When the Philadelphia Flyers skated off the ice following their seventh straight loss to open the season, met by deafening boos and chants of “Fire Tocchet!“ echoing through the arena, it left Philadelphians in a deep state of frustration and Canucks fans in a deep state of vindication.
Seven games into the 2026–27 regular season, Rick Tocchet’s squad is experiencing a franchise-record winless streak at 0–5–2. The Flyers carry a league-worst -20 goal differential while averaging a dismal 1.1 goals per game. Forward Trevor Zegras, who signed a massive six-year, $9.125-million contract extension, has just two points, while preseason Calder Trophy front-runner Porter Martone has only one goal.
For Canucks fans who remember Tocchet’s final months behind the bench in Vancouver, the parallels between the two teams’ seasons are hard to ignore. But is Philadelphia’s early disaster all Tocchet’s fault, or is there time for the team to still do a 180?
When Tocchet took control of the Flyers bench last season, he inherited a roster built similarly to the one he had in his first season in Vancouver in 2023: a young team with solid pieces, but still stuck in between being a basement team and a contending team. Tocchet’s success in his first season in Philly mirrored his second season with the Canucks, as both teams crushed early-season expectations and got knocked out in the second round of the playoffs.
Reading the discourse online from Flyers fans, it seems as if Tocchet didn’t hear much of the criticism Canucks fans commonly had for him. Issues with young players’ ice time, along with stale offensive and defensive structures, have been complaints with Tocchet across two straight franchises now.
Despite the chants breaking out in Philadelphia, general manager Daniel Briere isn’t ready to pull the trigger just yet. Firing a coach this early can be a risky decision, but it’s one he might have to make if the streak continues.
When a Tocchet-coached team is playing well, it usually means they are following his structure to a tee. However, if a player struggles in that structure and plays better outside of it, should it be the player or the coach that has to adjust? That’s a question that the entire Flyers team is going to have to ask themselves.