Rick Tocchet is coming back to Philadelphia, this time to be the Flyers' next head coach.
Frank Seravalli was first to report, and various other outlets have confirmed that the hiring is close to being a done deal.
Sources say #Flyers are closing in on hiring Rick Tocchet as their next head coach. Not official yet and still steps to go in the process, but definitely trending as if it will get done in short order.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 14, 2025
Tocchet, who was a fan-favorite player across 11 years and two stints in Philly throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, will now be tasked with leading the current era of the Flyers back toward annual Stanley Cup contention.
But there's still a ways to go until then.
The Flyers are young, only getting younger, and have a few key pieces in place, like rising star Matvei Michkov, breakout winger Tyson Foerster, and pre-established vets Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny. But they're still at a lack of roster depth, elite talent at center, a clear answer in goal, and right now, are waiting on a handful of notable prospects to turn pro – from Oliver Bonk to Denver Barkey, Jett Luchanko, Alex Bump, Hunter McDonald, and so on.
However, they know for sure now who they'll have behind the bench, and just ahead of a pivotal summer for general manager Danny Brière's rebuild.
The NHL Draft is a bit more than a month away, and the Flyers are approaching it holding the No.6 overall pick, the Oilers' and the Avalanche's first-rounders later on in the order, and 11 picks in total.
They'll also have a bit of money to work with in free agency right after, thanks to offloading Joel Farabee's contract in the late-January trade with Calgary, and ahead of more cash opening up under the cap the summer after.
The Flyers are slowly but surely being lined up for success, but now Tocchet will be coming in to help further develop the youth that's there now so they can really take the leap when the time comes.
The height of Tocchet's coaching career so far was when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant coach during their run to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. He was instrumental in forming their offensive structure and power play around Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and then a young Jake Guentzel, at the time, which are both aspects of the Flyers' game that they sorely need help with now.
As a head coach, Tocchet's had runs with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-2010, the Arizona Coyotes from 2017-2021, and for the Vancouver Canucks from 2023 up until this past season, when he opted to step away from the Canucks after a tumultuous season organizationally, and with curious wording from their president of hockey ops Jim Rutherford leading up to the decision knowing that the Flyers job was available.
"We don't feel it's right to have somebody here that may have his mind somewhere else," Rutherford said last month, via ESPN. "I'd say that about anybody. This is not just about Toc. We believe that — and I believe that — Toc and his coaching staff did as good a job coaching this team this year as they did the year before when he was coach of the year."
It didn't take much for Flyers fans to start connecting the dots, but not without apprehension either.
Tocchet is a former Flyer, Brière is a former Flyer, and so is president of hockey ops Keith Jones.
Fans, after seeing the team fall into an apathetic spiral through much of the past decade, grew desperate for new, and better, but carried concern, and still do in many respects, that keeping the organization so insular with Flyers alumni will only leave it stuck in the exact same spot.
Brière and Jones, however, believe the current approach has a strong enough culture and enough forward-thinking to prove otherwise.
Tocchet's hiring and handling of the team from here on out, though, will be a crucial test in proving that belief to be true.
MORE TO COME…
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