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Rick Tocchet

Jets Notes: Dubois, Scheifele, Coaching Search

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Ever since it was reported earlier this week that Winnipeg Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois had informed his team of his intentions to test free agency in 2024, it seemed likely that the Dubois storyline would be a major one for this offseason. Now, we have some additional details on Dubois’ choice regarding his future. Murat Ates of The Athletic believes that Dubois “quite sincerely” wants to test free agency, and has “not been shy” about communicating that desire to the team, as well as a desire to play in Montreal “in the long run” specifically. (subscription link)

Ates specifically mentioning Montreal confirms what many had believed about Dubois, that he had his eyes on playing in his home province. Dubois actually was almost drafted by the Canadiens at the 2016 draft, but the Blue Jackets took him third overall, which scuttled that possibility. Now, Dubois could be attempting to finally find his way to the Canadiens. The Canadiens have the opportunity to solidify a Nick Suzuki and Shane Wright one-two punch down the middle at the draft next month, so it’s fair to wonder if the Canadiens’ choice at number-one overall at the draft will ultimately have an impact on Dubois’ future in Winnipeg.

Now, for some other notes about the Jets:

  • One other situation worth monitoring in Winnipeg is the situation of first-line center Mark Scheifele. Ates reports that Scheifele’s name has “made it into preliminary trade conversations,” and further adds on that a contentious exit meeting between the forward and the Jets front office could broaden the fracture between the Jets and their other star center. Centers who can score at above a point-per-game rate, as Scheifele has for the past half-decade, are rarely made available on the trade market or in free agency. Teams looking for center help this offseason could add Scheifele’s name to their possible options, and any deal with him involved is sure to have a major impact on the futures of both the acquiring team and the Jets.
  • In the midst of news on Dubois, Scheifele, and Blake Wheeler, the ongoing Jets coaching search may have taken a bit of a back seat in the minds of Jets fans. It has become clear that widely reported number-one choice Barry Trotz won’t be an option, and that has left the Jets to sort through the remaining candidates to find their next bench boss. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the following coaches are on the Jets’ radar for the job: two former Manitoba Moose head coaches in Scott Arniel and Pascal Vincent and two former NHL head coaches in Rick Tocchet and Jim Montgomery.

Snapshots: Flyers Head Coach Search, Sharks GM Search, Point, Kannok-Leipert

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According to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, the Philadelphia Flyers have reportedly narrowed down their list of candidates for their vacant Head Coach position (link). It appears the finalists for the position include, but may not be limited to, John Tortorella and Barry Trotz. The Flyers recently held their second interview of Torotrella in Philadelphia and have since told other candidates that they are no longer in the running for the position. In addition to Tortorella and Trotz, the Flyers have also interviewed the likes of Mike Velucci, Rick Tocchet, Jim Montgomery, Jeff Blashill, David Quinn, and likely others who have not been named. It’s unclear if any of these are also finalists in addition to Tortorella or Trotz.

Seeing the Flyers narrow their field is an interesting development for the coaching market as a whole, as more positions, and candidates, have opened up as time has gone on, but few of those positions have been filled. Philadelphia making a decision, depending on when that decision comes and who is selected, could serve to get the ball rolling for the rest of the league. Philadelphia has struggled in recent seasons, culminating in trading franchise forward Claude Giroux to the Florida Panthers in March, however the organization has shown an unwillingness to commit to a true rebuild. Hiring either of Tortorella or Trotz would certainly help the organization get back to its winning ways, even as the team’s roster experiences some transition in personnel.

