Canucks decline Rick Tocchet option amid Flyers rumors

The Vancouver Canucks have missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth time in five years. Everything went wrong this year, from a Quinn Hughes injury to a JT Miller trade, and they missed the postseason. The Canucks declined an option in coach Rick Tocchet’s contract, reopening rumors about the Philadelphia Flyers opening.

“Canucks GM Jim Rutherford says team will not exercise option on Rick Tocchet’s contract,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported. “Praises the job the coaching staff did. ‘I would suspect sometime this week, we will have (Tocchet’s) decision.’Hope is Tocchet stays.”

Tocchet won the Jack Adams Award as the best coach in the league last season. The Canucks racked up 109 points and won the Pacific Division. They lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This move has nothing to do with the Canucks not trusting Tocchet to run the team. It is abnormal for a coach to operate in a contract year, which would have been the situation if they had picked up the option.

The Canucks must hear the noise surrounding Tocchet and the Flyers, however. He played 621 games over 11 seasons with Philadelphia. He fits the profile of the player that the franchise is built on. After they fired John Tortorella, the noise picked up around Tocchet. The hope from the Canucks is that he stays, but if Philly comes in with a massive offer, it could be a disastrous decision.

On the 32 Thoughts Podcast over the weekend, Friedman reported that the Canucks are prepared to make Tocchet the highest-paid coach in franchise history. If they do that, it should be no issue keeping him in British Columbia. But anything can happen now, as he is a free agent and could go anywhere. Where will Rick Tocchet land this offseason?