On Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks dealt the official blow that Rick Tocchet will not be returning behind the bench with the team come next season. Rumours had circled for weeks that he may not decide to re-sign with the team, but there was hope they could come to an agreement.

After the news broke, speculation ran rampant about the reason for his departure, with some expressing their disappointment that Jim Rutherford and the Canucks didn’t offer him a good enough contract to keep him around. However, it looks like that’s not the case.

According to multiple reports, Vancouver put forth a generous offer to keep Tocchet on, one that would have made him one of the highest paid coaches in the league.

Up until he was sacked Monday, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan was the highest paid coach in the league, per figures from Front Office Sports. Sullivan earned $5.5 million this season, in his 10th year with the organization. Trailing behind him are Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss Jon Cooper ($5.3 million), Peter Laviolette of the New York Rangers ($4.9 million), Colorado Avalanche’s Jared Bednar ($4.9 million), and Bruce Cassidy of the Vegas Golden Knights ($4.5 million). It’s unclear what the exact offer was for Tocchet, but based on these figures, it was likely somewhere in the $4 to 5 million range.

With that in mind, it appears this really was just a matter of Tocchet wanting a change for himself, interested to test the market with a number of other NHL teams currently searching for a new head coach. And it’s hard to blame him, between this season’s locker room drama, a reluctancy from management to commit to a new practice facility, and the possibility Quinn Hughes will walk when he hits free agency, there’s a lot of uncertainty in Vancouver right now. Combine that with this season’s regression in the standings and missed postseason berth after such a huge season last year, and it may not be too surprising that Tocchet is looking for a new challenge.

While it didn’t come down to money for Tocchet, it’s reassuring to know the Canucks are willing to invest a decent chunk of change in the right coach. Now they’ll have to hope that this off-season’s head hunt brings whoever that may be their way.