{"id":514924,"date":"2026-03-10T11:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/514924\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T11:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T11:42:09","slug":"rick-tocchet-reveals-whether-flyers-will-keep-alex-bump-in-the-nhl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/514924\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Tocchet reveals whether Flyers will keep Alex Bump in the NHL"},"content":{"rendered":"

You couldn\u2019t have written a better script for Flyers winger Alex Bump. From missing the initial calls from the Flyers saying he was getting called up for Saturday\u2019s game against Pittsburgh, to scoring his first National Hockey League goal, to getting a paper mask after the game thanks to Nic Desaluriers\u2019 luggage snafu, it was one to remember. It sounds like Bump isn\u2019t going to be one-and-done, or two-and-done if head coach Rick Tocchet\u2019s statements after practice Monday<\/a> is any measuring stick. That\u2019s not to say he\u2019ll play all 20 remaining games, but it\u2019s more than a long shot that he\u2019s going to get a good look.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good question,\u201d Tocchet said when asked what the plan was for the young forward. \u201cI mean obviously he had a really good game, and he did some stuff that you got to give him a lot of credit for that he worked on down there. We\u2019re in a situation too where if he\u2019s playing that well, how do you send him down? But when he\u2019s in the lineup he\u2019s got to play too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flyers coach Tocchet talks about if Alex Bump staying on Flyers roster<\/p>\n

Bump had a good first game scoring his first goal, but was also a huge surprise from start to finish. He also was on one of the power play units and didn\u2019t look like a proverbial deer in the headlights. As well, Tocchet was impressed with his usage, especially considering how many penalties the Flyers took against the Penguins. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean in his first game he played 16 minutes, and we had 12 minutes in penalties,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a short game, because he was going. But there\u2019s also situations, sometimes a young guy hits a wall, but you got to let them play through that wall, to play tired. And to play in situations. That\u2019s the next learning thing, it\u2019s hard to play tired. That\u2019s where experience (comes in). Maybe this is the time to keep him in. I don\u2019t know, I\u2019ll talk to Danny about it. But obviously after last game, he\u2019s in tonight. He played really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if the look would be the rest of the season, Tocchet wouldn\u2019t commit to that or go that far. However, it sounded as if Bump was going to have a bit of a longer leash than Jett Luchanko did to start the beginning of both 2024-25 and 2025-26 with Philadelphia. Obviously both players were in different circumstances \u2014 one in junior and one now in Lehigh Valley \u2014 but Bump appears to have a chance to stay in the lineup if he looks as good as he did against Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s that,\u201d Tocchet said regarding if Bump is a lock in the lineup moving forward. \u201cI haven\u2019t talk to Danny about that. I mean it was just that we talked a couple of weeks ago of giving him a look to come up. He\u2019s starting to play really well down there. So that\u2019s kind of the plan. And get him some good reps too. I think he was on the second unit of the power play, trying to play him with some good veteran guys. If TK plays tonight maybe he\u2019ll play with him. There\u2019s certain things that we can do to help him also, that\u2019s our job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tocchet also lauded the play of Matvei Michkov, Bump, and Denver Barkey for shining in \u201cpressure games.\u201d Of course some might think the Flyers are not making the playoffs, so the pressure is essentially off. Yet if they\u2019re still mathematically not eliminated, they are still in it. And the games still matter. \u201cThe more pressure games we can play it helps the development of the young guys,\u201d Tocchet said. \u201cThe nothing games when you\u2019re out of it, it\u2019s hard to evaluate. I\u2019ve been in that situation even as a player \u2014 not very often \u2014 where there\u2019s 10 games left and you\u2019re way out of it, it\u2019s hard. But there\u2019s a pressure game tonight, this is a game that you\u2019re trying to win. So those guys are going to feel the pressure and that\u2019s good, to get those reps.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Konecny returns to the lineup, there might be a bit more line juggling and Bump could see himself with new linemates and a new center. However, if he has another decent to very good game against the Rangers this evening in what will be his first home game as a Flyer, it will certainly make it tougher for Flyers general manager Danny Briere and Tocchet to be justified in sitting him down for a game or two.<\/p>\n

Some might feel that if Bump was sent back down he could join the Phantoms as they still cling to the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. Currently Lehigh Valley hold the sixth and final playoff spot in the division and are three points ahead of the Springfield Thunderbirds with both having played the same amount of games. However, if the Flyers are still playing meaningful games now, then it\u2019s good to see Bump up with the big club and gaining some experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You couldn\u2019t have written a better script for Flyers winger Alex Bump. From missing the initial calls from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-514924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}