Flyers kick off Rick Tocchet era with a fresh vibe — and no rope test

There was no rope test, like the one former Flyers coach John Tortorella used to open the past three camps. But there was a lot of skating, drills, battles — and on-ice push-ups — on the first day of the Rick Tocchet era.

Here are the takeaways from Day 1 of Flyers training camp.

Yes, it was only the first day, but there was a lightness to the vibes around the Flyers Training Center on Thursday — led by the new bench boss.

“This is a special place for me, and the crest is big,” Tocchet said. “Even the new guys that I brought in, they haven’t been around, but you can tell that they know what it’s [about] being a Flyer. ... When you know the new guys know how special this is, it hits home.”

» READ MORE: Flyers topics as they open training camp, from Alex Bump’s chances to Cam York’s comeback and more

Years ago, Tocchet was in his players’ skates, hitting the same ice in Voorhees in advance of a new season for the Flyers. A member of the organization’s Hall of Fame, his connection runs deep, but the fact that he has played the game and is the teacher and communicator general manager Danny Brière wanted in the next bench boss is already playing a key role.

“If I make a play or I see something a certain way, that I might be able to explain it to him in a different way than other coaches, where he might be able to understand what I’m saying,” said forward Travis Konecny, who played for Tocchet, then an assistant coach, at the 4 Nations Face-Off for Canada.

“Or he kind of sees it, and without even reacting, he kind of understands what’s going on. ... He’s legitimately been there, so like he knows exactly how we’re feeling.”

Tocchet isn’t planning on reinventing the wheel, but he does want to elevate the concepts. So, instead of making his team do “NASCAR laps” as defenseman Cam York called the Tortorella rope test that involved eight laps around the ice three times on Day 1 — and that’s it — Tocchet got straight to teaching his systems.

The new coach wants to maintain being a hard team to play against, but wants the Flyers to be better at puck possession. Drills on Thursday focused on just that, including one where players had to maintain possession while skating two-on-two — with one team skating in from the other end after doing the drill and meeting the other duo in the corner — and using the wall to create time and space, while staying below the hashmarks.

Part of Tocchet’s strategy is also that he wants “the goalie to play just half the net.” Translation: he wants to eliminate post-to-post, slots from the slot, and backdoor plays. It’s a simplification, but, considering the Flyers had “three of the eight hardest environments for their goaltenders last season,” according InGoal Magazine’s senior editor Kevin Woodley, it’s needed.

“You’re gambling, right? I don’t want to gamble,” he said. “I want to be calculated on the way to play. But obviously, we’ve got some creative guys. When we have the puck, like, say, go have a party, do what you got to do. But when you don’t have the puck, I expect guys to know where they’re [supposed to be], what they’re doing.”

It is no secret that Flyers captain Sean Couturier did not have the best relationship with Tortorella. At the end of the past season, a few short weeks after Tortorella was fired, Couturier said: “I just felt that at times, I was getting pushed aside.” That is no longer the case with Tocchet.

“Already had some really good conversations with him, probably more over the last three months than I had over two years with Torts,” he said. “So it’s fun to just go back and forth and get to know each other, listen to each other’s thoughts on the game.

“I think we’re just trying to push in the same direction. Our goal is the same. And, there’s no ego. He’s told me it’s not about Rick Tocchet. I’m kind of the same way; it’s not about me. So we’re all about what’s best for the team, and trying to get this team to the next level.”

» READ MORE: Q&A: Tocchet talks systems and strategies, his ideas for fixing the power play, and more

Tocchet wants Couturier to focus on his game because “sometimes you put so much pressure on the captain that he’s going to worry about everything [and] next thing you know, his game suffers from it.” But it is evident there is a strong relationship growing between the former Flyers forward and the current — and longest-standing — member of the team.

“There’s been a couple of times he’s come up to me,” said Tocchet, “asking me about, ‘Hey, can we do this? Can we do that?’ And that’s the relationship I want to have.”

