The Vancouver Canucks could have forced Rick Tocchet to return as head coach in the 2025-26 season by exercising their option on his contract. They chose not to do so.
"We will not exercise the team option for him to stay," said the Canucks' president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford. "We don't feel it's right to have somebody here that may have his mind somewhere else. And I'd say that about anybody."
While Tocchet expressed his desire to return to Vancouver at the team's end-of-season media availability, he also said he needed time to breathe and think about his future.
Evidently, that future won't be with the Canucks. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Tocchet will not be coming back as head coach of the Canucks.
There is word this afternoon that Rick Tocchet will not be returning as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC)
Believe there will be a full statement with his rationale in the next little while...but add Vancouver to the teams looking for a new bench boss.
There were rumours swirling that Tocchet might be up for one of the other head coaching jobs that have come available recently. Aside from the Canucks, there are seven other coaching vacancies in the NHL right now.
Some have suggested that Tocchet could return to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he was drafted as a player and spent the bulk of his career, while others have connected him with the New York Rangers, which would mean reuniting with J.T. Miller.
Now the Canucks will be in the market for a new head coach. Notably, Mike Sullivan was recently let go by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Rutherford has spoken highly of Sullivan, who he promoted from the AHL as head coach of the Penguins back in 2015 when he was with the Penguins.
Sullivan was also an assistant coach with the Canucks for one season in 2013-14 under head coach John Tortorella.
Aside from other options at the NHL level, the Canucks also have the option of promoting from within as Sullivan was. Manny Malhotra has coached the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL to an excellent season and has them in the Pacific Division Semifinals in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Whoever the Canucks hire, it's a troubling look for the organization, who will now be on their fourth head coach in the space of four years. Tocchet had received a vote of confidence from the players, particularly captain Quinn Hughes.
"He's an amazing coach,” . “You look at me individually and my game, he's been amazing for me — amazing for a lot of guys. He's just a great person, first of all. That's a guy you want to compete for, you want to play for. And he's a terrific coach.
“I think just the way Rick coaches, how solid we are defensively and structured, he gives us the chance to win every night...Whatever he does, it's his decision. Obviously, I'd like to have him back. And I think he knows that."
as the NHL's coach of the year following the 2023-24 season when the Canucks won the Pacific Division, returning to the playoffs for the first time in four years.
