Well, the decision has been made. Rick Tocchet will not be returning as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks next season. The news came down early Tuesday afternoon when the Canucks and Tocchet released a joint press release briefly detailing the decision with Tocchet thanking the organization, players, coaching staff, media and fans.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the entire Vancouver Canucks organization, starting with Francesco and Luigi Aquilini, Jim Rutherford, and Patrik Allvin. It’s been a pleasure and great learning experience to work with you all.
“To the players – thank you. Regardless of our results, I always felt your heart and effort was there. I was honoured to be your coach.
“To the coaching staff and support staff – you guys are first class, and you made it easy and enjoyable to come to work every day.
“Thank you for everything you give to help make the team a success.
“To the media, I appreciate your work and your diligence, your easy – and your difficult – questions. You guys do a great job, thank you.
“And to the Canucks fans – your infectious spirit, loyal commitment and will to win kept me and the entire team on our toes. I appreciate how you have made yourselves a driving force in the Canucks community.
“I’ve enjoyed my time here, and I wish everyone the best.”
President Jim Rutherford met with the media shortly after the press release to provide some clarity on the situation. Here are some of the bullet points.
Tocchet’s Decision Was Largely Based on Family
According to the press release, the decision to leave the Canucks was largely based on family: “I’m choosing to move on from the Vancouver Canucks,” said Tocchet. “Family is a priority, and with my contract lapsing, this becomes the opportune time. While I don’t know where I’m headed, or exactly how this will play out for me over the near term, I feel like this is the right time for me to explore other opportunities in and around hockey.”
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But as Rutherford detailed in his time with the media, it came as a bit of a surprise. “We had a lot of talks over the last four to six weeks. In those talks, it was sort of general talks like we would normally have it at the end of each year, and he’s talking about what he’s going to do with the players in the summertime, what he wants to do different at camp, what he wants to do with the team next year. So, for the most part, the talks were all about the future, and it appeared to me that he would return,” said Rutherford.
Something must have happened in the last week or so to change his outlook for the future, because it doesn’t seem like he was planning to be in a different place next season. As for what’s next for Tocchet, a lot of people are speculating that he could join the Pittsburgh Penguins or Philadelphia Flyers. He has connections to both of those teams, and they both exist in the Eastern part of the United States, a place Rutherford said Tocchet wanted to move back to in order to be closer to his family.
Canucks Will Create Short List For Next Head Coach; Malhotra in the Mix
Now that Tocchet is out as head coach, the Canucks will start to search for their next bench boss – a process that has become all too familiar for fans and everyone who has covered the team. Since Travis Green was fired in 2023-24, the longest a coach has lasted is 200 games, which was Tocchet, who led the Canucks to a 108-65-27 record, which included a Pacific Division championship and their first series win since 2019-20.
Rutherford said the Canucks won’t rush into anything, but they will be creating a short list of candidates to expedite the process as much as they can. “I would expect our phones will ring on a regular basis for people that want this job, and we’ll narrow it down fairly quick and then start the process from there,” said Rutherford.
As for who will be on that short list, Rutherford didn’t reveal a lot, but did say Manny Malhotra will be in the mix. Considering the stellar job he’s done in Abbotsford with the American Hockey League (AHL) team, that seems like a given at this point. He has them in the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, and has coached a lot of the young pieces (Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Aatu Raty, Linus Karlsson, Elias Pettersson, etc.) that will hopefully help form the next core of the team.
Rutherford also commented on the recent availability of Mike Sullivan and Peter Laviolette, two coaches very familiar to him from his time in Pittsburgh and Carolina. He quickly shut down any speculation about Sullivan, as he said that he probably wants to remain in the Eastern Conference. Laviolette, meanwhile, remains a possibility, but even though Rutherford has had success with him, he said Patrik Allvin doesn’t have that same experience, which likely makes it less of a possibility. He didn’t rule him out, though.
I’m sure over the next few days, we will get more information/speculation on who the Canucks will be looking at as their next leader behind the bench. Rutherford didn’t put any restrictions on who they would be looking at, so it could be anyone from a seasoned veteran like Laviolette or a fresh face like Malhotra. They will, however, be looking for people who have leadership qualities that can help develop the current (and future) leadership group in the locker room.
Future of Adam Foote & Other Assistants
Rutherford didn’t provide any clarity on the future of Tocchet’s assistant coaches, Adam Foote, Sergei Gonchar, and Jaroslav Svejkovsky, saying, “The organization respects the other guys, and they will be guys that we will want to keep. But at the same time, if you bring a new coach in, he may want to bring one or two of his own guys…so, we’re going to have to tread lightly here for a little bit, even though those guys are going to want to know. So, we’ll just have to see how that plays out.”
Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal did say after the presser that Foote’s contract has expired, and he believes Foote has permission to talk to other teams about potential opportunities. It would be unfortunate to see Foote leave as he’s had a great run of success with the defence corps led by Quinn Hughes, but given the circumstances, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him join another franchise – maybe even the one Tocchet ultimately gets hired by.
Next Head Coach Among the Many Items on Canucks To-Do List
Hiring the next head coach is just one of the many things the Canucks will be tasked with over the next few months. Hopefully, they can get everything in place before the NHL Draft – at the latest, free agency – so that they can adequately plan for the offseason. As Rutherford said,”…ideally, we know who the coach is so that the coach can have input on that.”
As has been detailed many times since the season ended, the Canucks have the goaltending and defence set for next season, but they need massive upgrades down the middle if they hope to compete in the ultra-competitive Pacific Division and return to the playoffs next season. We will see who will be leading that charge very soon as the 22nd head coach of the Canucks.