Another player who had a complex relationship with the former bench boss is York. While he thinks Tocchet and his staff are a great match for the team, York is focused on the present.

“Everyone is starting fresh. I think you know for myself everything is fresh: contract, season, team,” the defenseman said. “It’s an exciting year for me. I think, obviously, last year didn’t go how I wanted it to, and this is a new year.”

Last season, he struggled to find his game, but both Brière and president Keith Jones are expecting the blueliner to return to the form that the 24-year-old showed two seasons ago when he became the team’s best defender. And York thinks he’ll benefit from playing under a new regime that brings more freedom, allowing him not to grip the stick as tightly.

» READ MORE: Danny Brière ushers in a new Flyers era, but ‘it’s not just about making the playoffs’

“It’s just the obvious for me, like I know after watching games from last year, I know that wasn’t me. I think that they see that too,” he said of Flyers brass. “So I would say a confidence thing; I know what I’m capable of and my abilities, and I think those guys see that too.

“I think just going into this year, just continuing to have confidence in myself, believe in myself, and as a player, I know what I can do. So yeah, continue to take steps each year, and I know that I’m a big piece of [this team].”

You can never read too much into line combinations during the early days of training camp, with the abundance of players skating around. But Tocchet likes to use the Scotty Bowman strategy of having set pairs of two guys that work well together, and not necessarily a set line — although he did point out the trio of Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink as being “a pretty good line, he’s heard,” therefore, hinting they could stay together.

One of those pairings was the new guy, Trevor Zegras, acquired from the Anaheim Ducks in late June, and the Flyers’ leading scorer the past four seasons, Konecny. Zegras, who is back to playing center and says it gives him confidence in his game, also said playing with Konecny certainly helps.

» READ MORE: For Trevor Zegras, the trade to the Flyers is not just a refresh, it is also a homecoming of sorts

“He has a ton of skill,” said Konecny of Zegras, with rising winger Alex Bump rounding out the trio. “We’ve definitely been doing a lot of talking, trying to sort through the chemistry and figure out where each other is going to be, what we expect. But it’s nice. He’s got all the skill, but he also kind of understands when I want the puck and when to get it to me at certain times.”

One of the other pairings was Couturier with Matvei Michkov, which worked well last season when put together with Konecny as the third. Thursday, they had Nikita Grebenkin, who, like Bump, should push hard for a roster spot, on the left side. Grebenkin and Michkov have played against each other a lot over the years — with Michkov in English citing his friend’s famous “backcheck, forecheck, paycheck” line. The elder statesman, Couturier, joked that skating between the countrymen that he’s “just trying to learn a little Russian.”

Jett Luchanko was back on the ice on Thursday after missing development camp and rookie camp. It looks like he is a pair with Owen Tippett. ... Michkov said he is ready physically and mentally after experiencing his first grind of an 82-game NHL season. The 20-year-old said, through a team interpreter, that it’s his second season and he cannot say he doesn’t understand English, so no excuses. When asked how his English is, he responded without translation, “Better.” ... Zegras has been working with Couturier on face-offs, dating back to the captain scrimmages. Couturier said that the young center went to him. And why did he do that? “I was playing the new video game, and his X-factor is faceoffs. So I went right to him, and ‘What do you got for me?’” ... Tyson Foerster was on the ice with Group B in a non-contact jersey. The forward said he had an infection, which was removed, but no structural issue with the elbow. “I think by the start of the year, I’ll be good to go, and hopefully, in a week here, I’ll be in a normal jersey and playing in a couple [of] games,” he said. ... The Flyers announced that Oliver Bonk, who was spotted in a non-contact jersey during the last on-ice sessions for rookie camp on Tuesday, is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury. ... Rasmus Ristolainen did not skate with any group on Thursday but was on the ice bright and early, working solo as he continues to recover from surgery on a right triceps tendon rupture in late March. The defenseman is expected to miss the start of the season.