New Development Suggests the Top Candidate to Replace Head Coach Rick Tocchet

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With a decision on Rick Tocchet's future expected very soon, some head coaching options have emerged for the Vancouver Canucks to consider as his potential replacement.

Earlier this week, Vancouver Canucks management met with reporters for their season-ending media availability and one of the main talking points was the future of head coach Rick Tocchet.

Jim Rutherford, the team's President of Hockey Operations, shared that the team won't be exercising the 2025-26 option in Tocchet's contract and that they've offered him a contract that would make him the highest paid coach in franchise history.

Potential head coaching options revealed if Rick Tocchet leaves

If Rick Tocchet ends up leaving the Vancouver Canucks this spring, which is a very good possibility, Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford are going to be even more busy as they'll need to add a coaching search to their 'to-do list' along with improvements to the club's roster.

There certainly won't be a shortage of strong candidates for the Vancouver Canucks to consider as their next head coach, with Trevor Beggs of Daily Hive sharing four names that could be potential replacements for Rick Tocchet.

Among the names mentioned by Beggs are Abbotsford Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra, long-time NHL bench boss Gerard Gallant as well as two-time World Junior gold medalist and two-time Frozen Four champion David Carle.

"There's arguably no better coaching prospect outside of the NHL than David Carle." Beggs said.

David Carle would be a solid options for the Vancouver Canucks, however, the 35-year-old has said that he's only willing to leave his job as head coach of the University of Denver for a special opportunity in the NHL and among the teams that are reportedly interested in his services is the Chicago Blackhawks.

Gerard Gallant is another name that would be a good fit behind the bench in Vancouver with parts of 11 seasons as an NHL head coach under his belt, including a 2018 run to the Stanley Cup Final with the first-year Vegas Golden Knights.

It's going to be an interesting summer in Vancouver to say the least between what'll happen behind the bench and what Patrik Allvin does to improve this roster for, hopefully, a Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance next April.