Tocchet’s departure creates questions about the future for captain Quinn Hughes, who won the Norris Trophy as the League’s top defenseman last season and was named a finalist again this season on Tuesday. He has openly praised Tocchet as an “amazing coach.”
“I hope he’s playing golf because he usually returns my calls right away, and I called him within half an hour after I talked to Rick, so he hasn’t called me back yet,” Rutherford said. “Knowing how he feels about the coach and that he’s a sensitive guy, I would suspect that he’s feels like I do, that we’re disappointed. Knowing the maturity of Quinn, he will make the adjustment necessary, but they did have a very strong relationship, a very good one, and Quinn had a lot of respect for him, and [Tocchet] had a lot of respect for Quinn. So, there will definitely be an adjustment.”
Vancouver also dealt with internal issues this season, chief among them the locker room discord between Pettersson and forward J.T. Miller that led to the latter being traded to the New York Rangers on Jan. 31.
Tocchet said the rift got “uncomfortable” this season on April 21.
“It wore really hard on everybody, players, coaches, managers,” Rutherford said. “It was tough.”
Tocchet is the 10th NHL coach to leave his team this season, joining Jim Montgomery (Boston Bruins on Nov. 19), Drew Bannister (St. Louis Blues on Nov. 24), Luke Richardson (Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 5), Derek Lalonde (Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 26), John Tortorella (Philadelphia Flyers on March 27), Greg Cronin (Anaheim Ducks on April 19), Peter Laviolette (New York Rangers on April 19), Dan Bylsma (Seattle Kraken on April 21) and Mike Sullivan (Pittsburgh Penguins on April 28).
The Blues hired Montgomery to replace Bannister, and the Red Wings hired Todd McLellan to replace Lalonde. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks (Anders Sorensen), Bruins (Joe Sacco) and Flyers (Brad Shaw) each finished the season with an interim coach.
Sullivan was quickly linked to the Canucks because, like Tocchet, he worked with Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin during his time with the Penguins, who he led to two Stanley Cup championships (2016, 2017).
However, Rutherford quickly dismissed the possibility, saying he’d talked to Sullivan already.
“I know my good friend, Mike Sullivan, does not want to leave the East,” Rutherford said. “He’s a real good family man. I talked to him yesterday, not about coming here, but talked to him when he left Pittsburgh, and I know he wants to stay in the East.”
Rutherford also won the Stanley Cup as general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, when Laviolette was his coach.
“We had some success together. I like him as a person and a coach. Haven’t got that far yet, but certainly having someone you’re familiar with helps,” Rutherford said, adding that Allvin has not worked with Laviolette and deals with the coach on a more day-to-day basis. “But I wouldn’t want to take him off the list at this point. He’s had a lot of success in the League.”
Rutherford said Manny Malhotra, who is in his first season as coach of the Canucks’ American Hockey League affiliate in Abbotsford, is also a candidate. Prior to coaching Abbotsford, Malhotra spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also was a development coach with Vancouver in 2016-17 and an assistant coach from 2017-20.
“Based on the job he did (in Abbotsford), the experience he has in the League, he will certainly be on the short list,” Rutherford said.
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