Insider Reveals Latest on Rick Tocchet's Future With Canucks

With his guaranteed contract coming to an end after the current season, Vancouver Canucks head Rick Tocchet has faced questions about his coaching future in B.C. Those queries have ramped up since John Tortorella was let go from the Philadelphia Flyers job, as many see Tocchet—the longtime ex-Flyer—as a natural replacement.

But the Canucks hold a team option on Tocchet for next season, and per insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, they have made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that they want him back.

According to several sources, the Canucks are indicating that if Tocchet is coaching next season, it will be in Vancouver on his club option or with an extension.
Their goal is to extend him, but they will exercise the option if it is necessary.

The reigning Jack Adams Award winner, Tocchet has not addressed his situation directly, as he remains fully focused on trying to get his team into the playoffs. The Canucks find themselves six points back of the red-hot St. Louis Blues for the second and final Wild Card berth in the Western Conference, with just eight games to play (one game in hand on St. Louis).

Moneypuck puts Vancouver's chances of making the postseason at just 7.7%.

Friedman indicates that the Canucks have already made one contract offer to Tocchet, at least to get the conversation started.

Last season, in winning the Coach of the Year honors, the 60-year-old Tocchet guided the team to 1st place in the Pacific Division with a stellar 50-23-9 record for 109 points, and made it to Game 7 of the second round of the playoffs before bowing out to the Finals-bound Edmonton Oilers.

This year has been a much more chaotic one around the team, with the very public feud of top centers Elias Pettersson and JT Miller using up most of the oxygen around the club. Miller was eventually traded, but Pettersson, although he's looked better lately, with 10 points in his last nine games, has only 45 points on the season in 64 games, a huge disappointment in the first year of his 8-year, $92.8 million contract ($11.6M AAV).

We'll see if Tocchet figures he's had enough of the drama, though the Canucks do hold the hammer, with that team option.