Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett has never been considered much of a bruiser. Although he measures in at a sturdy 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, the 26-year-old’s game has primarily been predicated on speed and skill as opposed to physical dominance.
Well, that appears to be changing.
Now in the midst of an impressive hot streak, Tippett is not only doing what he does best — finding the back of the net — but also leaning into the physical side of his game to become a literal force on the ice.
Just ask Seattle Kraken forward Tye Kartye, who was on the receiving end of a massive Tippett hit Monday night in the Flyers’ 5-2 victory at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Tippett historically hasn’t shied away from contact — his 115 hits ranked fourth on the Flyers last season. But this new, more aggressive version of Tippett is a welcome sight for Flyers fans, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by his teammates.
“He’s a big boy. He’s growing into his body, and you can see he looks stronger, he looks more confident in battles and just hanging onto pucks and making little plays. Creating some time and space to use his shot as well,” said Flyers captain Sean Couturier after Monday’s win. “It feels like every year, he’s getting another step. And he’s definitely a guy that we’re gonna rely on in the future, so it’s fun to see him kind of explode.”
Perhaps most encouragingly, Tippett isn’t being reckless with his physicality. Some players who embrace hockey’s physical nature sacrifice responsible positioning in order to dish out big hits, only to watch a potential scoring chance materialize for the opposition. Tippett, however, has a much more calculated approach.
“I think it’s situational. Obviously, I’m not running around looking for those big hits, but if it lines up right in front of me, obviously it’s good to kind of stay involved physically,” said Tippett.
It’s only appropriate that Tippett’s recent awakening as a physical presence has taken place under new Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet. Tocchet himself was one of the nastiest players in the NHL during his playing days with the Flyers in the ’80s and ’90s. He’s the Flyers’ all-time leader in penalty minutes with 1,815, and if hits were a tracked statistic during his playing career, it’s safe to assume he’d rank toward the top of that category as well.
Tippett has a lot of ground to cover if he wants to reach a Tocchet-like level of physicality or scoring prowess. But it may not be much of coincidence that his first multi-goal outing came on a night that saw him set the tone physically.
“He had some body checks the last couple of games where he went through people. He’s a big guy, and when you do that, you’re gonna get room. And obviously, through the neutral zone, his speed for a big guy like that, it’s elite speed,” said Tocchet.
With only 43 points and zero(!) power-play goals in 77 games last season, Tippett’s 2024-25 campaign was one to forget. This season, though, he’s off to as strong a start as one can reasonably hope for with five goals in six games. And according to Tocchet, it’s Tippett’s intense focus that has him firing on all cylinders, both with and without the puck.
“The short time I’ve been here on this coaching staff, he’s been a pleasure to coach. He’s been in the room, he’s asking questions, he’s in the video room. He’s taking the information, and he’s really taken a hold, even like a leader type of a role. That’s what I see. I don’t know what happened in the past, but he looks like a guy that’s dialed in.”