Canucks make decision on HC Rick Tocchet's future

President of hockey operations Jim Rutherford confirmed last week that the Canucks wouldn’t rope Tocchet into his club option regardless of whether they agreed on a new deal, so Tuesday's news isn’t entirely out of the blue. Either the Canucks or Tocchet are expected to release a statement with his reasoning against extending his time in Vancouver later Tuesday, Friedman relays.

While Vancouver expressed interest in keeping Tocchet and was willing to pay up to do so, it’s not surprising to see at least one of the two sides decide that a split was the best way forward. The Canucks had an incredibly disappointing 2024-25 campaign, falling to a 38-30-14 record and missing the playoffs after recording a 50-win season and winning the Pacific Division in 2023-24. That campaign earned Tocchet Coach of the Year honors, but that hasn’t meant a ton for a coach’s long-term future with their club as of late.

It’s too early to say who might succeed Tocchet in British Columbia. Internal options could include assistant coach Adam Foote or AHL head coach Manny Malhotra. As for Tocchet, the Flyers have had their eye on his situation ever since firing John Tortorella with weeks left in the campaign. They’ll presumably be aggressive in bringing him back to the city in which he spent 11 of his 18 seasons as a player.

Tocchet ends his stint in Vancouver with a 108-65-27 (.608) record across two and a half seasons. He was initially brought in midway through the 2022-23 campaign after the Canucks fired Bruce Boudreau. In 2024-25, major regression from the since-traded J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, along with injuries to 2024 Vezina finalist Thatcher Demko and top-pair defenseman Filip Hronek, were simply too much to handle for Tocchet to keep the club afloat.

The Canucks are now the eighth active head coach vacancy, joining the Blackhawks, Bruins, Ducks, Flyers, Kraken, Penguins and Rangers.