It’s safe to say that the Philadelphia Flyers hiring Rick Tocchet as the 25th head coach in franchise history was a polarizing move.
While some thought it was a good idea to bring in a player-friendly head coach after the ouster of John Tortorella, Tocchet was yet another former player joining the organization. It certainly didn’t seem like a move for a New Era of Orange.
Tocchet’s popularity wavered throughout most of the season, with some even wondering if the Flyers should consider firing the head coach before he finished his first year with the club — granted, that was a vocal minority.
When all was said and done, though, Tocchet got the best out of a roster that wasn’t expected to do much this season. Sure, the late-season addition of Porter Martone helped, as did Tyson Foerster returning from injury, but it was Tocchet who guided them there.
After getting the Flyers to the playoffs, we even wrote that Tocchet could garner some attention for the Jack Adams Award. The award is given to the NHL coach “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success,” whatever that means. It’s largely a narrative-driven award, and Tocchet’s friends in the media would certainly do some of his bidding.
Rick Tocchet finishes seventh in Jack Adams Award voting
Tocchet didn’t end up as a finalist, but he did receive a few first-place votes and finished seventh in voting.
Razor thin Jack Adams vote between Cooper and Ruff. Wow. pic.twitter.com/G5o9WfA6rV
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 3, 2026
The Flyers’ bench boss appeared on 11 ballots, receiving three first-place votes, two second-place votes, and six third-place votes.
If the Flyers had held onto a playoff spot for most of the year rather than dipping down to a 3.8% chance of making the playoffs, perhaps Tocchet would’ve received even more love for the Jack Adams.
Ultimately, though, Tocchet probably finished around where he should’ve in the voting.
There has been a lot of debate and uproar over John Cooper finally winning his first Jack Adams, with some arguing that this was more of a legacy award than anything. After all, his Lightning did end up choking away the Atlantic Division to the Buffalo Sabres, but Lindy Ruff came up just short.
Dan Muse realistically probably deserved the award over either of those two, though. For as horrible as the Penguins were expected to be, and as horrible as the Flyers made them look in the playoffs, he took them to an unexpected playoff berth.
Tocchet will have to be happy with his one Jack Adams Award, won in 2024 as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks, for now. Peter Laviolette (2020) remains the most recent Flyers head coach to be a finalist for the Jack Adams, with Bill Barber (2001) being the last bench boss to win it in Philadelphia.
We’ll see if the Flyers can overperform again next season to get Tocchet back on the podium.