  • From one high-profile search to another, it appears the San Jose Sharks are also planning to narrow their list of candidates for their vacant General Manager position this week, says The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. It’s unclear who exactly would be on the Sharks’ shortlist, though LeBrun says the organization has had lengthy interviews of 4 to 6 hours each with a dozen candidates. The organization made clear after former GM Doug Wilson stepped down that they would take their time finding his replacement. Much like the Flyers, the organization has shown they are not interested in a lengthy rebuild and would like to find a GM who shares that vision (link).
  • After earlier reports that Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point could be a game-time decision for tonight’s Game Six of the Eastern Conference Finals, it appears he is now considered doubtful, says Seravalli. Though it would be disappointing for Tampa to again be without one of their best players, Seravalli does add that Point is very likely to play in Tampa’s next game, whether that be in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, or in Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals, depending on the result of tonight’s game. Point was injured during Game Seven of Tampa Bay’s first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and has not played since. As crucial as Point has been to Tampa Bay’s recent playoff success, the team has managed to go 8-2 since he went down, including the game against Toronto, losing only the first two games of the conference final.
  • The Abbotsford Canucks, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks, announced they have signed defenseman Alex Kannok-Leipert to a one-year contract extension that covers the 2022-23 season. Originally a sixth-round draft pick of the Washington Capitals in 2018, Kannok-Leipert spent five years with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL, where he was team captain for two seasons before turning pro and signing with Abbotsford ahead of the 2021-22 season. The defenseman had a solid rookie campaign in the AHL, putting up five points to go with a plus-5 rating in 41 games. An interesting note on Kannok-Leipert is though a Regina, Saskatchewan native, he was born in Thailand and is the first Thailand-born player in AHL history and the first to be drafted in the NHL Entry Draft.

Stars Notes: Tocchet, Savard, Hintz

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While the Rick Bowness era in Dallas officially came to a close two days ago, it could have ended far sooner. On the 32 Thoughts segment of last night’s Sportsnet broadcast of the Avalanche-Blues game, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Dallas Stars “considered a coaching change” around the All-Star break, and had “zeroed in on” former Arizona Coyotes head coach and current TNT analyst Rick Tocchet as their next bench boss. Friedman states that the two parties could not come to terms on a deal at the time, but speculates that he could be a name the team circles back to for their current vacancy.

Tocchet, 58, last coached the Arizona Coyotes in 2020-21 and has most recently been working as an analyst for Turner Sports’ NHL coverage, primarily on TNT. Tocchet also coached the Tampa Bay Lightning for two seasons from 2008-09 and 2009-10. Tocchet’s results as a head coach are mixed, with his teams only making the playoffs once, in the unique bubble situation of the 2019-20 season. But with those mixed results comes the two Stanley Cup rings Tocchet won as an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and there are many coaches who have difficult early tenures only to finally figure things out in a second or third job. While Tocchet never played for the Stars during his illustrious 1144-game NHL career, it seems that he may end up there as their next head coach.

Now, for some other notes regarding the Dallas Stars:

  • Another former player is, like Tocchet, on the Stars’ radar for their vacant head coaching job. Marc Savard, the rookie head coach of the Windsor Spitfires who now has his team in the semifinals of the OHL playoffs, is “on Dallas’ radar,” per Marek. Savard’s Spitfires posted a 44-17-7 record this season, and his connection to prized prospect Wyatt Johnston, who tore the OHL apart this season to the tune of 124 points, could prove useful should he choose to pursue the job.
  • The Stars’ offseason is a crucial one for reasons beyond just their coaching search. Star forward Jason Robertson and goaltender Jake Oettinger, the team’s playoff hero, are out of contract and are eligible for restricted free agency. The direction the team goes in terms of their extensions could dictate what the Stars are able to do in terms of adding other players. Another crucial Star, Roope Hintz, is not out of a contract but eligible for an extension thanks to there only being one season left on his current deal. Per Marek, the Stars want to get an extension “done early” and lock up Hintz along with their other core players. Given Hintz’s play these past two seasons, the Stars’ reported desire to extend him now seems wise, because his price is likely only going up as he gets more productive seasons under his belt.

Snapshots: Turner, Tkachuk, Humitz

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Hockey fans across the United States are going to see things a little differently this season after the league reached broadcast agreements with TNT and ESPN earlier this year. After previous announcements and leaks about who would be leading the TNT coverage, the network released the full game and studio lineup for the 2021-22 season today. At the top of the list is Wayne Gretzky, but he’ll be joined by quite the cast. The other studio analysts will be Anson Carter, Rick Tocchet and Paul Bissonnette, certainly bringing an Arizona Coyotes flair to the broadcast.

