Flyers' new HC Rick Tocchet reveals why he returned to Philadelphia despite serious interest from Bruins, Kraken 

Rick Tocchet is headed back to where his NHL career began.

The former Vancouver Canucks bench boss was officially hired to become the 25th head coach in Philadelphia Flyers history on Wednesday afternoon.

Tocchet was a sixth-round (121st overall) draft pick of the Flyers back in 1983. He spent the first eight seasons of his career in Philly and made a return to the City of Brotherly Love for the final three years of his playing days.

23 years later, he's found himself back in the city and with the organization that has meant the most to him. Tocchet spoke to the media for the first time since the hiring on Friday morning and shared why he chose Philadelphia over other teams. The Philadelphia Flyers shared the full press conference on X (formerly Twitter).

"Yeah, I think, as you know, when you, as a coach or anything in life, you want to check the boxes. So stability, box checked. Relationships, box checked. Passion of, and obviously the area, the fan base, box checked. I'm a big relationship guy. I know just from the past, being here working with good people, I think, makes you successful," Tocchet said (6:21).

"So for me, those are the attractive things. For me, obviously, the roster, the team, the potential, the prospect pool, you know, the cap space that's coming here. There's a lot of positives for this job. It's an attractive job. So, you know, it's one of the best; I think it's one of the best jobs in hockey, and I'm very fortunate to get it," Tocchet added.

Rick Tocchet reportedly signed a five-year, $26,250,000 contract to become the next head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers hope Rick Tocchet will attract players to come to Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Flyers have just one playoff series win in the last 13 seasons.

That lack of success has made it difficult to attract high-end talent. With the addition of Rick Tocchet now behind the bench, Danny Briere is hoping that will change as the team starts to compete again.

Flyers reporter Jordan Hall shared what Briere said on X.

"Danny Briere said Rick Tocchet will make Flyers more enticing for potential free agents. Briere said agents have already started calling," Hall wrote.

There aren't too many high-end UFAs in 2025; however, the 2026 free agent class is shaping up with the potential to be star-studded.

Rick Tocchet will look to turn things around in Philadelphia and bring the Flyers back to contention starting in 2025-26.