On Thursday morning, the Philadelphia Flyers released a statement that the organization has relieved head coach John Tortorella of his duties and appointed Brad Shaw as interim head coach.

The former Flyers coach was painful to a fault after Tuesday’s 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs:

“When you’re in this type of situation and you’re losing all the time and there’s nothing at the end of the tunnel for you, there’s certainly going to be some frustration, but this falls on me. I’m not really interested in learning how to coach in this type of season, where we’re at right now. But I have to do a better job. So this falls on me, getting the team prepared to play the proper way.”

And just two days after this quote, the Flyers decided to part ways with their three-year head coach with one year remaining on his contract.

Fans will certainly recognize the Tortorella name, not only for his blunt sound bites through the media, but also for his one season spent as Canucks head coach in 2013-2014.

Under Tortorella, the Canucks missed the playoffs in his lone year as bench boss, with a record of 36-35-11. Most will remember him for the infamous game against the Calgary Flames when all five skaters fought off the faceoff, and Tortorella wanted to get involved with Bob Hartley at the intermission.

However, most of the talk in Canucks land is less about Tortorella and more about what this move means for the future of Rick Tocchet with the Vancouver Canucks.

There really hasn’t been much talk about an extension in Vancouver. When asked about it, Tocchet just says he’s too focused on the playoff push and that he’d worry about his extension later. He’s certainly having to give a little extra effort this season trying to juggle injuries, player drama and outside noise, so there’s probably some deciding to do on whether he wants to return after the stressful year.

Donnie & Dhali’s Rick Dhaliwal shared the latest he’s hearing regarding the Canucks coach and his future in Vancouver:

“Tocchet has not decided he wants to leave Vancouver. There’s been no decision made. No truth to the rumours that he’s leaving as of today. Tocchet has a long-standing representative in Steve Mountain. There is no way that if the Canucks call Mountain, he won’t pick up and negotiate. Mountain will be ready, anytime, if the Canucks were to call about Tocchet and extending.

“Canucks have the clause in Tocchet’s contract to bring him back. But it’s hard to believe Tocchet would return on a one-year deal. If a deal is struck, it will be with term. They did that with [Bruce] Broudreau, and it was a disaster. There is a relationship with [Patrik] Allvin and [Jim] Rutherford that Tocchet respects. They have been good to him. But if he becomes available, there’s going to be a lot of interest. There could be openings in Boston, [New York] Rangers, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Anaheim – who knows?

“I know everybody’s going for the jugular today that Tocchet’s gone, he’s going to Philly. I just want to say that that’s not 100% accurate as of today. Tocchet’s staying in Vancouver can be sorted out under the right circumstances.”

Dhaliwal mentioned that the Canucks are going to have to sell Tocchet on staying in Vancouver; What direction is this team going? What’s their plan with Hughes and Demko? What are they going to do at second-line centre? There’s a lot of questions that Tocchet’s going to want answers to before deciding to re-sign on a lengthy contract.

The fact that Tocchet wasn’t extending after winning the Jack Adams Award in 2023-2024 was always puzzling. But now there are even more layers that come into effect, that might not have been there last year.

Like the one we have today, where the Philadelphia Flyers head coaching job just became vacant.

Tocchet is a beloved member of the Flyers alumni. He was Philadelphia’s sixth-round pick (121st overall) in the 1983 NHL draft and spent the first eight seasons of his career in a Flyers sweater, scoring 215 goals and 464 points with 1,683 penalty minutes in 531 games. He would bounce around the league a bit afterward, with stops in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and Phoenix before returning to Philadelphia to finish his career.

With a taste of last year’s success fresh on his mind, it would be shocking to see Tocchet walk away and go to a rebuilding team. However, if that starts to make a little more sense if that right team came along. With all the history Tocchet has in Philadelphia, he probably has that job circled as one of those destinations where he’d be willing to go and battle through a rebuild. And the feeling is likely mutual, given Tocchet’s recent success behind the bench.

What does the future hold for Tocchet and the Canucks? Will Allvin and Rutherford be able to convince Tocchet on the direction of the team enough to extend him? Or does the recent opening in Philadelphia now cloud the situation? Let us know in the comments below, Canucks fan!