The Philadelphia Flyers hired Rick Tocchet to be the 25th head coach in franchise history Wednesday, and his appointment will benefit certain players in certain ways.
And for others? Not so much.
The crux of the criticisms sent Tocchet's way lie in the lack of offense his teams typically create. For example, during his time in Arizona, the Coyotes never ranked higher than 22nd in the NHL in goals scored.
In parts of three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, Tocchet's scoring offense ranked 13th, sixth, and 23rd--largely a mixed bag of results with a far superior group of players that was headlined by Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Filip Hronek, and, for a week, Bo Horvat.
The Flyers don't have names like that in their rolodex... yet. Although Matvei Michkov is on his way towards star status in short order. Maybe we can include Travis Konecny, too, even if the end of his 2024-25 season left much to be desired.
Irregardless, someone will have to fill the shoes of Tocchet's old stars, and the 61-year-old bench boss will be putting notes together on who, if anyone, can achieve this.
Winners: Cam York and Jamie Drysdale
Let's talk numbers for a moment, yes?
Last season, the Canucks were not great. Tocchet's club went 38-30-14 while weathering injuries to Thatcher Demko, Quinn Hughes, and, at times, Elias Pettersson, in addition to the rift between J.T. Miller and Pettersson.
That's a lot for any team to deal with, and Tocchet's role in mediating the feud between the two stars is neither here nor there at this point.
Despite Hughes's injury, the Canucks' defensemen scored a lot. Their 38 goals from defensemen ranked 10th in the NHL last season, trailing only teams like Winnipeg, Minnesota, Carolina, Buffalo, Edmonton, St. Louis, Seattle, Columbus, and Colorado.
Guess what? Six of those teams made the playoffs this year. Directly below the Canucks were Washington, Tampa Bay, and Florida, and each of those three made the playoffs as well.
For comparison, the Flyers had 31 goals scored by defensemen, which ranked 26th in the NHL and below the Chicago Blackhawks. Ouch!
Another stat to consider: 35.3% of the Canucks' goals were assisted by defensemen, which was the fourth-highest rate in the league. The Flyers had just 25.1% of their goals assisted by defensemen, which was 31st in the NHL ahead of only the Dallas Stars.
The Stars, as we know, lost Miro Heiskanen for an extended period of time and were or are actively relying on names such as Ilya Lyubushkin, Matt Dumba, and Cody Ceci to get it done offensively. That's just not going to happen.
Also, Hughes never scored more than eight goals in a season before Tocchet became his head coach on the Canucks. Then he scored 17 goals in 82 games last year before adding 16 in 68 this year.
For a Flyers team that has been perennially abominable on the power play, it would be a massive revelation if guys like Cam York and Jamie Drysdale took steps forward and became even glimpses of the players they were drafted to be.
York scored 10 goals and 30 points last year, but injuries and benchings this year limited him to four goals and 17 points in 66 games.
Drysdale, of course, has battled with injuries himself, but he's also scored just 30 points since the start of 2022-23.
These two are the most talented on the Flyers' blueline, and if they can become regular 40-point players under Tocchet, that would be a win in and of itself.
Losers: Egor Zamula and Emil Andrae
Egor Zamula struggled a lot in the 2024-25 season. He was more disciplined, dropping down to just six PIM in 63 games, but struggled to keep up more often than not.
That led to his scoring dropping by six points (21 to 15) and his offensive involvement plummeting. Zamula recorded just 37 shots on goal in 63 games, and while his shot is above average for a defenseman, his poor mobility and slow processing strongly hamper his fit in a Rick Tocchet team.
It's why Noah Juulsen and Vincent Desharnais, who was traded twice this season, combined for three assists in 69 games between them.
Andrae, on the other hand, is far more mobile than Zamula and boasts surprisingly good puck skills, but might be too similar to an Erik Brannstrom, who was not Tocchet's cup of tea in Vancouver.
This could open the door for a player like Helge Grans, for example, to compete during training camp.
Skating, passing, urgency, and pace of play will be key for these young Flyers defensemen if they want to thrive during life under Tocchet.
Winners: Nikita Grebenkin, Matvei Michkov, and Tyson Foerster
Most of the Flyers' wingers will be eating good if Tocchet deploys a style similar to the one he used in Vancouver.
The Canucks generated the NHL's fewest chances on the rush per game, and they were quite close to the bottom of the league in converting on those chances, too.
And given the Flyers' lack of speed and skill at center, they will have to become a forechecking, cycling team bar the odd individual skill moment from Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, or Ryan Poehling.
That bodes well for Nikita Grebenkin and Matvei Michkov, who play their best hockey when utilizing their mean streaks, winning wall battles, and making east-west passes from the half wall and other favorable lateral angles.
Tyson Foerster, like the other two, is not a speedster, but he employs a shoot-first mentality, knows how to get open, and knows how to win the puck.
There will be a lot of low-high and high-low passing in the future for this motley crew, but only time will tell whether that translates to quantifiable offense.
Winner: Sean Couturier
Sean Couturier was the first Flyers player to get the phone call from Danny Briere saying Rick Tocchet was the new head coach, and while he may not have sounded overly ecstatic over the phone, it's a big win for the Flyers captain.
The since-dismissed John Tortorella preferred high-energy, pacey centers like Noah Cates and Poehling to Couturier, who is a slower skater by nature and a more calculated player.
Plus, Couturier and Tortorella just never saw eye to eye. That much was apparent when Couturier was benched last season and had no idea why. It was weird and silly.
The 32-year-old, who quietly scored 15 goals and 45 points this season, has a new lease on life under Tocchet, and his style of play will aid Tocchet's cycle game immensely.
After all, Tocchet did just go a full season with Pius Suter as his most effective center with Pettersson playing injured and dealing with other drama.
Health permitting, it would not at all be a surprise to see Couturier flirt with 60 points next season if all goes according to plan.