This afternoon Rick Tocchet has released a statement after the Vancouver Canucks announced the team would be moving forward without him. Earlier today multiple reports confirmed that the <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/vancouver-canucks/rick-tocchet-will-not-be-returning-as-canucks-head-coach-per-elliotte-friedman' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Vancouver Canucks had decided to not bring back Rick Tocchet for next season.</a> Tocchet's future with the Canucks had been in doubt for several weeks as his contract was set to expire at the end of the season. Despite having a team option to keep Tocchet around the Canucks made the official decision to let him walk and sign with another organization according to Elliotte Friedman. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1917300474975486102'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> Shortly after the Canucks made the announcement confirming that Tocchet would not be retained Tocchet himself made a statement about his future within the game of hockey. <h3>Rick Tocchet Makes A Statement After Parting Ways With The Canucks</h3> In a post on X by Frank Seravalli former Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet passed along a statement announcing he felt the time was right to explore other opportunities within hockey. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli/status/1917311130189418879'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> Tocchet: Family is a prioritywith my contract lapsing,this becomes the opportune time.While I don't know where I'm headed, or exactly how this will play out for me over the near term,I feel like this is the right time for me to explore other opportunities in and around hockey. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/jshannonhl/status/1917312496156750006'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> Many around the league have blamed Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford for not creating stability in the organization. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/taj1944/status/1917303939248316508'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> With this decision now made, the search is on for the Canucks to find a new bench boss with several big names on the market including John Tortorella and Mike Sullivan. At the moment no reports are revealing who the favorite might be to take over for the Canucks but one would imagine stars like Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes might have a say in who the Canucks ultimately hire. As more information is provided on the Canucks head coach search we will pass along the latest news and reports.