Is the criticism of Rick Tocchet warranted?
No team in the NHL seems to be treading water more than the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers have not made the playoffs since 2020, but haven’t bottomed out for a top draft pick to get a franchise-changing prospect. Coming into this season, there was hope fortunes would turn for the better in Philadelphia with the addition of head coach Rick Tocchet. After all, Tocchet won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year with the Vancouver Canucks in 2024, and won two Stanley Cups as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
With 80 points through 70 games this season, however, the Flyers find themselves in a familiar position: middle of the pack. They’re outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, but also unlikely to snag a top-five draft pick. Tocchet has faced his fair share of criticism, too, especially regarding his sparing use of 21-year-old Matvei Michkov and his comments about Michkov’s lack of fitness.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by former NHL video coach Steve Peters to discuss how much blame should be laid at Tocchet’s feet.
Carter Hutton: Rick Tocchet has got a big contract with the Flyers. They’re not horrible. They’re hanging around. Last night was obviously a tough loss. But Flyers fans are very critical of him. Is that warranted or is it just the fact that he was a little too public with the Michkov comments about his fitness and everything that went on with that drama?
Steve Peters: This is tough. I’ve taken a lot of heat from Philadelphia Flyers fans on my comments on Rick Tocchet. This team went into this season with no expectations of the playoffs, zero. They finished last year with 76 points, they’re on pace 93 points. We’re sitting here on March 25th talking about the Philadelphia Flyers potentially in a playoff spot, are you out of your mind?
When you look at the teams in the NHL that have a chance in the playoffs, one thing they have in common is their ability to be strong up the middle of the ice. Christian Dvorak right now is the number-one center in Philadelphia. I love Christian Dvorak. He’s a great player. He’s a two-way centerman that can win draws. He’s a third-line center on a really good team. He’s the top centerman. (Trevor) Zegras is the number-two center with a 30% faceoff percentage. That’s horrific. If he has enough faceoffs he’s be last in the National Hockey League. This team’s not strong enough down the middle to be where they are right now. I think they’ve overshot their expectations. All of the bluster from the fanbase really came from Matvei Michkov and his limited ice time, but let’s face it, Michkov hasn’t has the season he needs to have and Tocchet’s expectations are higher.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Wednesday’s episode here…