Now two weeks since he decided to move on from the Vancouver Canucks, former head coach Rick Tocchet is expected to find his new home soon, per TSN’s Darren Dreger.
Dreger reported the news on Tuesday morning, including three teams as potential destinations: the Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Seattle Kraken.
Once the Flyers let go of John Tortorella after some questionable comments about not being interested in coaching “these type of games” in late March, once the team had nothing to play for. Many started connecting the dots regarding a potential fit for the Flyers and Tocchet if he did not re-sign in Vancouver.
Tocchet was drafted by the Flyers in 1983, playing there for the first eight years of his career. During this stint, he scored 215 goals and 249 assists for 464 points in 531 games, racking up 1,683 penalty minutes. Tocchet returned to Philadelphia for the final three seasons after bouncing around the league for the next 11 seasons, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and Phoenix Coyotes. On the back nine of his career, Tocchet scored 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points in 90 games, with 134 penalty minutes.
The Bruins made a coaching change earlier in the season when they moved on from Jim Montgomery after an 8-9-3 start through the first 20 games. Joe Sacco was named the interim head coach, but isn’t expected back after the Bruins finished fifth last in the league with a 33-39-10 record.
Tocchet spent two seasons in Boston, scoring 32 goals and 22 assists for 54 points in 67 games, totalling 131 penalty minutes. Last offseason, Tocchet and some Canucks players pitched Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to stay in Vancouver. Both players would sign with the Bruins, which could interest Tocchet in a reunion.
The Kraken being a fit doesn’t seem to fit the comments Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford explained as reasons Tocchet wanted to leave Vancouver:
“I got the call this morning from his agent, and then a call right after from Rick explaining why he wouldn’t return. I think you saw it in the press release, but he just expressed that he felt he needed a change. Part of that, for personal reasons, he wants to move back to the Eastern part of the United States and be closer to his family.”
The list of potential suitors now seems to stretch farther than just the Eastern United States, as first believed.
After just one season and a 35-41-6 record, the Kraken moved on from head coach Dan Bylsma. He earned the promotion from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, after he took the team to back-to-back Calder Cup finals, both losing efforts to the Hershey Bears.
Tocchet’s decision to move on from the Canucks came as a surprise to many within the organization. Just one season after winning the Pacific Division title, Tocchet’s three suitors are teams in the midst of or heading into a rebuild. Regardless of where he lands, a decision is looming, according to Darren Dreger.