Insider Suggests Potential Replacement for Rick Tocchet Behind the Vancouver Canucks' Bench
Photo credit: NBC Sports Philadelphia
An insider has suggested a potential replacement for Rick Tocchet behind the bench for the Vancouver Canucks as their search for a new head coach enters its second week.
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin and President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford have a lot of work to do this offseason, with their first task being a search for the 22nd head coach in franchise history after Rick Tocchet left the organization in late April.
In the 11 days since Tocchet's departure, a number of potential candidates have been mentioned including Peter Laviolette, Adam Foote, Manny Malhotra and even Marco Sturm, who reportedly interviewed with the team this week.
Insider suggests former Edmonton Oilers head coach could be fit behind Vancouver Canucks' bench
During an appearance on Sekeres and Price recently, NHL insider Jeff Marek discussed the team's search for a new head coach and mentioned that Jay Woodcroft, former bench boss of the Edmonton Oilers, could be a good fit.
"Listen, Jay Woodcroft is right there with them. Experience in a Canadian market, experience on a number of benches, has been a head coach, comes from a family of coaches. That's the one, now he has interviewed with Anaheim, I believe there is one other team, at least one other team that he has spoken to and there is interest around the NHL in Jay Woodcroft. Rutherford was saying that we don't want to drag this one, we don't want to lose any candidates." Marek said.
He added, "That's the one guy I keep coming back to for Vancouver, understands the Canadian market and listen, he can coach offense. I know you can look at me and say 'he had McDavid and Draisaitl, Marek, like of course he can coach offense'...the two best offensive players in the NHL, but if you look at all the players on Oilers team, that one full season, who all set personal bests. Like, he's a guy that can coach offense, can coach a power play, had a really good power play in Edmonton, probably got a raw deal because of the goaltending and he's sought after right now. If you're Rutherford, that's the guy I'm calling right out of the gate."
He added, "That's the one guy I keep coming back to for Vancouver, understands the Canadian market and listen, he can coach offense. I know you can look at me and say 'he had McDavid and Draisaitl, Marek, like of course he can coach offense'...the two best offensive players in the NHL, but if you look at all the players on Oilers team, that one full season, who all set personal bests. Like, he's a guy that can coach offense, can coach a power play, had a really good power play in Edmonton, probably got a raw deal because of the goaltending and he's sought after right now. If you're Rutherford, that's the guy I'm calling right out of the gate."
Woodcroft, 48, was last behind the bench at the 2024 IIHF World Championship as an assistant for Canada, helping them to a fourth place finish.
The Toronto native has plenty of experience as a coach in the National Hockey League, including seven seasons as an assistant with the San Jose Sharks, three as an assistant with Edmonton and parts of three as a the bench boss of the Oilers.
While Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin will likely be opening up their search to a wide range of candidates with varying levels of experience, there's no question that Jay Woodcroft should be near the top of their list.
| POLL | ||
MAI 10 | 1119 ANSWERS Insider Suggests Potential Replacement for Rick Tocchet Behind the Vancouver Canucks' Bench Do you think Jay Woodcroft would be a good fit as the next head coach of the Vancouver Canucks? | ||
| Yes | 283 | 25.3 % |
| No | 836 | 74.7 % |
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