Rick Tocchet Decision is Near, Canucks Get Message From Quinn Hughes 'Loud & Clear'

Now that the Vancouver Canucks are officially eliminated from the playoff race, the Rick Tocchet drama is getting closer to a conclusion. And according to insider Elliotte Friedman, he said on his 32 Thoughts podcast that if they value captain Quinn Hughes' opinion, there's only one way this can go:

The organization knows how Quinn Hughes feels, okay? They know he likes Rick Tocchet. They have received that message loud and clear.

“He's an amazing coach,” Hughes told Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet. “You look at me individually and my game, he's been amazing for me — amazing for a lot of guys. He's just a great person, first of all. That's a guy you want to compete for, you want to play for. And he's a terrific coach".

Tocchet's guaranteed contract is done after the final two games of the regular season, but the Canucks have a team option on 2025-26. Although they had stated that they'd like to get the head coach signed to an extension, and if not, have every intention of picking up the team option, Friedman says they have since "cooled down on that one a little bit."

On Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night, Friedman expanded on the situation, saying a conclusion to the drama is getting very close:

The one thing I do believe is, nobody—not Tocchet, not the Canucks—want this to drag (too long) after the end of the season, too long into the summer. I think you're gonna see how this is going to work out come down pretty quickly at the end of the season. I think both sides want to make sure that everybody knows where they're going (and) what's happening, so that they can get on with the rest of their plans in the summer.

The Canucks faced chaos from Day 1 on this season, with the loss to injury of their Vezina Trophy runner-up goaltender, Thatcher Demko, and then into the Elias Pettersson/JT Miller Feud, which wound up in the trading of Miller. Pettersson's poor play continued to be a distraction, and then we got into the Brock Boeser situation, after he admitted he is likely in his final days in Vancouver as he gets set to hit unrestricted free agency.

The team has 88 points with two games to play, six points back of the final Wild Card berth, and a full 21 points back of their 109-point finish atop the Pacific Division last season.