Intriguing candidate becomes immediate front-runner for Flyers head coaching job

On Thursday morning, John Tortorella was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Immediately, rumours emerged on who should take over the bench in Philly even though he has been replaced with Brad Shaw on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. Amongst the media speculation, one candidate has quickly been linked to the Flyers, though it gets complicated.

Vancouver Canucks current head coach Rick Tocchet has surfaced as the front-runner to get the vacant spot with his former team.

Tocchet is in the final year of his current deal in Vancouver, with the Canucks owning a club option for next season. He won the Jack Adams Award last season after the Canucks finished atop the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record.

Last week, Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin informed insider Pierre LeBrun how the team was hoping to sign the head coach long-term, but Tocchet has put off contract talks until after the season.

That’s where the twist comes in with the vacancy in Philly and Tocchet spending 11 seasons with the Flyers over two stints during his playing career. He won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 1992 after a trade with Phildelaphia, but returned to the organization during the 1999-2000 season.

As soon as Tortorella was let go earlier on Thursday, speculation has quickly tied Tocchet to the coaching job in Philly.

“Could Philly pull Rick Tocchet out of Vancouver?” Andy Strickland of FanDuel Sports Network asked on X.

“Good morning, Rick Tocchet,” ESPN Senior NHL Writer Greg Wyshynski wrote. 

“I have zero doubt that Rick Tocchet is atop the Flyers wish list,” Penguins writer Josh Yohe of The Athletic wrote on X. “Would be in the best interest of Penguins fans if GMJR (Canucks president Jim Rutherford) were to keep him in Vancouver for a while longer."

On top of all that, Tocchet has faced a challenging year in Vancouver, especially with the dressing room drama involving Elias Pettersson and former Canucks’ forward J.T. Miller, which led to a trade to the New York Rangers in January.

Tocchet might jump at the chance of returning to the Flyers now that Torts is out.