Canucks' Jim Rutherford breaks his silence on Rick Tocchet's future in Vancouver

Rick Tocchet's contract has technically come to an end. The head coach of the Vancouver Canucks does have a one-year option the team can exercise to keep him around, and they can extend him. Otherwise, he'd become a free agent.

Canucks' president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford knows this is a key decision for the future of the franchise. He and the team have to determine if Tocchet is the coach of the future and how to ensure he sticks around and for how long.

According to Rutherford, they've already made that decision on their end. He said in the end-of-season live press conference:

"As for his contract — we've gone through the negotiation process. I expect a decision from him sometime this week. We’ve come a long way from where Canucks coaches have historically been compensated — really, it’s a significant step forward.

"We’re hoping he accepts the deal and stays on. Maybe you can speak to the contract side of it."

The president confirmed that they've given Tocchet an offer to extend his stay in Vancouver. It's now up to the coach to either accept or counter and continue negotiating.

The Canucks seemed poised all year to extend or exercise the option to keep Tocchet around, even being reportedly annoyed at other NHL teams expressing interest with their vacancies. Now, they've officially made their opinion clear.

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Canucks star vouches for Rick Tocchet

The Vancouver Canucks might be building something, but it's going to take some continuity to get there in Quinn Hughes' eyes. That and perhaps a couple of offseason moves will have them in great shape.

Rick Tocchet got a vote of confidence (Imagn)

The NHL star said, via The Hockey News:

“If we add another player or two and have some guys within our group play better next year than they did this past season, I think we can be a really, really successful team."

With an offer on the table for Tocchet, the team may have completed one of the two steps. Hughes went on:

"We're very structured, we don't give up much, we have maybe the best goalie tandem in the league, and we have a great D-corps and others that are coming that will help us. The point is, if we get Rick back and add a piece or two, we can be very successful.”

Jim Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin have said they want Rick Tocchet for the long haul, so time will tell if he agrees.