There’s no salary cap on coaches.
But if there were, the Canucks’ total head coaching cap hit right now would be $7.5 million. And in true Canucks fashion, a good chunk of that — $5.5 million to be exact — would be in dead money.
According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun and ESPN’s Kevin Weekes, Rick Tocchet’s new contract with the Canucks is for two years and will pay him $2.75 million per year. That’s identical to the contract Travis Green signed with the club ahead of the 2021-22 season, which the Canucks will be paying for until the end of this season.
Add in Bruce Boudreau’s $2 million contract, which, granted, the Canucks have paid most of already, and the Canucks have three coaches on their books for the rest of this season. Boudreau was signed by owner Francesco Aquilini to a one-year deal with an option for a second season after the Canucks cleaned house in December of 2021. Boudreau took that option and returned behind the Canucks’ bench before being let go on Sunday.
Travis Green spent four full seasons with the Canucks before being fired 25 games into the 2021-22 season. Green’s NHL coaching record, which begins and ends in Vancouver, is 133-147-34.
Green’s good friend Rick Tocchet was introduced as the Canucks’ new head coach yesterday after weeks of speculation that he’d be the man taking over for Boudreau.
Tocchet takes over behind the Canucks’ bench with six seasons of head coaching experience under his belt, with a career record of 178-200-60 during stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-2010, and the Arizona Coyotes from 2017-2021. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant coach in 2016 and 2017.
