Money was never going to be the issue in negotiations between the Vancouver Canucks and head coach Rick Tocchet, who left the organization by his own accord Tuesday.
According to multiple reports, the Canucks actually made Tocchet a behemoth contract offer that would have exalted him above some of the NHL's most elite coaches, both in terms of contract length and salary.
Tocchet was reportedly offered a five-year, $25 million contract to stay with the Canucks beyond 2025, and the 61-year-old still turned down the alleged offer. That is no small chunk of change, especially for a coach.
You can say a lot of things about the Canucks, but you can't doubt that they tried to go above and beyond to keep Tocchet in Vancouver, even with the reported practice rink debacle and the burgeoning Quinn Hughes situation.
In fact, these reasons might make the Canucks an unattractive landing spot for many other coaches around the league, and not just Tocchet.
The reported contract offer, via The Canuck Way alum Tyson Cole and "Donnie and Dhali" co-hosts Rick Dhaliwal and Don Taylor, sheds light on some important missing context regarding the futures of both the Canucks and of Tocchet himself.
Right now, it seems as though the Canucks are fighting a losing battle, and that's OK. It just comes with consequences in a results-based business like this one.
Had Tocchet accepted the Canucks' offer, he would have become the second-highest-paid active coach in the NHL, trailing only Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning.