TSN: The Vancouver Canucks want to extend head coach Rick Tocchet, who doesn’t have a contract beyond this season. He played for the Philadelphia Flyers for 11 seasons.
Pierre LeBrun doesn’t think any of that matters right now as a the Canucks are in the playoff hunt and Tocchet has said he wants to wait until after the season to deal with the contract stuff.
“Obviously, his Flyers roots will make him a hot name to be rumoured about with the Flyers’ coaching search. I think you can throw out other names as well.
The Flyers have not commenced a search, I can tell you. They’re going to wait until after the year, I think, to get more into it. But, Joel Quenneville was cleared to coach again in the NHL last July. Does he become part of it?
David Carle is a hot name after the last two World Juniors, right? University of Denver coach. So, I think you’re going to see a lot of names but the Flyers are in no hurry here. They want to take their time and have a thorough search.”
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Geno Reda wonders if there are coaches that have a year left on their contract, one’s who could be in trouble of losing their jobs, who could become Flyers candidates.
LeBrun also brings up two coaches who have the interim stage in Joe Sacco (Boston) and Anders Sorensen (Chicago). Both the Bruins and Blackhawks said that they’ll wait until after the season to make any final decision.
As for coaches with one year left, the list includes Greg Cronin in Anaheim, Lindy Ruff in Buffalo, Ryan Huska in Calgary, Peter DeBoer in Dallas, Kris Knoblauch in Edmonton, Peter Laviolette with the Rangers, and Jon Cooper in Tampa.
Cooper and DeBoer aren’t going anywhere. was told on Thursday that Sabres GM Kevyn Adams intends on bringing Ruff back.
“I think the other obvious name to touch on here, Gino, has to be Laviolette. The Rangers were a Stanley Cup pick from a lot of people back in September, Gino. They might miss the playoffs, and if they do, what does that mean for Laviolette?”
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TSN: Chris Johnston says that many will connect Rick Tocchet to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Canucks want to have contract extension talks but it doesn’t seem like Tocchet is sure what he wants to do.
“Other candidates – you might look around, though. Think about a Joel Quenneville – been on the sidelines for a long time, since last summer being cleared to work in the NHL again. Or, maybe even someone like David Carle, an up-and-comer, won a gold medal with team USA at the recent World Junior tournament – although he doesn’t have NHL experience, and I do believe that’s something the Flyers are going to prioritize here.”
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