While the expectation is that Rick Tocchet will remain behind an NHL bench next season, there’s a possibility it won’t be with the Vancouver Canucks.
Canucks president hockey of operations Jim Rutherford told reporters Monday that the team won’t exercise its option for Tocchet, adding that the organization has instead offered a new, more lucrative contract for him to remain in Vancouver.
“We don’t feel it’s right to have somebody here that may have his mind somewhere else,” Rutherford said. “I’d say that about anybody. This is not just about Toc. We believe that — and I believe that — Toc and his coaching staff did as good a job coaching this team this year as they did the year before when he was coach of the year.”
Rutherford said Tocchet was dealt “a totally different hand this year.”
A midseason hire during the 2022-23 season, Tocchet’s first full campaign with the Canucks was one of the strongest in franchise history, as they won 50 games, finished with 109 points and won the Pacific Division. He guided the Canucks to their first postseason appearance since the 2019-20 season and was a win away from reaching the Western Conference finals.
Despite losing Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov in free agency, the Canucks still had several players return this season.
Vancouver opened with a 15-8-5 mark, but there were multiple on-ice and off-ice issues that hindered its season. Thatcher Demko, who won 35 of his 51 games in 2023-24, was injured and was limited to just 23 games this season.
As for the off-ice problems, there was the friction between star forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. The duo had a strained relationship for years, and those tensions reached the point where Canucks captain Quinn Hughes publicly acknowledged there was an issue even though Miller and Pettersson denied any contention.
It led to Miller, who scored 37 goals and 103 points, being dealt to the New York Rangers before the trade deadline. The Canucks struggled to find ways to replace his production as they finished six points behind the St. Louis Blues for the final Western Conference wild-card spot.
Despite missing the playoffs, Hughes was among those who said they wanted Tocchet to stay.
“This year, we’ve talked enough about the incident that happened and the fact it [affected] the chemistry in the room in the first half and it forced a trade,” Rutherford said. “But with all that going on, how he handled the situation and how he handled the team was really good. So I give him and his staff kudos for the job they’ve done this year.”
His work with the Canucks over the past two-plus seasons is why Tocchet is one of the more coveted coaching options at a time in which there are numerous teams seeking a new direction.
After finishing his playing career, Tocchet became an NHL head coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 2008-09 season. He was out after the 2009-10 season, but he established himself as an assistant head coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins and helped them win two Stanley Cups.
Tocchet was hired by the Coyotes and got the salary-cap-strapped franchise into the playoffs in his third season. Both he and the Coyotes agreed to part ways after the 2020-21 season, and Tocchet was then hired by the Canucks in January 2023 to replace Bruce Boudreau.
What Tocchet accomplished with the Coyotes was only amplified by his time with the Canucks — and led to him being named the Jack Adams Award winner for the NHL coach of the year last season.
Now, he’s staring at the prospect of either staying with the Canucks or taking a new job elsewhere. The Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers were already in need of a new coach, with all three ending the season with interim coaches. On Saturday, the Anaheim Ducks and New York Rangers respectively moved on from their coaches to create five openings with the idea that the Canucks could join that collection of teams if Tocchet signs elsewhere.
“As for the contract, we’ve gone through a process, we’ve negotiated,” Rutherford said. “I would suspect sometime this week, he’ll have a decision. … We’re hoping that he takes that contract and stays.”
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