Coyotes President of Hockey Operations and General Manager John Chayka announced that coach Rick Tocchet is leaving the team temporarily to deal with a family illness, according to a team news release.
Assistant coach John MacLean will assume the Coyotes' head coaching responsibilities until Tocchet returns.
"Family comes first," Chayka said in the release. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Toc as he deals with this personal matter. It's important that he takes the time to be there with his family."
The Coyotes, winners in nine of their past 13 games, are among the better teams in the NHL the past month, going 10-3-2 since Feb.