You can add Rick Tocchet’s name to the rumor mill when it comes to who the next head coach of the Boston Bruins will be. Tocchet played 47 games for the Bruins from 1996 to 1997 and scored 32 goals for them. Sources say that Tocchet could be a top target for the Bruins to take over the helm for a team that missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The 61-year-old Tocchet is one of the most intriguing remaining coaching candidates after the hirings of Mike Sullivan in New York and Joel Quenneville in Anaheim, and many teams are interested in hiring the former Vancouver Canucks head man for next season. Tocchet’s work with the Canucks caught attention around the league.
Tocchet has been rumored to be a top candidate with the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Tocchet played for both of those teams during his playing career that spanned 1,144 games. The 18-year veteran has also been a head coach of the Arizona Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning and owns a 286-265-87 coaching record and won the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year after the 2023-24 season.
“Everyone is going to reach out to him,” said CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal on Donnie & Dhali. “Keep an eye on the Bruins, I will be surprised if the Bruins don’t contact Tocchet.” This sentiment has been confirmed among many other sources around the National Hockey League.
“I think they [Bruins] should be more about the long-term, but if they really think they can turn this around fast, Tocchet is their guy, and I think he’d be interested,” said an anonymous NHL source given by RG’s Jimmy Murphy.
The Bruins are coming off a disappointing season in which the team traded several veterans, including captain Brad Marchand. Boston still has David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and goaltender Jeremy Swayman as they try to form the next winning core in Boston. The team also has about $28 million in salary cap space this offseason.
The Boston Bruins also own the seventh overall pick in this summer’s NHL Draft. Boston will look to use that pick to add on to a prospect pool that many in hockey believe to be near or at the bottom of the league. Tocchet would be someone to hire to potentially make the postseason again next season. If the Bruins are looking to rebuild without a focus on making the playoffs, they might want to seek out an assistant coach on a current playoff team.
Season 4. Episode 39. The Off Season – Bruins Benders Podcast
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