Reports: Flyers to hire former player Rick Tocchet as coach

The Philadelphia Flyers are closing in on hiring Rick Tocchet as their next head coach, multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday.

Tocchet, 61, spent parts of 11 seasons with the Flyers during his playing career.

Now, he is expected to rejoin the franchise to effectively replace John Tortorella, who was fired in March with the team limping toward its fifth straight season without a playoff berth.

Brad Shaw took over as the interim coach of the Flyers, who finished tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with a 33-39-10 record (76 points).

Tocchet parted ways with the Vancouver Canucks after his three-year contract expired at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.

He was only one season removed from earning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year, when Vancouver won the Pacific Division and later lost to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals.

The Canucks failed to make the playoffs this season, going 38-30-14 (90 points) and finishing six points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild-card berth.

Tocchet had previous head-coaching stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2008-10) and Arizona Coyotes (2017-21). He replaced Bruce Boudreau behind the Canucks' bench in January 2023.

He has a career NHL coaching record of 286-265-87 in the regular season and 11-11 in the postseason. He was 108-65-27 in Vancouver, plus 7-6 in the playoffs.

--Field Level Media