NHL Insider Leaks the Vancouver Canucks Are Gearing up For Huge Contract Offer to Rick Tocchet
Photo credit: James Carey Lauder - USA TODAY Sports
An NHL insider believes that the Vancouver Canucks are gearing up to make a massive contract offer to head coach Rick Tocchet in the coming days.
With the offseason now upon us for the Vancouver Canucks, the organization has plenty of business they need to take care of, including a contract extension for head coach Rick Toccet.
An answer on Rick Tocchet's future in Vancouver is expected to come quickly as neither side wants this to drag into the summer and it looks like a new contract offer is on the horizon.
Elliotte Friedman believes team will make Rick Tocchet massive contract offer
Reports have circulated in the past few weeks that Rick Tocchet turned down a contract offer from the Vancouver Canucks, which left many wondering what was going to come next - will he stay on his option for 2025-26 or will be leave for a different opportunity in the league?
Well, it looks like the Vancouver Canucks are committed to Rick Tocchet as their head coach and want him to stick around, as according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the organization is about to make a massive contract offer to the 61-year-old.
During Saturday's edition of the 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman shared that the Vancouver Canucks are ready to make Rick Tocchet the highest-paid coach in franchise history.
"I believe the Vancouver Canucks have committed that Rick Tocchet will be the highest-paid coach in franchise history. I do believe that's going to happen, if he stays." Friedman said.
Tocchet has led the Vancouver Canucks to a 108-65-27 record in 200 regular season games behind the bench and help the team reach Game 7 of the second round against the Edmonton Oilers last spring.
The Scarborough, Ontario native has drawn plenty of criticism from the fan base for lineup decisions made throughout the 2024-25 season, which is fair, but the team's inconsistent play shouldn't land solely on his shoulders and the blame can be placed equally on him, the management group, as well as the players who didn't perform.
Beyond Rick Tocchet's contract extension, there's a lot more that needs to be done in order to get this team reach for opening night of the 2025-26 season and it's going to be interesting to see what that lineup ends up looking like.
Source: Elliotte Friedman/32 Thoughts
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