The Flyers are less than a month away from training camp, and just under three weeks from seeing the Rookie Series taking place in Lehigh Valley. But in a special roundtable interview with Flyers Daily which was released Monday, the Flyers coaching staff stated that winger Porter Martone is going to be part of Philadelphia’s power play this season, and perhaps the catalyst that could start changing things for the better regarding that side of special teams.
And assistant coach Jaroslav “Yogi” Svejkovsky said whatever personnel was used last year on the power play could be different heading into 2026-27. That is, outside of Martone being almost guaranteed to be penciled in.
“It’s going to be a fight for them this year in terms of who is going to be on that first unit, and that second unit,” Svejkovsky said. “This is one of the years that it’s open because we’re getting Porter Martone. We believe that alone he can change one position on that power play to give us a threat. So we’re really excited to see what’s going to happen.”
Head coach Rick Tocchet echoed similar sentiments, adding that Martone could be one of the crucial pieces which finally gets Philadelphia’s power play off the bottom of league’s proverbial barrel the last handful of seasons. Tocchet highlighted Martone’s knack for driving to the net and causing havoc in front of the opposition goaltenders in his 19-game stint last year.
“I think that’s the reason why we drafted him,” Tocchet said. “He’s going to have to be reminded, he’s a great kid, and there’s a lot of hype and that’s great. But there’s some times where we have to remind him. He’s going to have to be more diligent and work harder to get to those areas because they’re not going to give those areas up for free. But he’s not scared to go there which is why we drafted him.”
Although no other names were mentioned in terms of the first and second unit, it would not be a shock to see a few different players or combinations used in trying to figure out how to resolve what’s been a sad power play the last half decade.
Power play fundamentals key
Tocchet noted that he had no control over how the power plays executed (or didn’t more often than not) prior to becoming the head coach. However, he said part of the turnaround for the power play was not just on the ice, but between the ears of each player.
“For me, it is a major mental thing,” Tocchet said. “It’s what six or seven years, and since we’ve been here I’ve heard it’s been putrid, disgusting, embarrassing. I don’t think it’s that bad per se, because if you look at the analytics, we’re getting opportunities, we’re one of the top 10 or 12 or 15 teams in certain analytics. It’s about creating quality scoring chances or finishing. You got the chance in front of the net to score and you don’t score.
“No offense, but if you give Connor McDavid two chances he’s going to score on one of those chances, their power play is 30 per cent. We might have the same amount of chances, but that’s what happens. So we’ve got to somehow loosen these guys up mentally, and relaxed. The first game we might go 0 for 4, and we might get the fifth power play in a 2-2 game. Do you have the resolve? Don’t worry about the last four, don’t worry about the crowd getting antsy, can you execute to score that goal? Those are the goals you’ve got to score.”
Tocchet mentioned in previous coaching stints, whether as a head coach or as an assistant, where teams go 0 for 4 but that fifth power play “we score, we win 3-2, and everybody forgets about the previous four power plays.’ If you’re antsy and you’re nervous, guys are complaining, ‘I’m not getting the puck,’ then you go 0 for 5, the media gets on you and the fans get on you. So this is the resolve that we have to find. And it’s something, these guys did a presentation yesterday on the power play which was excellent. Put it this way, the guys will know what they had to do this summer and how to execute. Now hopefully we execute. And the thing is they’re buying in. Now it’s a matter of relaxing the mind.”
“The process last year, we were top 10 in Grade A chances, that tells you we should probably not be the last team in the league offensively in terms of numbers,” Svejkovsky said. “We were top seven or eight in expected goals. We were getting into position, we had chances and we didn’t convert.”
Assistant coach Jay Varady added that power play fundamentals should also help get things going on the right track, although it might not be right off the bat. “A lot of what Yogi and I talk about is fundamentals,” he said. “And if we can go back to our fundamentals and no matter what’s happening and continue to build on those we start putting those pieces in, our execution takes a step, now we can translate those expected goals into actual goals. That’s what we’re talking about, that’s how we get better.”
Three other things to improve on
While every team looks at improving in all aspects of their game heading into each new year, Svejkovsky noted there were three particular areas the Flyers were hoping to see themselves get better at in the flow of the game. One of them was driving to the net, namely “a little bit more of a structure in terms of to connect, whose turn is it to go to the net and why.” A second was connecting the forwards and the defense better to work more cohesively as a five-man unit.
Perhaps the most important part of the three, in terms of the offense, might be being a little more patient with the puck in the offensive zone. “We feel like we’re a pretty good rush team,” Svejkovsky said. “When there’s a two-on-one, there’s a three-on-two, and we’re trying to get to the next step, to find a better way to come into the offensive zone with possession while we don’t have the advantage of numbers. Can we possess the puck more? So we looked a lot at how do we actually create more offense not just off the plays, but how do you have more instances, so that means you have to stay in the offensive zone longer. So the O zone possession time and how to sustain it was a big thing we looked at this summer.”
Tocchet said the Flyers should know what’s expected of them coming into this season, and feels the honeymoon period of year one has ended. With very little turnover in terms of personnel outside of Noel Acciari, Joseph Woll, and Simon Benoit, the coach feels each play knows what’s expected of them. And hopes that experience the club gained in the stretch drive for the playoffs and the eventual two playoff rounds is something the players can build on. Hopefully another building block comes from some power play effectiveness.
