Ahead of training camp, Head Coach Adam Foote, President Jim Rutherford, and General Manager Patrik Allvin met with the media to field questions before we dive headfirst into the 2025-26 season.
Rutherford began the press conference with an opening statement.
“Welcome to the start of the 25-26 season. We’re really looking forward to it, where I will say the obvious, that we’re happy that the book has been closed on last year. I feel very fortunate the way the coaching situation played itself out after Tocchet decided he was going to move on. Patrik and I [were] looking at different people to become the next head coach of the Canucks. Adam Foote did a terrific job in his interview. We already knew him. We knew what he was capable of doing,” said Rutherford.
The President of Hockey Operations later spoke about viewing Foote taking a similar path as Rod Brind’Amour, as Rutherford was the one who hired Brind’Amour after he retired.
“Adam is well prepared. He’s had a very good offseason. I don’t think our players could be more prepared for training camp and the start of this season with all the things that Adam, his coaching staff and the players have bought into,” said Rutherford. “We are excited that the guys have done what they need to do to have a good start, and now we’ll find out for real. That’s why we have camp. That’s why we play the games.”
Rutherford went on to discuss where he sees the team in their competitive cycle.
“I like a lot of things that are in place now, from the coaching staff to the players. We talked at the end of the [2024-25] season about getting a little more depth at center, and that I know that Patrik was on the phone almost on a daily basis, and either players weren’t available that he wanted, or the prices were sky-high, and it did not make sense to way overpay at this point in time for a centre,” said Rutherford.
“But with that being said, I think the centres we have are good as long as they stay healthy. If you look at our team today compared to where we were a year ago, a lot of things have improved, from our goaltending to our defence, and then we’ll see how the forwards play out. But with that being said, I like the group of guys we have, and for the most part, with the parity in the league, you have to have everything go right.”
Head Coach Adam Foote wants to use this camp to get his players right back into the feeling of playing important hockey games. He knows his players are in good shape, but wants to see some physicality at camp to get them ready to hit the floor running when the regular season begins.
“We’ll be running through with a condensed season with the Olympics, we’re going to have less practice time, so we’re going to use these practices to still work on our systems, running them through drills that they can still condition and get used to the physicality, but also put in play how we want to play in our structure,” said Foote.
One of the noteworthy quotes from Foote came when he was asked to give fans a sense of what ‘Adam Foote Hockey’ will be like.
“We want to be able to adapt against our opponents,” said Foote.
“I can’t sit here and say we’re going to be a rush team or a dump-and-chase team. We’re going to be a team that adapts to our opponents [and] make them feel uncomfortable.”
Foote added that there are going to be nights where his team is going to defend a bit longer, but there will also be nights where they will be bringing extra speed while leaning more offensively through the neutral zone.
His ultimate wish for his brand of hockey is for the team to play with consistency.
“We’re going to play as a team, and I will have the buy-in with this group to be able to adapt. I’ve been lucky to play on some good teams with Canada and Colorado over the years, playing with some great players. And what I learned is when those great players are ready to win, they adapt and play the shift that’s needed at that time.”
Foote later spoke about their offseason acquisition, Evander Kane.
“We’ve had great conversation. I love his grit. He’s hard to play against, we needed that, some of that sandpaper, you know,” said Foote. “And he’s [had] some great playoffs, as you know. But we’ll enjoy the way he plays and moving forward, his leadership in the hard games. It’s going to be fun with him.”
General Manager Patrik Allvin spoke highly of his organizational depth at the goaltending position.
“I truly believe that with the addition of [Aleksei] Medvedev here this summer, our goalie pipeline is probably the strongest one in the National Hockey League,” said Allvin.
He also spoke about the development and growth that occurred in his young players in Abbotsford as they went on to win the 2025 Calder Cup.
“We’re very excited with having that many young players that got a chance to win. I think part of development is winning and creating that belief,” said Allvin. “A lot of players expressed how hard it was after round two, where the body was hurting and beat up, and I remember, Henrik Sedin just told them that ‘it’s only round two,’ and they were able to overcome it and believe that this is the way you want to play. I expect them to come in here. I expect them to come in with a little bit with a pack mentality, to be strong, have a swagger and actually believe that they can grab a spot here.”
Canucks training camp gets going on Thursday in Penticton at the South Okanagan Event Centre. The on-ice portion of the drills will run through the morning and into the afternoon.
You can watch the full press conference on the Canucks’ YouTube channel.
