Rick Tocchet won’t be returning to Vancouver

Last week, in Vancouver’s end-of-season review, Jim Rutherford (Canucks president) said that Rick Tocchet’s contract option would not be exercised.

And at the time, it was easy to see that the end was in sight for Tocchet over there.

Today, we learn that the main interested party will not be returning to Vancouver. Elliotte Friedman shared the news on Twitter.

There is word this afternoon that Rick Tocchet will not be returning as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

Believe there will be a full statement with his rationale in the next little while…but add Vancouver to the teams looking for a new bench boss.

– Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 29, 2025

I think the Canucks “look crazy” a little because Rick Tocchet is one of the NHL’s good coaches.

He’s proven himself in the past and in Vancouver, we need an intense guy like him with the group.

But at the same time, if Tocchet openly told the Canucks he didn’t want to come back, the organization had no choice but to let him go. Exercising his option year – knowing that Tocchet wanted to leave – would have created distractions in the dressing room (already not great) because you need a coach who wants to be there.

As is the case with Mike Sullivan, expect to see Rick Tocchet land a new job pretty quickly.

And in Tocchet’s case, it’s really the Philadelphia Flyers’ name that’s attached to him right now – and has been for a few days now.

As soon as the Flyers announced the dismissal of John Tortorella, some made the connection between Tocchet and the Philly organization, since the coach is capable of being tough with his players.

With the Flyers’ culture, there may be an interesting fit:

Daniel Brière said the discussion with Torts about his dismissal went well → https://t.co/63qbtPECk5

– DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) March 27, 2025

Let’s also remember that Daniel Brière and Rick Tocchet once played together in the National League in Arizona (98-99 season).

The two men know each other well, the Flyers are looking for a coach, Tocchet is no longer part of the Canucks organization…

There are easy links to be made between the Flyers and Rick Tocchet, to put it another way.

And we’ll have to keep an eye on this one with interest, because I really have a feeling we could see the Flyers make an announcement soon.

If they don’t, he’ll be stolen from the organization.

Breaking news

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With a catastrophic start to the season and a game you can’t lose tomorrow in Toronto, this podcast might give some listeners a heartache … https://t.co/qWRciAR61R

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.@jeantrudel83 had a lot to say about the people that left Game 4 early at the Bell Centre pic.twitter.com/ZnyyGaif9O

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– I’ve always liked his potential.

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Details → https://t.co/954syXt6kI pic.twitter.com/rxAkMfDspO

– Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 29, 2025

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