Leaving Canucks wasn’t about the money for Rick Tocchet

It was a tumultuous 2024-25 season for the Vancouver Canucks, and now they will look to the future with a new man behind the bench.

It was announced on Tuesday that head coach Rick Tocchet would not be returning to the team for the 2025-26 campaign, ending what was a very strange saga for the organization. The former NHLer was hired by the team under strange circumstances in the middle of the 2022-23 season, which was quickly followed by a successful 2023-24 season, which saw the Canucks win the Pacific Division and Tocchet win the Jack Adams Award.

However, due to off-ice drama and all-around lackluster play, Vancouver wasn’t able to replicate that success this season, missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.

It has been reported that the Canucks were willing to pay Tocchet a lot of money to stick around. Apparently, Tocchet’s decision didn’t come down to dollars and cents.

On Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli explained why Tocchet’s choice didn’t come down to salary figures.

Frank Seravalli: They put a big offer on the table with term that would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league. In the end, it’s not about money. … This is about a plan, a process, and a chance for success. When you reach these moments in time with a contract expiring, it’s a natural inflection point to stop and take stock of where everything is going. The way that this year played out, how chaotic it was, and also the question marks that are giant for this team moving forward.

What is the future of Elias Pettersson? Can he get back to being the player that he was? Who’s going to be their second attack at center with J.T. Miller gone? What is the health of Philippito? Will Quinn Hughes be staying long-term when his contract is up? What is the future of Thatcher Demko in net? All really important key questions for the Canucks that I don’t know if they were possible to get answers for Rick Tocchet.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…