In May, Gretzky announced he would be stepping away from his role with the Edmonton Oilers to take the position at TNT. Tocchet, who seemed to interview for every vacant coaching position this summer after parting ways with the Coyotes, will now be adding his expertise to the panel instead. The network will have its first regular season coverage on Wednesday, October 13 with a doubleheader featuring the New York Rangers, Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and Colorado Avalanche.

  • Talk continues between the Ottawa Senators and restricted free agent Brady Tkachuk and the team is believed to have tabled an eight-year, $64MM deal according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia. That would match Thomas Chabot for the most expensive player on the Senators and the biggest contract handed out by GM Pierre Dorion. With less than two weeks before training camp opens, there are some pressure points approaching that could speed the negotiations along for all of the remaining restricted free agents.
  • Max Humitz played eight games with the Grand Rapids Griffins this season after turning pro, but that short stint apparently wasn’t enough to land another AHL contract. The 26-year-old forward has signed with the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings for the upcoming season. Humitz actually had five points in those eight games after an outstanding career at Lake Superior State University, but measures in at just 5’8″ 168-lbs.

Boston University Hires Jay Pandolfo, Brian Daccord

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July 2: BU has officially announced Pandolfo as the Terriers’ associate coach. The team will also be adding Brian Daccord as a goaltending coach after he resigned from the Arizona Coyotes earlier this year. Daccord, whose son is a goaltender in the Ottawa Senators organization, left the Coyotes after just one season.

July 1: Boston Bruins assistant coach Jay Pandolfo is making a move, but he won’t be going far. According to the New England Hockey Journal, Pandolfo is set to join Boston University as an associate head coach under Albie O’Connell. He will replace outgoing assistant Paul Peart, who recently accepted the head coach position at prep powerhouse Cushing Academy. Pandolfo’s hockey career took off as a standout at BU in the 90’s and led to a long, successful NHL career that wrapped up back in Boston with the Bruins in 2012-13. He now returns to his alma mater as a seasoned coach, looking to win an NCAA Championship as he did as a player in 1995.

The move, while understandable given the history, is still unorthodox. Pandolfo is leaving an NHL assistant position on one of the better and more consistent franchises in the league to take a similar role at the college level. Pandolfo has been on the Bruins’ staff since 2016-17, the year in which current head coach Bruce Cassidy first took over. While there hasn’t been much noise surrounding Pandolfo this year or last, he was once considered an up-and-coming coach, with at least one confirmed head coach interview with the New York Islanders in 2018. Now, he moves away from that possibility and into the college game. If he can help right the ship at BU, where the Terriers have struggled to find great success in recent years despite some of the best talent in college hockey, Pandolfo could quickly grab an NCAA head coaching job.

As for the Bruins, the team is not without a number of suitable internal candidates. Development coach Chris Kelly and scouting coordinator P.J. Axelsson are both former players who would be good for the role, as would highly-regarded AHL head coach Jay Leach, who interviewed for the Arizona Coyotes’ vacancy recently. It is also worth noting that Rick Tocchet, now out of head coach options despite considerable interest, was briefly a Bruin during his playing days and skated alongside Team President Cam Neeley and GM Don Sweeney. 

Coaching Notes: Vincent, Hakstol, Boudreau, Tocchet

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New Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen is adding to his staff. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the Blue Jackets are set to hire Manitoba Moose head coach Pascal Vincent as an assistant to Larsen. Vincent had previously left Paul Maurice’s Winnipeg Jets staff in favor of being the head coach for their AHL affiliate, but seemingly is back to being open to an NHL assistant role. Vincent has spent the past decade with the Jets organization and the previous dozen years as a head coach and GM in the QMJHL. With an impressive resume, Vincent may see this Columbus opportunity as a way to get his name out there beyond the confines of Winnipeg in hopes of attracting NHL head coach attention of his own down the road. Vincent will re-unite with Jack Roslovic in Columbus; he previously coached him as a prospect with the Moose but he has now become the No. 1 center for the Blue Jackets. That relationship should be mutually beneficial for the pair.

