During a stoppage in play in Game 3 on Thursday night, Flyers winger Trevor Zegras was near the bench when Philadelphia head coach Rick Tocchet gave him a direct order. While neither the player nor the coach had a microphone on them to hear exactly what was being said, the gist of the conversation was that Zegras needed to heed Tocchet’s instructions.
It was a short chat, one which Zegras didn’t seem to get too riled up by or animated from. Yet it was also something that caught the attention of Sportsnet analyst Kevin Bieksa and Ryan Strome during an intermission segment.
Essentially, the analysts praised Tocchet for not reading from the same playbook when approaching every player in the lineup. Rather, the coach is basically using 20 different playbooks to maximize each individual’s potential. And they highlighted Tocchet’s relationship with Zegras.
“Different players have to be coached different ways,” Bieksa said. “That’s just the way it is in the NHL. There are different personalities, and if you really want to get the best out of them, you have to adapt to who they are. So Trevor Zegras, not a ton of success in Anaheim, he comes to Philly, he gets Rick Tocchet. Some people are like, ‘Oh that’s a hard-nosed coach, he’s not going to do well.’ Tocchet has known how to push the right buttons with this kid to get the most out of him. He’s had a great year.”
Bieksa elaborated a bit more before giving way to Strome. “He’s a very emotional guy,” Bieksa added regarding Zegras. “He’s very engaged in a lot of the stuff that’s going on between the penalties and the non-calls. In my opinion he’s saying, ‘Stop it with the referees, let me deal with it. You play hockey!’ Then he backs it up by putting him out there. So it’s not like he yells at him and benches him. Stromer, this is the best kind of support he needs, no?”
Rick Tocchet giving it to Trevor Zegras here. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/14V34qjQ5K
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) May 8, 2026
“Yeah and he responds really well to this type of stuff,” Strome, who played three season with Zegras in Anaheim, adds. “I mean even with guys on his team, if they go at him, and try to help him out, he might be pissed off at the moment. But he knows it’s coming from a good place. He’s a high emotional guy, and he’s trying to win. I love that. Somebody on this Philly team needs to take the reins. I loved his emotion in that period, but it’s great to have Tocchet rein him back because he gets all over the officials sometimes. He gets a little carried away, but that’s part of his game. He’s on the edge, on that emotional side, and it’s good to see out of him. I like that he’s engaged.”
Without delving too far into the short chat between Tocchet and Zegras, it appears Tocchet was instructing Zegras to “not give them anything” as far as a reason or excuse to call a penalty on Zegras, thus putting Philadelphia at a disadvantage. Particularly to a team they were already down two games to. There was no punishment after the fact, with Zegras taking a shift on the power play and not being benched at any point in the 4-1 loss.
Trevor Zegras has no issues with Rick Tocchet
The Flyers center talked about the little incident on the bench that got some attention, while at practice Friday.
“Obviously Tocc is a great guy to begin with, so I think the relationship off the ice has always been good,” Zegras said after an optional skate for the Flyers. “He’s a good guy to talk to. The one thing I have a ton of respect for is he’ll get in your face and tell you stuff, but then he won’t ever sit you down for shifts at a time. He’ll put you right back on the ice. Whether or not it puts fire in you or fuel, he’s teaching you something. And he’s always giving you that chance to go and prove yourself in that next shift, which I love.”
In 81 games this season, Zegras set career highs for goals (26) and points (67) in his first year with his new club, new teammates, and new coach in a new locale. To say he hit the ground running would be an understatement. And through nine playoff games, Zegras has two goals and three assists. His goal in Game 3 to tie things up 1-1 was a crucial tally, putting the Flyers on equal footing before Carolina eventually took the lead for good.
There was very little drama or controversy between the pair the past year, which bodes well for Zegras (who remains a restricted free agent) to sign a long-term extension with Philadelphia this coming summer. Locking up a talented (and young) forward for the future, and having him on primarily the same page as Tocchet, is never a bad thing. The only short-term hurdle now is trying to win one game to avoid being eliminated Saturday night at home. It’s something Philadelphia’s first-round opponent delayed for a bit before being ousted in six games by the Flyers.
“I feel like the last couple of games have been a couple of bounces away from being a different ballgame,” Zegras said. “When you’re up 3-0 you almost feel in a sense that the series should be over. You just want it to be done. I think if we can go out and get one tomorrow, they’ll tighten up a little bit. At 7-0 they obviously haven’t lost in the postseason yet. When you’re up 3-0 I think it’s just tough, to get that fourth one is obviously the hardest. So we got a job to make it as hard as possible tomorrow.”
And as far as being down three games to zero, Zegras isn’t looking at past history for inspiration or encouragement heading into Saturday’s game. He could look at the 2010 version of the Flyers to see such a comeback (one of four NHL teams to do it). But he’s looking at much recent history to provide some fuel or inspiration to get that first win.
“Not really,” Zegras said. “I think a big thing for us this year was that 3.8 per cent number, and I bet not a lot of people, maybe not a lot of people in this room, would’ve pegged us to be in the second round of the NHL playoffs. We have life, we have opportunity. It’s 3-0 but we’re still here, we’re still playing. We got a big game tomorrow so we got to go out, play well, and win a game, it’s a different ballgame.”
