VOORHEES, N.J. – As encouraging as it was for the Flyers to end a five-year playoff drought and make it to the second round of the postseason, coach Rick Tocchet said his team should not head into the summer satisfied.
At Wednesday’s end-of-season media session at the Flyers Training Center, Tocchet said he was heartened by the strides his team made this season.
But that doesn’t mean he and his coaching staff won’t be working to take another step up.
“For me, the evaluation is the improvement of the guys,” Tocchet said. “And I was really happy with the coaching staff, the relationship with the players helped. The teaching and all that stuff. I thought there were a lot of good things.
“And a lot of learning, too. For myself, going into next year. Knowing certain players better. Certain things that we can be better at. You know, out of the box thinking. So that’s part of the evaluation. For the most part, we’re excited about going into next year and see where we can go with this. Working hard to try to get this team to improve.”
There will be plenty of young players on the rise, from Porter Martone, Denver Barkey and Alex Bump to Matvei Michkov, Oliver Bonk and Emil Andrae. It will be exciting to watch them take the next step.
In some respects, it’s about developing this young talent and then let the chips fall where they may.
“It’s being prepared,” Tocchet said. “That’s the big thing, being prepared for it. Like studying for an exam. But for me, the expectations are like. . .it was clear to me when I took the job. (CEO) Dan Hilferty, (president) Keith Jones. . .they wanted to see improvement from players.
“Can you get this development of a player? And we concentrate on that. But also the culture. And things like that. Setting a standard. So that’s what we’re striving for.
“I’m going into this year, I’ve got to get better as a coach. Hopefully that will help the standard, too. The expectations, just like the players.”
Tocchet was particularly impressed with goaltender Dan Vladar, who was voted the team’s most valuable player.
“The guy leading the charge was Dan Vladar,” Tocchet said. “He’s probably your poster child when it comes to that.
“You go down the list of guys, there are a lot that played well. But saying that, we’ll talk about certain expectations. A lot of guys have had really good years, but they’re like, ‘man, I can play better.’ That’s what you want to hear.”
The Flyers scored only five goals in the four games against Carolina. Are there ways to get more scoring from the current roster as it’s constituted?
“Well, how do you score goals, right?” Tocchet said. “That’s one thing. We don’t have Connor McDavid, we don’t have Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar. You have to think of other ways to score. Puck possession we’ve talked about. We’ve got to be a better wall team. I think that’s a very underrated thing when it comes to hockey.”
The Flyers can look at a team like Carolina for inspiration.
“You look at teams that go far,” Tocchet said. “You watch their inside game. That’s something that we have to improve on. Finishing, improvement of your shot. There are some guys that have to get a harder shot. And you can do that.”
Tocchet arrived here from Vancouver. He had the privilege of coaching Quinn Hughes, a star defenseman who has since moved on to Minnesota.
The coach used him as an example of someone who improved his game through hard work.
“I coached Quinn Hughes,” Tocchet said. “In one summer, his shot went up 12 miles an hour. Systematically the same thing, do we want to carry the puck in more? Yes. Be more calculated, of course. I think puck possession and wall work are things we’re going to concentrate on. I think that will enhance more offense from certain players and our team.”
Tocchet said there might be some changes to the way the Flyers approach their overall game.
“Some tweaks,” Tocchet acknowledged. “Also, can we practice a little bit differently? Certain elements that we have to get better at. There’s a lot of things you can do different. You can’t be afraid not to be different. I just didn’t believe coming in here, first of all, we don’t have that type of team to run and gun.
“To give confidence, you have to stay in games. I know people criticize overtime games but I think that helped our team. That helped us get in the playoffs. Losing 6-4 and just playing run and gun, for a young player, I disagree with because I think you get no confidence.”
The coach is not a big advocate of run-and-gun hockey.
“There’s nothing worse for a young team,” he said. “First you get the hell beat out of you every night, physically. And you’re losing 6-3. It doesn’t build confidence. But not play a one-four defense and stay back all day.
“I think the way the players approach this year is being in games, a 2-2 game, and the comebacks we had this year, I think it’s going to mean a lot for our team going forward. But saying that, we have to stretch the envelope a little bit. A 2-2 game, six minutes left, can we make that play? A two-on-one, can we make that play? Those are the moments we’re going to look for.”
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