But each of those seasons was filled with inconsistencies in play and production. This season, however, he has been a factor even when he hasn’t made it onto the score sheet, whether it be physicality, improved defensive play or extra responsibility from being on the penalty kill.
“His consistency this year, for me since the start of the year, there’s not many lulls in his game,” Tocchet said.
Tippett said age, experience, maturity and a growing level of trust from the coaching staff has helped him focus better shift to shift.
“I think something that’s definitely helped me this year is kind of forgetting stuff, whether it’s a turnover, bad shift, bad game, whatever it may be, forgetting about it right away and just realizing that you have the next shift to focus on and not really kind of dwelling on the bad, and just more focusing on the good,” he said.
“Constantly being in the game, shift after shift, you just have to go out there and do your best. You can’t worry about what happened the shift before, whether it was good or bad.”
Tippett’s teammates and coaches have noticed, and so has the rest of the hockey world.
“On your off days, when you’re not producing offense, you’ve got to have the rest of it going,” said Bukala, an NHL Network and Sportsnet analyst who founded The Pro Hockey Group, a professional and amateur hockey scouting service. “Take a look at his backcheck engagement, take a look at his speed, take a look at the bump to his game. I’m not talking about blowing people up, I’m just talking about pushing people off plays. Everything about him is better.”
There are still areas of the game Tippett can improve, including hitting the net more often — he leads the Flyers with 212 shots on goal but also with 107 missed shots — but he appears to a be player finally maximizing his skill set.
“He’s just got so much potential,” Konecny said. “And I love when you see him realize it during a game, and he’s like, ‘This is my game and I’m taking over.’ It’s fun to watch.”
