The Pittsburgh Penguins announced the firing of head coach Mike Sullivan Monday, creating another potential landing spot for Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet.
Canucks fans may recall that Tocchet, 61, once won two Stanley Cups as Sullivan's assistant with the Penguins and also played there for parts of three seasons during his 18-year NHL playing career.
In fact, Tocchet enjoyed the most prolific season of his professional playing career in Pittsburgh, scoring 109 points for the Penguins in the 1992-93 season, finishing second only to Kevin Stevens and Mario Lemieux in team scoring. The Canucks coach notably out-scored legends like Ron Francis, Jaromir Jagr, Larry Murphy, and Joe Mullen that year, too.
Now that Sullivan is out of the picture in a place near and dear to Tocchet, the Canucks' chances of keeping the veteran coach have further decreased.
Potential suitors for Tocchet now include the Penguins, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks, and maybe even the Chicago Blackhawks. Tocchet's desire to win a championship may affect this list some, but it is no secret that Tocchet is heavily linked to the Flyers.
Perhaps the Canucks could let Tocchet go and decide his own fit while dipping into the coaching market themselves. Sullivan, if he chooses not to stay in the United States, would be a good fit. The longtime Penguins coach may, however, be more inclined to attempt to lead his hometown Bruins back to glory.
There are many, many factors to this, as NHL insider Elliotte Friedman pointed out, but this coaching carousel just got that much more crowded with Sullivan's bombshell ousting from Pittsburgh.