Owen Tippett at center? Whatever it takes for persistent Flyers
Rick Tocchet seemed down the Flyers’ bench on Saturday in San Jose, Calif. It was already depleted with no Sean CouturierLuke Glendening, or Denver Barkey resulting from damage, and Tocchet wanted a middle.
The downside was the Flyers solely had three pivots within the lineup towards the Sharks: Noah Cateswho was within the penalty field, and Christian Dvorak and Trevor Zegraswho had been on the ice for an influence play that — lastly — scored.
» READ MORE: The Flyers had a perfect California trip. Now a huge week awaits in their push for the playoffs.
Meet Owen TippettNHL heart.
“I looked at the assistants [and said]’I need a center here.’ And then, Tipp looked at me and goes, ‘I’ll play center.’ Just like that,” the bench boss recalled with fun on Monday after a Flyers optionally available follow.
“And I thought that was a cool moment. I went, ‘OK, get out there.’ We kind of laughed, and he went out there and played center a couple of times. So that’s a pretty cool moment to see a guy that [says] “I’ll do it, coach.”
So there the winger was, taking a center-ice faceoff, and playing down the middle for 38 seconds with wingers Garnet Hathaway and Garrett Wilson. He’s played center sporadically over the years and while he lost the faceoff to Michael Misa, Tippett played the position well as the low man in the defensive zone.
“Given our lineup the last couple games, we knew someone was going to have to step in and play positions that they weren’t doing, and obviously, [Emil] Andrae was playing center, and he’s a defenseman,” said Tippett, who chuckled when asked initially about playing center.
“It was simply type of within the move of the sport. I do not know if I’m throwing that provide out if the draw is within the defensive zone.”
Back in May after he was hired, Tocchet told The Inquirer, “Owen Tippett is a man who I really feel has one other degree in him. I believe he is a prototypical huge, quick winger. Can we unleash him?”
Tippett has officially been unleashed this season. He’s a power forward with insane speed who can play not just at even strength but on the power play and the penalty kill — and can throw a mean hit too. On Saturday, he ran over Sharks star forward Macklin Celebrini just over 10 minutes into the game. It was one of 137 hits he’s laid in 69 games this year, second on the Flyers behind Hathaway.
“Honestly, I didn’t even realize I got him as good as I did until I saw it after,” stated Tippett, who had 115 hits throughout 77 video games final season. “I had the puck and he was coming toward me, and it was almost like a reverse hit.
“But, yeah, I think I made the comment during the game, [Wilson] gets us started with a big fight. Catesy steps in and protects a guy, does it smartly. [Nick Seeler] you have a huge hit. [Noah Juulsen] you have a huge hit. It’s just the time of year. You’re going to have to take hits. You’re going to have to give hits. “It’s all part of the game.”
He can be humble and modest, but Tippett has set the tone not only with his physicality but also his hands.
The Flyers are 9-2-1 in their last 13 games and Tippett has been a key contributor. He has five goals and six points in the past eight games. He has 24 goals and 42 points this season and is closing in on his career highs of 28 goals and 53 points, set in 2023-24.
“When I took [the] job this summer… they talked to me [about how] we’ve got to get this guy’s potential,” Tocchet said of Tippett. “But, that’s just coach and player relationship, how we both see how the game is played, and stuff like that. He’s allowed some freedom; he’s a game-breaker type of guy but he’s also done some nice stuff, like where he’s dug in, or that great hit against Celebrini. That’s a big thing. “It’s nice to see him do that.”
Breakaways
Couturier, Glendening, and Barkey participated within the optionally available follow on Monday. Tocchet stated they may very well be prospects on Tuesday when the Flyers host the Columbus Blue Jackets at Xfinity Mobile Arena (7 p.m., ESPN+, Hulu). The Flyers path the Blue Jackets by 5 factors for the third spot within the Metropolitan Division. Columbus can be tied with the New York Islanders, the second wild card within the Eastern Conference, in factors, however has performed one fewer recreation. …The Flyers introduced on Monday that they’ve signed ahead Alex Čiernik to a three-year entry-level contract that can start in 2026-27. Selected within the fourth spherical in 2023, the 21-year-old Čiernik started the season with the Lahti Pelicans in Liiga, Finland’s high males’s league, earlier than returning to Nybro Vikings IF of HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-highest professional league. Across the 2 organizations, he had eight factors (three targets, 5 assists) in 40 video games.
