Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet ranked 10th among his peers in a new list published by NHL.com on Thursday.
A panel of 15 NHL.com contributors submitted their own rankings of the 16 best head coaches in the league, with with results combined and aggregated into one single list.
Tocchet, who joined the Canucks midway through the 2022-23 season and won the Jack Adams Award earlier this year, finished 10th with a total of 107 points. He appeared on 14 of the 15 individual lists, including a No. 3 ranking from Jean-Francois Chaumont.
“Tocchet’s impact in less than two seasons with the Canucks was symbolized when he won the Jack Adams Award last season,” NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger wrote Thursday. “Since he took over the Canucks on Jan. 22, 2023, they have gone 70-35-13 in the regular season, including 50-23-9 last season. He guided them to a six-game win against the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference First Round and rode third-string goalie Arturs Silovs to force the high-powered Edmonton Oilers to seven games.
“Tocchet, No. 6 for me, shoots from the lip and coaches the way he played: straightforward and communicative, no nonsense allowed,” Zeisberger concluded.
Jon Cooper, who guided the Tampa Bay Lightning to three consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances and two wins between 2020 and 2022, finished in the top spot on the list, while Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice and Vegas Golden Knights bench boss Bruce Cassidy rounded out the top three.
Former Canucks head coach John Tortorella, now of the Philadelphia Flyers, slotted in one spot below Tocchet at No. 11. The full list can be found here.
After concluding his 1,144-game NHL career as a member of the Flyers in 2002, Tocchet wasted little time in turning to coaching. He initially served as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche, Phoenix Coyotes, and Tampa Bay Lightning before taking over as head coach of the Bolts in 2008.
Tocchet spent less than two full seasons as Lightning head coach before being relieved of his duties; then, he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant in 2014, ultimately winning two Stanley Cups while serving in that capacity. He parlayed that success into a head coaching gig with the Coyotes, lasting four years in that role.
After an up-and-down start to his Canucks tenure, Tocchet guided the team to a surprise Pacific Division title in 2023-24. The Canucks finished with a 50-23-9 record in the regular season and took the Edmonton Oilers to seven games in the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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