Rick Tocchet has the Flyers on an upward trajectory through 12 games with 13 points and a record of 6-5-1. But how long that trend will last? The same problems that haunted his career from the Arizona Coyotes, to his stint with the Vancouver Canucks, seem to be rearing their heads in the early stages of 2025-26: his team's inability to generate shots.
If you can't shoot the puck to the net, you'd better hope you have a good goaltender. Fortunately, the Flyers have one in Dan Vladar. But what happens when Vladar struggles through the inevitable bad game like he had when he allowed four goals vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs?
The Flyers couldn't keep up and they ended up losing 5-2. So, if they want to improve and show that they're a better team than they were in 2024-25, they must find a way to get more shots off than the 24 per game they have had so far in 2025-26.
Rick Tocchet could be holding the Flyers back
One could argue that the Flyers are still young and that building chemistry in the offensive zone takes time. But Rick Tocchet's history in Arizona and Vancouver says otherwise. In 2020-21, the Tocchet-led Coyotes finished 29th in the NHL with 27.5 shots per game. As a result, the Coyotes stagnated, finishing 23rd in the league with 150 goals.
Fast-forward to 2023-24 and 2024-25, when Tocchet found himself in Vancouver. His Canucks teams ended with 28.4 shots per game in 2023-24 and 25.5 per game in 2024-25, putting the Canucks at 26th and 31st in the NHL, respectively.
The Canucks, at least, had an experienced lineup that proved they could contend, if not earn a trip to the playoffs. Vancouver's sheer starpower masked their shortcomings, but the Flyers aren't at that level yet. They're a team in transition with far more youth on the team than seasoned veterans, and that will hold them back if Tocchet can't figure out how to help this team generate more scoring chances.
Rick Tocchet needs to get his act together when his team's in the offensive zone
Tocchet can't make up his mind here. Following the Flyers' uninspiring play that led to a 2-1 loss to the lowly Calgary Flames, William James of Philadelphia Hockey Now reported that Tocchet said, “You got to keep pounding it, right? And we have to find people who want to continue to do that. So we’ll find them, but it’s my job to get these guys to do it right.“
The issue with that statement, however, is that Tocchet's game planning clearly doesn't put his team in a good position to generate solid scoring chances. It would be one thing if Tocchet's previous teams landed 30-plus shots on goal per game, finishing in the top half of the league routinely, and the Flyers were stuck at just 24, but that's not the case.
Until Tocchet finds a way to help put the Flyers in a decent position to score so they can get enough high-quality shots off to average more than 2.38 goals per game, don't expect anything more than a stagnating team when they have the puck.
Tocchet needs to realize that this isn't just the Flyers failing to execute while they're in the offensive zone. This is on him as a coach, never once having bothered to look beyond his own shortcomings. Until he does that, the Flyers better hope Dan Vladar and Samuel Ersson can bail them out.
He can talk about how he and the team can fix this to the media all he wants. But until they figure this out, everyone will rightfully point their fingers his way if the Flyers fall under 0.500 in points and can't claw their way back up.