Rick Tocchet becomes Rangers coach candidate after leaving Canucks

You can add Rick Tocchet’s name to the growing list of candidates to become the next coach of the New York Rangers.

Tocchet opted not to accept a lucrative contract offer to remain coach of the Vancouver Canucks and is now an appealing free agent with numerous coaching vacancies around the NHL.

“I’m choosing to move on from the Vancouver Canucks,” Tocchet said in a statement released by the team Tuesday. “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.”

The 61-year-old elected to move on after a drama-filled season ended with the Canucks failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tocchet had to navigate a feud between star centers J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, Miller’s 10-game leave of absence for personal reasons and a Jan. 31 trade that sent Miller to the Rangers. There were also numerous injuries, including to No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko and captain Quinn Hughes. And apparently Tocchet wasn’t thrilled that the Canucks didn’t have a proper practice facility.

In 2023-24, Tocchet led the Canucks to 50 wins and 109 points and won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year. It was his first full season behind Vancouver’s bench after he replaced Bruce Boudreau mid-season the year before.

The Canucks declined to pick up the option on Tocchet’s contract at the end of this season, and offered him a multi-year deal instead. Canucks president Jim Rutherford said last week they did so because they didn’t want to force Tocchet to stay another season if he’d be eyeing a job elsewhere.

“After a very long and thorough process, unfortunately Rick has decided to leave the Vancouver Canucks,” Rutherford said Tuesday. “This is very disappointing news, but we respect Rick’s decision to move to a new chapter in his hockey career. We did everything in our power to keep him, but at the end of the day Rick felt he needed a change. He is a good friend, a good coach, and we can’t thank him enough for all he did for our organization. Toc is a stand-up guy, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

Mike Sullivan likely top Rangers coach candidate, even with Rick Tocchet available

The Canucks loss is going to be another team’s gain. Tocchet likely will get an interview with the Rangers, that is if general manager Chris Drury isn’t already locked in on Mike Sullivan. The two-time Stanley Cup winner and former Rangers assistant parted ways with the Penguins after 10 seasons Monday.

The moment Sullivan left the Penguins, he shot to the top of the Rangers’ list of candidates to replace the fired Peter Laviolette. It’s been widely reported that Drury held off hiring Gerard Gallant as coach in 2021, hoping that Sullivan might leave the Penguins. The GM held out similar hope in 2023 before Sullivan signed a rich contract extension with Pittsburgh, and pivoted to Laviolette.

NHL insider Frank Seravalli stated emphatically Tuesday, “The Rangers will have their coach by the end of this week.” The insinuation is that Drury will lock up Sullivan quickly.

If not, Tocchet — who was an assistant under Sullivan when the Penguins won consecutive Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017 — is an intriguing option. He was a rugged and skilled power forward over 1,144 NHL games, and could be a good fit as coach for a Rangers team in need of more north-south hockey than east-west.

However, the Rangers are likely not Tocchet’s first choice. He spent most of his playing career with the Philadelphia Flyers, who need to replace the fired John Tortorella as coach. And he has ties to the Penguins, both as a player and assistant coach.

Tocchet is 286-265-87 in 638 games behind an NHL bench with the Canucks, Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning. His teams reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice in nine seasons, and he’s 11-11 in 22 postseason games coached.