Rick Tocchet's proactive roasting of the Canucks might be a coaching masterstroke

Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has his team out to a 2-1-0 start with a plus-6 goal differential — but you wouldn't know it based on the way he reacted to the club's first loss on Tuesday.

Speaking to assembled media after a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, the 59-year-old went off. His harsh comments about his players included, but were not limited to:

• "We were off in every single system part of it. And then the compete wasn't there. They competed, we didn't. That's the bottom line. I really don't have anything to say — no compete."

• "We weren’t smart everywhere."

• "Who are we to think we’re anybody?"

• "I don't like to use the word soft, but I didn't see guys competing at all."

• "Obviously, we've got to go to the drawing board with some guys here. They gotta pick it up, boy."

His actions during the game reinforced the idea that he was extremely displeased with his team, as he severely limited the ice time of key players like Andrei Kuzmenko, Anthony Beauvillier, Phil Di Giuseppe, and Tyler Myers even though the game was within reach.

It's easy to take those words and coaching decisions and paint the picture of an impatient bench boss overreacting to a single dud. Looking a little closer, it seems Tocchet's anger is not only reasonable, but cleverly proactive.

While it's extremely difficult to measure the quality of a coach's motivation tactics, it seems likely that Tocchet is on to something.

The best reason for optimism about the Canucks' start to the season is their two wins against an Edmonton Oilers team many projected to be a Stanley Cup favorite. A look under the hood suggests those victories were driven by Edmonton's awful goaltending more than what Vancouver did right.

In those contests, the Canucks were outshot 42-32 and out-attempted 98-55 at 5-on-5. They managed an expected goal share of just 38.80% and produced a single 5-on-5 high-danger chance across the two games while conceding seven.

While the team's power play had some strong moments — and its goalies were nails — it hardly handled the Oilers. More than anything, luck was on Vancouver's side, a phenomenon best encapsulated by Brock Boeser's third goal of the season opener.

Coaches tend to be process-oriented by nature, and Tocchet undoubtedly noticed his team wasn't playing as well as its results suggested heading into Tuesday's matchup with the Flyers.

When the Canucks didn't show up against an opponent that was far from intimidating, he had reason to worry. After three games, Vancouver ranks 30th in the NHL in 5-on-5 shot share (40.16%) and 31st in expected goal share (36.60%).

The team won't continue to convert on a third of its power plays, score on 16.4% of its shots or enjoy a .945 save percentage from its goaltending duo of Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith. If the Canucks are going to make some noise in 2023-24, they need to play better across the board.

It would've been easy for Tocchet to brush off a loss to the Flyers and not drop the hammer until his team's record was a disappointment. Instead, the coach opted to get out in front of the club's problems.

Whether that will lead to better outcomes for the Canucks remains to be seen, but at the very least it's clear that Tocchet is holding this group to a high standard and not letting poor play fly under the radar.