Coyotes, Tocchet part ways after 4 seasons

Rick Tocchet won't coach the Arizona Coyotes next season, as he and the club agreed to part ways, general manager Bill Armstrong announced Sunday.

Tocchet's contract expires June 30. The Coyotes' season ended with a win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

Arizona went 125-131-34 during Tocchet's tenure. The team eliminated the Nashville Predators in the qualifying round of the 2019-20 playoffs before bowing out at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche in a five-game first-round series. It was the Coyotes' first postseason appearance since they made it to the Western Conference Final in 2012.

Tocchet previously served as the Tampa Bay Lightning's head coach for parts of two campaigns from 2008-10 before joining the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant for 2014-15. He won the Stanley Cup as a member of that squad's coaching staff in 2016 and 2017 prior to becoming the Coyotes' bench boss in 2017-18.

The former NHL forward also played parts of three seasons with the then-Phoenix Coyotes near the end of his 18-year career. Tocchet amassed 440 goals and 512 assists over 1,144 games with six different clubs.

Arizona named Armstrong GM in September. Former Coyotes GM John Chayka hired Tocchet in July 2017. Chayka terminated his contract with the team almost exactly three years later, after which the organization accused the former executive of quitting on the club.