The Bruins are in the mix for Rick Tocchet.
A legendary tough guy in his playing career, Tocchet stepped away from coaching Vancouver this offseason and has become one of the hottest names on the market. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Tocchet is nearing a decision and the Bruins are still involved.
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“Strong indications this week Rick Tocchet will soon land another NHL head coaching job,” Dreger posted on X. “Philly, Boston, Seattle believed to be among the top contenders. The Flyers want to be aggressive. Good fit.”
Tocchet spent 11 years of his playing career in Philadelphia and parts of two seasons with the Bruins.
Since making the leap to coaching, the 61-year-old has amassed a 286-265-87 record between Tampa Bay, Phoenix and Vancouver. In 2023-24, Tocchet won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL Coach of the Year with the Canucks, but was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
After the NHL Draft lottery last week, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Boston’s coaching search was “ongoing” and their list of candidates had been whittled down. Sweeney was pleased with the feedback he’d gotten on the opening, but didn’t name any external candidates.
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“This is an exciting opportunity for coaches to be interviewing for this position, and that’s the indication that they would be very excited about maybe being the head coach of the Boston Bruins,” Sweeney said. “That’s the first and foremost thing that’s come across, happy to be part of the selection of being interviewed, and more fortunate they are.
“I think they’re starting to gather information on the roster and the players that we have in place. And, first question people ask in terms of how healthy we’re going to be and the return to that full health so that players, that they expect impact (from) will be back to do what they do. But the overriding excitement as we are to turn a page and come to the decision that we’ve got the right guy in place.”
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