Vancouver Canucks General Manager Ryan Johnson met with the media on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the organization’s changes to the coaching staff.
Johnson announced that Head Coach Adam Foote and Assistant Coaches Scott Young, Kevin Dean and Brett McLean have been relieved of their duties.
“First off, I want to thank Adam, Kevin, Brett and Scott for the job they did, [and] the commitment they had through a very tough and tumultuous year of so many variables. So, this wasn’t an easy day. They’re great coaches, but great people, and I want to thank them personally. As I said in the press conference, it’s less about change in the past and more about implementing something for the future,” said Johnson.
He said there is no timeline for when a new head coach will be hired, but that the qualities he is looking for include consistency, patience, and the ability to connect with a young group.
The GM then said it’s hard to ignore the internal candidate Manny Malhotra. Malhotra has been the Head Coach of the Abbotsford Canucks for the past two seasons, and Johnson praised him for his ability to develop young players and build strong relationships with them.
Johnson then spoke about the next steps for the front office and how the vacancies for an AHL General Manager and a director of development are important roles for the organization. These were the roles that Johnson filled before the promotion to GM.
“There’s so much time and commitment that goes into managing an AHL team that I do find it, with our proximity, tough to wear a lot of hats in that I think the AHL GM is such a conduit to the big team, you’ve got everyday decisions, call-ups, people going down. I’m in the process, but I would like to find somebody that’s just specifically focused on the development based off essentially what we’re trying to do, [which] is draft and develop. I think that role over the next two, three, four years is going to be massive in determining the fate of the organization,” he said.
He also gave fans an update on what the organization is looking to change by the time training camp begins in September.
“The biggest change will be what is implemented and what the focus and what the energy is, what every day is going to look like, and what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Johnson.
“I think at times when organizations get caught in the middle, and nobody knows exactly day to day what we are actually trying to accomplish here, you can lose your way. I think come September, from our players to our staff to management, I think there’s going to be very clear alignment of what we’re trying to accomplish each day that we walk in there, and I think that will be refreshing for a lot of people, our fans included.”
Johnson finished the media availability by giving his Director of Amateur Scouting, Todd Harvey, a vote of confidence and discussing how Harvey has evolved as a leader over the years. He likes how the amateur scouting department challenges each other and how they have made some good late-round picks, like Elias Pettersson (D), Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Ty Mueller.
The Canucks hold the 3rd and 24th overall picks in the upcoming first round of the NHL Draft. They also have two second-round picks, one pick in each of the third, fourth and fifth rounds, and three picks in the sixth round.
