Tocc of the town: Flyers coach has impressed his bosses; next up, turning critics into believers

VOORHEES, N.J. — Flyers G.M. Danny Briere sat in front of the media and before he even answered one question, he opened with two statements.

One was a thank you to the fans for the standing ovation send-off after being eliminated from the playoffs last week.

The other was to heap praise on his players and coaches for a job well done.

Yes, the coaches, too. Especially the head coach, Rick Tocchet.

That might not sit well with those who complained that the organization hired another former Flyer, or those who thought he was terrible for player development or because he was going to use an antiquated system that doesn’t jive with today’s NHL, or any number of other unsubstantiated complaints.

But when you look at the totality of the season, there’s no doubt that Tocchet’s first behind the bench was an overwhelming success.

“I think he did a great job,” Briere said. “I was really impressed with how involved he was with the players. He almost became a skills coach as well as a head coach for us. … It’s almost as if he was filling different boxes. The amount of time he’s spending on the ice after practice. When it’s over, most coaches are off the ice and gone. It’s really impressive how he stayed and worked with guys individually. The relationships he had with the players — you saw some of the clips from the dressing room after games — there’s a connection there.

“He’s known as a players’ coach. I’ve heard that from many agents … that their players would certainly be open to playing here because of Rick Tocchet. But it’s more than that. It’s the effort that he put in and how he’s building the team and getting them to believe. I love how he uses his experience as a player, to relate to our guys. Everything in his playing career, he earned the hard way. Nothing was ever given to him. That’s kind of the mentality that he brought in, brought on with our guys. It was pretty cool to see that. I was really impressed with his first season here.”

It’s hard not to be.

We’ll get to the Matvei Michkov portion of the discussion in a bit, but it’s hard to argue with the results, both individually and collectively.

Several players had career years. The team was bought-in to what he was preaching. Players thoroughly enjoy playing for him. Young players were given a chance to shine — and they did.

“It was great,” captain Sean Couturier said about playing for Tocchet. “I have a ton of respect for what he’s done as a player, as a coach, and all the experience he’s had around the league. I think (he) definitely helped us. I appreciate working with him and getting to know him. I think he’s done a great job with his assistant coaches to show us how he wants us to play and to communicate and incorporate our kind of culture around here. …

“I really like the way he’s handled his business, so far.”

Six different Flyers players either exceeded or matched a career high in goals, assists, and/or points — Trevor Zegras, Christian Dvorak, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, Travis Sanheim and Jamie Drysdale.

Tyson Foerster, had he not gotten hurt in December, was on pace to do the same.

And the defensive group as a whole exceeded expectations.

Assistant coach Todd Reirden, who deserves a lot of credit here as well, told On Pattison that Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen and Drysdale looked the best they ever have this year. He said even guys like Noah Juulsen and Emil Andrae, who mostly split time as the No. 6 defenseman, had their best seasons.

And this wasn’t taking away from Cam York or Nick Seeler, both of whom Reirden said had very solid campaigns as well.

All of that doesn’t just suddenly happen. It especially doesn’t happen in spite of a new coach.

For all of that, plus the team’s success, Tocchet deserves a ton of credit.

Of course, the Michkov thing hangs overhead, and for many, it’s the abundantly low-hanging fruit they can’t stop picking at.

It’s also irrational.

Blaming the coach for a 21-year old in just his second NHL season enduring a sophomore slump is the easy narrative to create. It started early in the season when Tocchet uttered the now forbidden phrase (*whispers* “out of shape”).

It set off a firestorm.

The more Michkov struggled, the more Tocchet tried to protect him. He never scratched him in the regular season, but he tried to deploy him in more advantageous situations. He shifted his wing to allow him to skate less and not have as much responsibility on ice to see if it would help.

He worked with Michkov one-on-one. He would get frustrated, sure. Like any coach would be if a player wasn’t grasping what he was saying. But it never got the point it got in Michkov’s rookie season – where Michkov was a healthy scratch on a few occasions.

Not that John Tortorella was wrong to do that, either. Player development is not linear.

“You look at players, even star players, other than maybe (Sidney) Crosby, (Connor) McDavid and maybe now (Macklin) Celebrini, there’s not too many guys where the arrow has been pointing up the whole time,” Briere said. “You’re going to go through some ups and downs. I know I did in my career. It’s how [Michkov’s] going to adapt to it. How he’s going to get himself back up from it. But I think he’s a smart man and he’ll figure it out.”

Briere put the onus on Michkov. Even saying earlier, “It’s not a secret (that) he’s made some mistakes along the way.” But Briere also said that he fully expects Michkov to be a big part of the future.

“We forget sometimes that he just turned 21 and he’s already accomplished a lot,” Briere said. “It’s really impressive what he’s done and to have such an impact that he’s had at an early age. We don’t see that very often in the NHL, so it doesn’t change the future for him and being part of what we’re building.”

The important thing to note here is at no point, in any of the questions asked today, did Briere suggest Tocchet could have done a better job with Michkov.

That’s even with Tocchet having a few public-facing missteps in the way he spoke about Michkov. Whether it was the phrase-that-shall-not-be-used, or the time he chided the media for asking too many Michkov questions, or the criticism of his play at the Flyers Charities Carnival.

And even when given a chance to say scratching Michkov in two playoff games was risky business, Briere went right along with the coaches decision.

“Matvei is a great talent. We see him being part of the picture for years to come. That hasn’t changed,” Briere said. “It’s not because he was scratched that last game that it changes everything. The coaches wanted to put the best lineup to give them a chance to win the last game. It’s no secret that it had been tough. Carolina is a skating team and [bring] a lot of pressure. There wasn’t a lot of room to create. [The coaches] decided they’d like to have a little more speed. It’s one game. In the playoffs, you have to go with the the best team that you think can make you win. But it doesn’t change anything for the future.”

Again, an endorsement of the coach and his staff.

For what it’s worth, Tocchet had glowing things to say about Michkov in his press availability on Wednesday. Even predicting that Michkov will use this as motivation to have a big offseason and prove people wrong next year.

“The kid wants it, don’t get me wrong,” Tocchet said. “We have to understand, he’s 21 years old. We have the tools to help him. That’s the thing with this summer. He has all these different plans, which is great, but we have the tools to help him. …

“I know there’s a narrative about him and the coaches, but he’s in the meetings. He’s one of the guys that will grab (assistant coach) Yogi (Svejkovsky) and say, ‘Hey, Yogi. Let’s go watch the power play.’ He’s one of those self-starters that wants it. But he’s still learning to understand certain things and how we do things around here. He’s a spoke in the wheel. A big spoke if we can develop him.

“We just got to let this kid breathe because I think he’s made a lot of strides. He skated yesterday. It’s pretty cool. I’d rather he not skate. I want him to take a break. But I’m not going to tell him what to do because … it’s almost like a vengeance tour, and I love that. I think every player should have some kind of motivation in their head to prove everybody wrong. I think that’s really important.”

Doesn’t sound like a coach who is destroying the development of a player, now does it?

Instead, it sounds like a coach who knows how to get the most out of his players. It sounds like a coach who, like Michkov, is also is motivated to prove everyone wrong.

Making the playoffs and winning a round may have just been the first step of many more to come in order for Tocchet to do just that.