June 24: The Seattle Kraken will reveal their first head coach today and Ian Furness of KJR 950 in Seattle tweets that it will not be Tocchet. With the Blue Jackets and Rangers having gone in different directions, the openings are quickly closing for the free agent head coach.
June 2: The Arizona Coyotes may not have wanted to move forward with Rick Tocchet behind the bench, but they are clearly in the minority. The free agent coach continues to draw considerable interest on the open market. Tocchet has already interviewed for the vacancies of the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Rangers, as well as for the inaugural head coach position for the expansion Seattle Kraken.
At least three of those teams are serious about Tocchet as a candidate, as Coyotes beat writer Craig Morgan reports that Tocchet had a second interview with the Rangers on Tuesday and will have second interviews with the Kraken and Blue Jackets before the end of the week. He does not mention the Sabres, who are reportedly casting a wide net for their next head coach and may not be at their second interview stage just yet. While the Kraken are still an unknown until the Expansion Draft, both the Rangers and Blue Jackets have the talent on their rosters that could allow Tocchet to find immediate success if hired.
Tocchet, 57, actually has a losing record in his NHL head coaching career and if not for the expanded 2020 postseason field would have never led a team to the playoffs. With that said, he took a bottom-dwelling Coyotes team from last in the Pacific Division in 2017-18 to a team that contended for a playoff spot late into the season in each of the past three years, never finishing lower than fifth in the division. It’s nothing spectacular, but it is far from failure. Tocchet is also known for his ability to work with star players and was beloved as an assistant coach in previous stops. A standout two-way forward during his playing days and the NHL’s all-time leader in Gordie Howe hat tricks, Tocchet has a well-rounded understanding of the game and a well-regarded coaching approach. So while his track record may not be amazing on paper, the veteran coach has clearly made enough of a name for himself that several teams are highly interested in hiring him as their next head coach.
Good for him he would do well in CBJ or NYR…
You sure know what a winner looks like
Yes I do Arizona is not a great place to coach play or whatever right now and before..So why not give him a shot elsewhere…..
because he sucks
Goes to show how poorly run Arizona is
And Colorado, and Tampa when he coached there right?
I think it’s fair to say Arizona is not a well run franchise. Hiring John Chayka was not a brilliant move and it’s cost them draft picks. There’s taking a chance on young blood, and then there was that. He owns 12 Wendy’s franchise, looks better than most resumes.
As a Rangers fan, I’m conflicted.
I hated Tochett as a player, but his toughness and physicality are exactly what the team needs right now. On the ice.
Just not sure if we need it behind the bench and with his record it seems like a lateral move.
..the more I think about Tochett the more I’m starting to want him for the Rangers
I’d prefer the Rangers not hire Tocchet.
Same here. I don’t believe he has what it takes. Being a players coach is just part of the equation. He hasn’t really demonstrated the other areas very well.
Very good player, below average coach. He will never lead a team to the Stanley Cup.
Must be nice to constantly fail upwards.
“He couldn’t even win the Cup with Arizona, what a bum. He had Nick Schmaltz as his number one center and he still blew it. His top two goalies were healthy for a few weeks. Loser.”
It’s almost as if NHL execs understand context.
He also struggled with a very talented Tampa team.
he had top level goaltending for years and his gm brought in hall and kessel for him. hall is clearly still elite, tocchet just sucks as a coach. he did nothing in tampa either.
Are you joking? That Tampa team was picking at the top of consecutive drafts.
How many times do you need to be hit in the head before you realize it hurts! Tocchet is not the answer for the rangers. Again, take a look at ur hated rivals, hiring lamoeriello and trotz. Ok i like drury. Tocchet is no trotz. He was a gritty 2 way player, but is unproven as a winning head coach.
Tocchet is not a good fit for Seattle since he’d again have the excuse that his roster has no talent. It’s also a big change to go from the low light of Arizona to the high light of New York. Rangers should grab Gallant if they want a winning coach.
I don’t get why teams are so enamoured with him. He hasn’t had success coaching anywhere. I’m obviously not a professional myself, but I just don’t see the signs of him being the kind of coach to take a team to the next level.
I agree, just because he was a fairly good NHL player and knew how to tame Kessel doesn’t mean he can coach a team and be successful. Judging a head coach by his former NHL playing skills just doesn’t work… just look at how horrible a coach Wayne Gretzky was. Tocchet just isn’t someone who can coach a team to the playoffs and if the Rangers think so, well… we’ll see how that turns out!
I’d love to get Tocchet back as Sully’s right hand man. Hakstol, OK. Whatever.