Canucks coach Rick Tocchet will not return for 2025-26
Rick Tocchet is walking away from the Vancouver Canucks.
The third-year Canucks head coach will not return for the coming campaign, the club announced Tuesday. The decision comes on the heels of the club noting it was only interested in an extension with the bench boss and would not exercise the optional year on Tocchet’s current contract.
“This is very disappointing news, but we respect Rick’s decision to move to a new chapter in his hockey career,” Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said in a statement.
For Tocchet, the former NHL forward wraps up three seasons in Vancouver highlighted by the 2023-24 campaign in which he guided the Canucks to a Pacific Division title following a 50-23-9 record and 109 points. For his efforts, Tocchet was presented with the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s Coach of the Year.
The Canucks then followed up that performance with a 90-point finish this season, putting the club six points shy of the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference.
In all, Tocchet’s time in Vancouver totals a 108-65-27 record over 200 games. The Canucks made the playoffs once in Tocchet’s two-and-a-half seasons, eliminating the Nashville Predators last spring before falling to the Pacific Division rival Edmonton Oilers in the second round.
Prior to arriving in Vancouver, Tocchet’s resume counted six seasons as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the former Arizona Coyotes. Tocchet also won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. Of note, Tocchet has also served as an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche, Coyotes, and Lightning.
With Tocchet’s exit, Vancouver becomes the latest club looking to fill a head coaching vacancy, joining the Anaheim Ducks, New York Rangers, Penguins, and Seattle Kraken. The Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Philadelphia Flyers may also be in the market for a new bench boss as each is currently led by an interim head coach.