  • The big coaching news of the day was of course the hiring of Dave Hakstol as the first head coach of the expansion Seattle Kraken. And while Hakstol’s role will be in the locker room and not the front office, GM Ron Francis will certainly take his opinions into consideration. After all, it was the Florida Panthers, the former team of Vegas’ inaugural head coach, Gerard Gallant, that were swindled the worst by the Golden Knights in the last Expansion Draft. Florida traded Reilly Smith and a fourth-round pick so that Vegas would select Jonathan Marchessault over the likes of Alexander Petrovic and Mark Pysyk. While no teams should be fooled so badly this time around, Hakstol’s knowledge of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadephia Flyers – not to mention the numerous University of North Dakota alumni around the league – could come into play. The Flyers in particular are expected to have many well-known names exposed in the draft, some of whom played their best seasons under Hakstol, and the coach may know exactly how to target the team.
  • The Maple Leafs now have a vacancy on their coaching staff in the wake of Hakstol’s departure, but the club’s fans think they have already figured it out. Yahoo’s Thomas Williams writes that there has already been an outpouring of support for veteran coach Bruce Boudreau to be hired as the team’s newest assistant. The Toronto native and former Maple Leafs player spoke out this off-season as a free agent that he would like to coach his hometown team and fans seem to agree with the match. Boudreau has had a long and successful coaching career and some feel that head coach Sheldon Keefe could use the veteran support on the bench. With that said, Boudreau has never served as an assistant in the NHL and interviewed for the Buffalo Sabres’ head coach vacancy late last month. Despite any personal feelings and fan support, Boudreau will take the top job for the struggling Sabres over a No. 2 role for Toronto.
  • Of course, Boudreau is not the only candidate for the Sabres’ job, as Rick Tocchet is also among the names who interviewed for the position. Tocchet interviewed multiple times with the Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, and Seattle Kraken, only to lose out on all three jobs. He has reportedly only interviewed once with Buffalo, who may not have been his top choice at first, but they are the only landing spot left, as the other remaining NHL head coach position is the post he vacated with the Arizona Coyotes. Tocchet is clearly a well-regarded and sought-after coach, so now that they are his last hope at a top job this season, perhaps the Sabres and Tocchet will get serious about a potential match.

Rick Tocchet Receives Second Interview With Three Teams

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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.

Latest On Rick Tocchet

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One of the most in-demand coaching candidates this offseason is Rick Tocchet, who has already been linked to the New York Rangers, Seattle Kraken, and Buffalo Sabres. Add the Columbus Blue Jackets to that list, as Craig Morgan of AZ Coyotes Insider reports that Tocchet will interview there next week. The former Coyotes head coach interviewed with the Rangers today and will meet with the Sabres on Thursday, according to Morgan.

The reason Tocchet quickly parted ways with the Coyotes at the end of the season was to start taking interviews and it appears as though his name is on the shortlist of almost every vacancy in the league. Of course, wherever he ends up, Tocchet will be looking to turn around his head coaching career after struggling to find any real success at each of his first two stops.

In 2008-09, Tocchet replaced Barry Melrose as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning after 16 games and would last through the following season. He had a 53-69-26 record in those two seasons and missed the playoffs both years. It wasn’t until 2017 when he returned to the head coaching ranks with Arizona, but it was much of the same. He posted a 125-131-34 record with the Coyotes and only led them to the playoffs in last year’s bubble.

Make no mistake, Tocchet has plenty of respect around the league, especially from his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was known as something of a “Kessel Whisperer” there, an assistant who could get the best out of enigmatic talents. At the midpoint last year, with the Coyotes sitting at 21-16-4, a PHWA poll had him as the runaway favorite to win the Jack Adams Trophy as Coach of the Year. The team would, unfortunately, go 12-13-4 after that point and Tocchet would not receive a single vote for the award, which ended up going to Bruce Cassidy.

