{"id":467535,"date":"2025-04-26T11:38:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=467535"},"modified":"2025-04-26T11:38:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:38:41","slug":"canucks-contract-and-coaches-rick-tocchets-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/04\/26\/canucks-contract-and-coaches-rick-tocchets-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks, Contract, and The Coach: Rick Tocchet\u2019s Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

On April 21, Canucks President of Hockey Operations, <\/span>Jim Rutherford<\/span><\/a>, updated media on contract extension talks<\/a> with head coach <\/span>Rick Tocchet<\/span><\/a>. During his season-end media availability, he explained that the Canucks \u201cwill not exercise the team option for [Tocchet] to stay.\u201d This doesn\u2019t mean that the door is shut on Tocchet returning to Vancouver \u2014 rather, that the team will not force him to stay if he doesn\u2019t want to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tocchet\u2019s Outlook on a Contract Extension<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cOf course you want to be back, but there\u2019s a process you have to go through,\u201d Tocchet said last week regarding a possible contract extension. This was said before Rutherford announced that the Canucks would not take the team option for Tocchet to stay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What may be most notable about Tocchet\u2019s end of season media is the fact that he took questions without management. Had he waited to address the media with Rutherford and Canucks general manager <\/span>Patrik Allvin<\/span><\/a>, optics would have looked different. In fact, they may have even worked out a deal if that had been the case. Instead, Tocchet answered questions on his own, putting emphasis on the \u201cprocess\u201d of talking about contract extensions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do have to take a breath and go through that. I think, out of respect for both sides, you have to go through the process,\u201d he added. \u201cObviously there\u2019s a time frame, but right now, for me, there\u2019s a process I\u2019ve got to go through with Jim and Patrick, and that\u2019s really where it\u2019s at.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Team Option Not Included in Tocchet\u2019s Next Contract<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tocchet\u2019s situation has gotten some clarity now that the team has confirmed they won’t be taking the team option. Still, the possible extension itself is up in the air. Both sides have expressed interest in making things work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t feel it\u2019s right to have somebody here that may have his mind somewhere else, and I\u2019d say that about anybody, this is not just about Tocc,\u201d Rutherford said on Monday regarding Vancouver\u2019s decision to not take the team option. \u201cWe believe that, and I believe that, Tocc 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rutherford admitted that things didn\u2019t go the way they\u2019d been planned this season. However, he added that this wasn’t due to Tocchet and his staff. \u201cI give him and his staff kudos for the job they did this year. As for his contract, we\u2019ve gone through a process where we\u2019ve negotiated, I would suspect sometime this week, he\u2019ll have a decision.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Can the Canucks Afford What Tocchet Wants?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to <\/span>Greg Wyshynski of ESPN<\/span><\/a>, Tocchet\u2019s current asking price is around $5M \u201cover a five-year term.\u201d This would make him the <\/span>third-highest paid<\/span><\/a> Head Coach in the NHL, behind <\/span>Mike Sullivan<\/span><\/a> of the <\/span>Pittsburgh Penguins<\/span><\/a> ($5.5M) and <\/span>Jon Cooper<\/span><\/a> of the <\/span>Tampa Bay Lightning<\/span><\/a> ($5.3M). Both Sullivan and Cooper have won multiple Stanley Cups as head coaches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tocchet signed a contract with the Canucks in January of 2023, replacing <\/span>Bruce Boudreau<\/span><\/a>. His deal, which paid $2.75M per year, made him the 10th-highest paid NHL Head Coach. This season, he made more than <\/span>Carolina Hurricanes<\/span><\/a> Coach <\/span>Rod Brind\u2019Amour<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>St. Louis Blues<\/span><\/a> bench boss <\/span>Jim Montgomery<\/span><\/a>. While the Canucks say they have offered Tocchet an extension, the dollar amount and term are unknown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If Tocchet Doesn\u2019t Sign His Next Contract With Vancouver\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Vancouver has plenty of options they can consider. Former <\/span>Edmonton Oilers<\/span><\/a> Head Coach, <\/span>Jay Woodcroft<\/span><\/a>, is still without a contract after being let go of last season. There\u2019s also ex-Canucks bench boss <\/span>John Tortorella<\/span><\/a>, who infamously only lasted a season before being let go of. If Vancouver wants to hire someone familiar, they can turn to current <\/span>Abbotsford Canucks<\/span><\/a> Head Coach <\/span>Manny Malhotra<\/span><\/a>. Malhotra\u00a0was an Assistant Coach with Vancouver for four years and played with them for three seasons. <\/span>Jeremy Colliton<\/span><\/a>, who was Abbotsford\u2019s Head Coach for two seasons and the <\/span>Chicago Blackhawks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for a little over three seasons, could also come in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Bob Frid- Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On April 21, Canucks President of Hockey Operations, Jim Rutherford, updated media on contract extension talks with head coach Rick Tocchet. During his season-end media availability, he explained that the Canucks \u201cwill not exercise the team option for [Tocchet] to stay.\u201d This doesn\u2019t mean that the door is shut on Tocchet returning to Vancouver \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5509,"featured_media":467591,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4548,4547,26],"tags":[6918,1509,7127,2012,158,5820],"class_list":["post-467535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhl","category-hockey","category-canucks","tag-head-coach","tag-jim-rutherford","tag-patrik-allvin","tag-rick-tocchet","tag-vancouver-canucks","tag-vancouver-canucks-news"],"modified_by":"Andrew Willis","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467535"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":467592,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467535\/revisions\/467592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}