Jon Cooper would save the day if Vancouver Canucks can get him as their coach
The Vancouver Canucks have egg on their face after Rick Tocchet decided to leave the team.
Tocchet reportedly turned a big contract, perhaps as much as $25 million on a five-year deal, per CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal. So the Canucks bucked up, but does that make the organization look any better?
Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin need to pivot and look for another coach. Rutherford spoke about Manny Malhotra and Peter Laviolette at Tuesday’s press conference, but others will surely draw consideration.
“We will start to do a shortlist, I would expect our phones will ring on a regular basis from people that want this job,” Rutherford said.
Does Jon Cooper have Rutherford’s number?
The Prince George native is widely seen as the best coach in the National Hockey League. It’s why Hockey Canada picked him to coach at the 4 Nations tournament.
Cooper has had much success in 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, winning two Stanley Cups. His teams have missed the playoffs just once in the last 12 seasons, making the Cup Final four times and reaching at least the Conference Final on six occasions.
It would require Cooper leaving Tampa, but if he does, he might just be the only coach who could actually make Canucks management look like a winner in this ordeal.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported that Cooper, who is in the last year of a contract, may leave Tampa. If the Lightning lose to the Florida Panthers in the first round, that’ll mark three straight first-round exits.
A fair amount of chatter about Jon Cooper, who signed a one-year extension a year ago to take him through 25-26. One year seems odd…
Plugged-in individual has told me not to be surprised if he leaves TB to take over the operation in Utah, owned by close friend Ryan Smyth.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) April 30, 2025
Brooks’ report doesn’t involve the Canucks, rather stating that Cooper could go to Utah. But while Utah has a bright future and an owner Cooper is tight with, the Canucks job is a unique opportunity.
As dysfunctional as the Canucks are, how many more opportunities will the 57-year-old get to coach in his home province? Cooper has also spent the entirety of his hockey career in non-traditional markets, so he may relish the spotlight of a Canadian market.
Given the Canucks bucked up for Tocchet, you’d have to expect they’d offer the sun, earth, and moon for Cooper as well. So money, at least, shouldn’t be an issue.
We’ll see if Cooper leaves and if he has interest in Vancouver. Because there are easier jobs out there.
But for better or worse, there isn’t another job like the Canucks one.