Rick Tocchet steps down as Canucks coach - ESPN

Add Rick Tocchet to the list of available coaching options on the open market with the Vancouver Canucks announcing Tuesday that Tocchet left the team.

There had been a belief that Tocchet's time with the Canucks could be coming to an end. Last week saw the discussion of Tocchet's future with the franchise come under greater focus with Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford saying they weren't exercising their option on Tocchet's contract before adding him they offered him a new, more lucrative deal to remain in Vancouver.

But now? Tocchet joins the list of sought-after coaching candidates whereas the Canucks become the eighth NHL team that will use this offseason to go through a coaching search.

«After a very long and thorough process, unfortunately Rick has decided to leave the Vancouver Canucks,» Rutherford said in a statement. «This is very disappointing news, but we respect Rick's decision to move to a new chapter in his hockey career. We did everything in our power to keep him but at the end of the day, Rick felt he needed a change.»

In the same news conference in which Rutherford said the team offered Tocchet a new deal, he also said that Tocchet «may have his mind somewhere else» before adding he felt Tocchet and his staff did «a good job coaching this team this year» as they did in their first full campaign.

Tocchet was a midseason hire during the 2022-23 season. His first full year in charge saw the Canucks win 50 games, finish with 109 points and win the Pacific Division. He led the Canucks to their first postseason appearance since the 2019-20 season and was a win away from advancing to the Western Conference finals.

Entering this season, the Canucks had most of their players from their playoff