The Jets have found their new head coach but it's not who we expected it to be!

On Thursday, reports came out, first from insider Kevin Weekes, that Rick Tocchet was the leading candidate for the vacant coaching job in Winnipeg. He revealed how hat the Jets have made an offer to Tocchet. Now, the ball is in the former NHLer’s court.

However, there is a conflicting report that makes fans wonder what the heck Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman means by it. On Friday during the 32 Thoughts podcast with Jeff Marek, Friedman addressed the rumour that Tocchet was the leading candidate in Winnipeg by saying: was told by a reliable source, “be careful with that one”.

There was also chatter that Tocchet was not ready to give up his job on television. He spent last season working as an analyst for the NHL on TNT after holding two previous head coaching positions in the NHL, including as bench boss for the Tampa Bay Lightning for two seasons between 2008-2010 and most recently with the Arizona Coyotes for four seasons from 2017 to 2021.

The Jets have been looking for a new head coach for months and accelerated their search when Barry Trotz informed the organization last week that he would not be signing in Winnipeg.

On Friday, the Jets made their pick and went with another man who had been interviewed for the job, but it's not Tocchet. According to TSN's Darren Dreger, Rick Bowness will be announced as the new head coach in Winnipeg. 

Dallas was in the Stanley Cup Final two summers ago with Bowness as their interim head coach before he signed a two-year contract that went through this season. Bowness was 89-62-26 with two playoff appearances in his nearly three seasons. He announced that he would not return behind the bench in Dallas as the Stars later hired Pete DeBoer as their new head coach.

Rumours hinted at Bowness possibly taking an assistant coaching job for the Montreal Canadiens, who recently lost Luke Richardson to the Chicago Blackhawks. However, Bowness remains head coach, this time in Winnipeg.