The Vancouver Canucks have dismissed popular head coach Bruce Boudreau and assistant coach Trent Cull. Rick Tocchet has been named the new head coach, Adam Foote a new assistant coach, and Sergei Gonchar the new defensive development coach.

In what has been the league's worst-kept secret and worst-handled situation with a head coach in quite some time, Boudreau was finally let go by the Canucks after just over a season. Although the Canucks were 50-40-13 during his tenure, Boudreau was clearly not the preferred head coach of Canucks president Jim Rutherford or GM Patrik Allvin. That coach is Tocchet, who takes over following stints as head coach in Tampa Bay and Arizona that bookended two Stanley Cups as an assistant with Pittsburgh.

Boudreau usually let the horses run, which resulted in improvements among top scorers such as Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Bo Horvat, and Quinn Hughes under his tenure. Tocchet is believed to be more defensive-minded, which might limit the production with those scorers as he attempts to shift toward a more defensive-minded approach. Roster construction from a defensive standpoint is a major issue, as the Canucks have allowed nearly four goals per game this season (only Anaheim has allowed more goals per game). As well, the Canucks hold a league-worst 65.9% penalty killing success rate, nearly 5% worse than the next-worst penalty-killing team. Bringing in two former experienced NHL defensemen in Foote and Gonchar might be a step toward improving these disastrous numbers.

Tocchet was nicknamed "The Phil Whisperer" for his ability to motivate Phil Kessel during their time with the Penguins. That ability to work with more difficult players might help with Miller, who tends to get visibly angry at himself and other teammates when things don't go well. Tocchet might appreciate Miller's passion for the game while working on more positive ways to channel his energy.   

Tocchet is familiar with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland from his days coaching the Coyotes. It's worth mentioning that OEL's defensive play started to decline while under Tocchet, although OEL also hasn't played particularly well this season under Boudreau either. Canucks management could already be researching ways to get out of OEL's massive contract, which will be a monumental task because he has four more years after this one with a cap hit of $8.25 million.

Tocchet will be the third coach for the Canucks over the past two seasons. Although the Canucks have a relatively easy schedule down the stretch and could also win at a higher rate than they are now because of the new coach bump, don't expect massive improvements from any skaters on this team fantasy-wise. Expect Tocchet to be given a longer rope than Boudreau to establish his identity on this team, so the remaining games should give us a better idea of what to expect next season.

Players this helps, in order:

Thatcher Demko

Spencer Martin / Collin Delia

Miller

Players this hurts, in order:

Ekman-Larsson

Any other notable Canucks scorers except Horvat, who will likely be traded