Tocchet wants a first-rate effort from Flyers’ fourth line

No NHL team expects its fourth line to be an offensive juggernaut.
But with the Flyers getting only one point after 27 games from its bottom unit, it’s safe to say coach Rick Tocchet is sounding a little restless.
At Tuesday’s practice, Tocchet had to defend his decision to play the trio of center Rodrigo Abols, Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway late in Sunday’s game against Colorado while trailing by a goal.
Predictably, the line didn’t do much on that shift and the Flyers went on to drop a 3-2 decision at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“I’m a culture guy,” Tocchet said at the Flyers Training Center in Voorhees, N.J. “You have guys (from the top three lines) draggin’ (vs. the Avalanche). Our team is a team that needs to use the bench.
“These (fourth-line) guys had played eight-nine minutes. I thought a couple games ago they gave us some juice. Guys are struggling, they want to get some points, I get it.”
It’s a long season and Tocchet knows his team will be better served by distributing ice time so his top three lines don’t become exhausted, particularly toward the end of games.
“We’re playing long ball here,” Tocchet said. “I’ve got some guys who are tired on the bench. This is a team thing. I’m a culture guy and we’re building culture here.”
In other words, all 12 forwards are important to a team’s success, so the best way to help that last line contribute is by showing faith in it.
“Five minutes left, I put the fourth line out there, why not?” Tocchet said. “I’ve got to get a shift out of those guys. They’re NHL players. So I put them out there, that’s what I believe in.
“They have to produce, I get it. We have to figure something out. But in the meantime, that’s what we have. I’m trying to build their confidence. I don’t read (X) tweets, I don’t listen to podcasters. If I did I would be out of a job. That’s just the way it is.”
Hathaway’s scoring drought is perhaps the most perplexing.
The 34-year-old right wing has had four double-digit goal seasons since entering the NHL in 2015-16. He’s a standup guy, a valuable enforcer but it would be nice if he could toss in a goal once in a while.
“He’s out of sorts, he’ll tell you,” Tocchet said. “He’s had a tough time this year. To me, he’s such a great team guy and he knows it. . .he wants to do better things. A lot of his thing is being able to hold onto pucks, make plays under pressure.
“I don’t want the fourth line just slapping pucks around. He hasn’t found that consistency every game to be able to hold the puck. For me, I think he’s just got to relax. He’s so tense, it’s kind of screwed up his hands.”
The coach then said it all went back to using Hathaway and his cohorts in meaningful situations, like the aforementioned third period against Colorado.
“How as a coach do I help him?” Tocchet said. “Put him in situations where he can succeed. There could come a time where we have to re-tool that fourth line. We have to figure that out. But in the meantime, I’m going to get these guys some confidence. We’re not a three-line, we’ve got to get the fourth line involved.”
As for Abols, he is a good penalty killer, which contributes to the Flyers’ NHL top-10 kill unit.
“You can’t have a fourth line that doesn’t penalty kill,” Tocchet said. “I don’t want to burn out ‘TK’ (Travis Konecny) or ‘Catesy’ (Noah Cates). That’s why I have to get that fourth line out there on the penalty kill.”
Abols has already been named to Latvia’s 2026 Winter Olympics hockey team for the Games at Milano, Italy.

>Murchison could make debut

The Flyers called up defenseman Ty Murchison from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Tocchet said there’s a possibility he could make his debut on Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks.
“He’s a guy who deserves to come up and get a shot,” Tocchet said. “That’s what we’re building on here, guys who are competitive. I don’t know how he’s going to play but I do know he’s competitive.”
In 21 games with the Phantoms this season, Murchison is a team-best plus-9.
“He skates well,” Tocchet said.
Tocchet said he was told by Phantoms coach John Snowden that Murchison “brings his game every night.”
That’s what the Flyers could use right now. Players who are willing to confront the opposition in all situations.
“We’ve got to squash plays,” Tocchet said. “We’ve got to come up with some battles. And he’s one of those guys. Hopefully he can do it for us. I don’t know but we’ve got to give him a shot.”
A fifth-round pick back in 2021, the 22-year-old Murchison has been a big part of the Phantoms’ early success this season.