The Vancouver Canucks could be benefactors from the New York Rangers firing of Peter Laviolette. With Rick Tocchet walking away from a broken locker room, the Canucks could look into Laviolette as a candidate.
In a random turn of events, Rick Tocchet has decided to walk away from a terrible situation in Vancouver.
That leaves another coaching spot open in the NHL, and Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin will have to consider multiple candidates for the role, including Peter Laviolette, who could be a shoo-in for the position.
Laviolette, while not the ideal candidate at the moment could help the Canucks turn it around in the West.
Laviolette won his first and only Stanley Cup, coaching the Carolina Hurricanes to the Championship in 2006.
He's built structured teams that have maximized offensive weapons, like Alex Ovechkin with the Capitals and Roman Josi with the Predators.
While he has not had his great run in New York, he took the team to a Presidents' Trophy in 2023-2024 and the Eastern Conference Finals.
Laviolette could construct a new offense and defense based around the Canucks core of Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, and Thatcher Demko.
But in order for this to happen, GM Patrik Allvin and President Jim Rutherford may have to look at the other half of his record with the Rangers and brush it off as a down year.
Laviolette, in his last season with the Rangers, delivered a 5th place team, with a record of 39-36-7.
Now he can look elsewhere, in what could also be considered a toxic situation in Vancouver.
