort of skills that made him successful in junior hockey, to then work in the NHL.
Brink was a perimeter player and did find success in the AHL and college doing that, but as last season carried on, he was finding himself right in the slot for a decent scoring chance, a good number of times. If that trajectory continues as it should under Tocchet, Brink could really use every inch of the offensive zone to his advantage and we could see a Real Good Player come from the young winger.
Matvei Michkov
Yeah, of course. While we were all concerned with Michkov’s opportunity under John Tortorella and were collectively screaming to give him more minutes, Tocchet shouldn’t shy away from his obvious skill. Tortorella’s approach was all about laying a foundation of what it means to be a successful NHLer for Michkov. And now with that over, Tocchet can go ahead and utilize every single ounce of his ability to the team’s advantage.
It isn’t even all that outlandish to say that Michkov will be the most talented forward Tocchet has had as a head coach since a teenaged Steven Stamkos all the way back in the 2009-10 season. And on a mediocre Lightning team, that Stamkos player scored 51 goals and won the Rocket Richard Trophy at just 19 years old. That was the only full season Tocchet was able to coach the Lightning and he was able to rein in a young, hyperactive talent like that to be one of the NHL’s top players.
We’re not saying that that will be the kind of season Michkov is able to have, but the whole idea of Tocchet limiting skilled players from being their best, feels completely false. Tocchet might just giggle to himself whenever he is able to throw Michkov over the boards and he does something absolutely insane with the puck. Here’s hoping.
