Reports: Flyers To Hire Rick Tocchet As New Head Coach

The Philadelphia Flyers will take steps to hire Rick Tocchet as their new head coach. Frank Seravalli reported the news first.

Danny Briere and Keith Jones inherited John Tortorella when the current front office regime began in 2023. Tocchet will become their first coaching hire with the Flyers.

Tocchet has coached parts of nine seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Arizona Coyotes, and Vancouver Canucks. He’s reached the postseason only twice.

His most successful head coaching season came in 2023-24 when he led the Canucks to the top spot in the Pacific Division and the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He won the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL’s coach of the year.

However, Vancouver’s 2024-25 season went off the rails partly because of a bitter disagreement in the locker room between stars J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson.

Tocchet has earned respect around the NHL as a coach who pushes less talented rosters to their highest potential. His reputation as a player matched the profile of a hard worker who commands respect in hockey circles.

The 61-year-old also won Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 as an assistant under Mike Sullivan with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He caught attention around the NHL for his strong relationships with Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin, two star players and personalities who didn’t always mesh perfectly with Sullivan.

“The Rocket” spent the first eight seasons of his NHL playing career with the Flyers from 1984-1992 and later returned in 2000 for a shorter second stint. He entered the Flyers Hall of Fame in 2021. 

Tocchet is the franchise’s all-time leader in penalty minutes and the NHL’s all-time leader in Gordie Howe hat tricks (goal, assist, fight).

Danny Briere and Keith Jones both spent short time spans on the same NHL team as Tocchet.