On his last deal, Tocchet was paid a total of $6MM over four years with the Coyotes. It seems likely that he’ll receive a raise wherever he ends up, given how more established coaches are earning nearly that much in a single year.

Buffalo Sabres To Interview Rick Tocchet, Bruce Boudreau

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The Buffalo Sabres need to get this one right. Since firing Lindy Ruff in 2013, the team has gone through six different head coaches and now must find another leader for their bench. Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, and Ralph Krueger have all come and gone, with Don Granato being the latest interim bench boss. Granato is being considered in the search for a new head coach, but all indications are that GM Kevyn Adams will search far and wide before making a decision. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports today that Rick Tocchet and Bruce Boudreau have interviews lined up with the team.

Tocchet has also been linked to the Seattle Kraken and New York Rangers positions, following his departure from the Arizona Coyotes earlier this month. The team and coach decided to part ways after his contract came to an end, allowing him to pursue other opportunities elsewhere. It appears as though Tocchet is in high demand, at least at the interview stage, and that he will be able to secure a position somewhere before next season begins.

Boudreau is a bit of a different story, given that he didn’t coach at all this season after being fired by the Minnesota Wild last year. The 66-year-old has one of the highest winning percentages in league history with a .635 career record and won the Jack Adams Award in 2008 as the NHL’s best coach, but Boudreau has classically been unable to find any success in the postseason. Perhaps the Sabres don’t need to be picky when it comes to regular season versus playoff success at this point, but Boudreau’s name has not seemed as in-demand as it once was.

LeBrun also notes that the Sabres coaching search will include interviews with members of the college ranks and that there is no rush to fill the position. Though there are several college coaches that could be up for NHL opportunities, Nate Leaman is the one that is most often brought up. The Providence College bench boss has been a top coaching prospect for several years and recently took the U.S. Word Junior squad to a gold medal. Leaman is currently in Latvia with the World Championship team, serving as an assistant.

Rick Tocchet To Interview With Kraken, Rangers

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The Seattle Kraken have patiently waited and watched the NHL coaching landscape change dramatically over the last several months, biding their time before hiring the first coach in franchise history. If they have had any interviews to this point they haven’t been made public, but that is about to change. NHL insider Frank Seravalli reports that the Kraken will interview Rick Tocchet after he parted ways with the Arizona Coyotes earlier this month. They have also interviewed Toronto Maple Leafs director of pro scouting Troy Bodie for a front office position, according to Seravalli.

The Kraken aren’t the only team after Tocchet though. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tweets that the New York Rangers will also interview the former Coyotes coach for their own head coaching vacancy.

Tocchet, 57, was head coach of the Coyotes for the last four seasons, but decided to part ways with the organization in order to pursue other opportunities. During his time there the team went 125-131-34 while making the playoffs just once. That was last year, when the Coyotes managed to defeat the Nashville Predators in the qualifying round only to be sent home quickly by the Colorado Avalanche. One of the things Tocchet was always lauded for was his ability to get the best out of inconsistent talents–namely Phil Kessel, who did have a bit of a resurgence this season scoring 43 points in 56 games to lead the Coyotes.

In Seattle, he would be given the difficult task of bringing players from 30 different organizations together under one roof and competing as the NHL’s newest franchise. He wouldn’t be doing it alone, obviously, joining Kraken GM and former teammate Ron Francis. Francis and Tocchet won a Stanley Cup together with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992 after the latter was brought over from the Philadelphia Flyers at the deadline. They would both score 100+ points the following season, the best offensive year of Tocchet’s career.

Of course, even though the Seattle job is an appealing one, New York’s appeal is never something to overlook. The Rangers have an excellent young core that looks poised to take the next step toward Stanley Cup contention and are looking for a coach to lead them to the playoffs immediately. When the Rangers hired former head coach David Quinn away from Boston University, they gave him a five-year, $12MM deal even despite his lack of NHL experience. Tocchet earned just $6MM over his four years with Arizona.

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