This has arguably been a season like no other in the 50-year history of the Vancouver Cancucks as a member of the NHL fraternity. It's almost unimaginable, the amount of turmoil and adversity this team has had to deal with so far in 2024-25.
Where do you begin? Dakota Joshua had surgery after being diagnosed with cancer and missed playing time, while Derek Forbort has to deal with the passing of his father and has also missed games because of injury issues.
Thatcher Demko was out longer than expected, due to a one-of-a-kind hockey injury, while the Canucks' first pairing of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek have both been absent for periods of time. Meanwhile, J.T. Miller took an extended leave of absence for personal reasons.
As it turned out, Miller's absence was connected to the ultimate example of everything the Canucks have been through this season, with reports that a long-simmering feud with Elias Pettersson had reached new levels of animosity. In fact, despite their attempts to claim the media had blown it all out of proportion, reports indicate the team is at least considering trading one of their star centres elsewhere.
Canucks success turns to turmoil
We can forgive people if they need to take a deep breath after reading all of that, because it's a lot to take in. Now compare this to last season, which couldn't have gone more smoothly, as the Canucks secured the third-most points in team history and won their first division title since 2012-13.
Thanks to that success, Rick Tocchet became the third coach in Canucks history to win the Jack Adams Award, and he was on top of the world. Now though, there is at least some uncertainty surrounding his future in Vancouver.
As per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required), Tocchet's contract expires at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, with the Canucks having a team option on him for next season. However, as LeBrun notes, his understanding is that the coach also has the ability to decide if he would sign up for that option year, meaning it's basically a mutual option.
Now LeBrun -- who is one of the top NHL insiders around -- does stress that he's not saying there's anything more to read into this as such. However, he does add that it's something to effectively keep an eye on, as if this turbulent season doesn't calm down, how will Tocchet view things in Vancouver?
The case for and against Rick Tocchet staying
On the one hand, why would the Canucks want to forgo the option year on someone who has the second-best winning percentage in team history? Yes he's only 160 games into his tenure in charge, but his .628 winning percent at the time of writing is right behind Alain Vigneault's .632 percent and well ahead of Marc Crawford and Pat Quinn, who are tied-third at .554 percent.
In addition, you can make the argument that Tocchet has done a tremendous job of keeping the Canucks competitive and in contention, when considering all the aforementioned chaos. As of Tuesday morning they are just one point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, helped immensely by a tremendous 12-5-4 record on the road.
On the other hand however, there is a case to be made that Tocchet's hard-nosed approach to coaching isn't sitting well with some of his players, and might conceivably by contributing to the issues. As much as this writer is all for the old-school mindset, a lot of the youngsters today need to be handled differently, i.e. more carefully.
For example, there was some speculation that another part of the reason Miller took his surprise leave of absence, was due to a fallout with his coach. Whether this was related to how how Tocchet handled -- or more to the point failed to handle -- the rift between Miller and Pettersson is unclear, but the optics don't look good when two of your best players are feuding to the point that the organisation is open to trading one of the them.
It's been mentioned before about how the quality of the Canucks roster is strong, evidenced by remaining in contention for the playoff despite all the issues and absences on the team. However, if they cannot come together and create a more serene setting as the season progresses, then this reflects poorly on the coach.
Of course, you can counter that this is unfair, because Tocchet has no control over injuries, and certainly not a family bereavement or cancer diagnosis. However, such is the level of scrutiny in the hockey-mad city of Vancouver, that he could end up being the scapegoat if things continue to be chaotic for the team.
Ultimately, it could well be a case where the Canucks decide it's best to move on from the 60-year-old, for the good of everyone involved. However, as LeBrun notes, it could also (or instead) be a situation where Tocchet has just had enough of all the drama in Vancouver, and doesn't want to stick around and continue being blamed for everything.