The NHL coaching carousel has been moving a little slowly this spring, but the dominoes are starting to fall. The New York Rangers hired Mike Sullivan, the Anaheim Ducks got Joel Quenneville, and now another big name is off the board.
According to multiple reports Wednesday, the Philadelphia Flyers are hiring Rick Tocchet as their new head coach. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli was first to report the move. (UPDATE: The Flyers officially announced the hiring of Tocchet later in the day.)
The Bruins were one of the teams linked to Tocchet last week, along with the Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Seattle Kraken. It’s unclear if the Bruins ever got to the point of making an offer to Tocchet, but it was believed for the last several days that the Flyers were making the most aggressive push to get a deal across the finish line.
Philly reporter Anthony SanFilippo reports that Tocchet’s contract with the Flyers is in the range of five years and $25 million total, which will make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league.
So, with Tocchet off the board, where do the Bruins turn next? Well, there’s some new information on that front as well. Earlier Wednesday, Seravalli said on “Morning Cuppa Hockey” that he believes Jay Woodcroft is a “leading candidate” in Boston and that “things have gone well for him there” during the interview process.
Woodcroft, 48, was head coach of the Edmonton Oilers for parts of three seasons from 2022-24. He took over as interim head coach in February 2022 and led the team to the Western Conference Finals that spring. In his one full season in charge in 2022-23, the Oilers went 50-23-9 (109 points) and won a round before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in the second round. Woodcroft was fired in November 2023 after Edmonton started the season 3-9-1.
Prior to that, Woodcroft was head coach of the AHL Bakersfield Condors for four years from 2018-22, compiling a record of 105-71-21 and winning the Pacific Division championship in 2021 (a season in which there was no Calder Cup final due to COVID). Woodcroft also has 10 years of experience as an NHL assistant coach – seven with the San Jose Sharks from 2008-15 and three with the Oilers from 2015-18. And he won a Stanley Cup as a video coach with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008.
Woodcroft has been out of work since getting fired by the Oilers, but told Daily Faceoff last month that he has spent the last year-plus traveling “all over the world” to observe and learn in an effort to make himself a better coach whenever he gets his next opportunity.
“I’ve had a 20-year career with three different organizations, and I’ve not had that opportunity before,” he said. “So, I’ve really tried to invest in being the best that I can be. Study ways to get better. Look at things like communication. Look at things like how to improve team culture. Look at things like how to get better player buy-in or engagement. And so this time, while it’s not what I’m wired to do, I’m wired to work. I’m a passionate hockey person who loves the game. It’s been a positive experience in the sense that I’ve used my time wisely here to prepare for my next opportunity.”
Woodcroft joins Marco Sturm as a reported Bruins candidate from outside the organization (we covered Sturm here last week). Sweeney confirmed publicly that internal candidates Joe Sacco and Jay Leach are in the running as well.
If Sweeney is still waiting to talk to candidates whose teams are still going in the playoffs, Dallas Stars assistant Misha Donskov and Washington Capitals assistant Mitch Love would be two names to keep an eye on.
Sweeney could also move quicker, though, if he decides that either Woodcroft or Sturm is his guy. There has been a belief that the coaching carousel could speed up once Tocchet found a home since several teams were waiting for his answer. And now he has given it.