Cammi Granato named Canucks assistant GM, second woman hired for role

Cammi Granato was named assistant general manager of the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

The 50-year-old is the second woman hired as an assistant GM by the Canucks in the past month after Emilie Castonguay joined them Jan. 24.
"I am honored to join the Vancouver Canucks and the hockey operations leadership group that (president of hockey operations) Jim Rutherford and his team have assembled," Granato said. "It's a dream to have an opportunity like this in the city that I call home, and with an exciting young team with championship aspirations.
"Jim and I had some great conversations. He had a lot of wonderful things to say about what his vision is, he's a great person, so it was really exciting to hear about the opportunity. I didn't sleep a lot this week after a lot of nights thinking about taking the job and how it would all work."
Granato became the first woman pro scout in the NHL when she was hired by the Seattle Kraken on Sept. 25, 2019. Women scouts in the NHL now include Blake Bolden (Los Angeles Kings), Meghan Hunter (Chicago Blackhawks), Brigette Lacquette (Blackhawks) and Krissy Wendell-Pohl (Pittsburgh Penguins).
"What a time in sports right now, seeing all sorts of ceilings shattered by women," Granato told the Kraken website at the time of her hiring. "If I can inspire someone to become a scout or work in an NHL front office, that's amazing."

Granato, a forward, was captain of the United States women's hockey team when it won the gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. The two-time Olympian played in every IIHF Women's World Championship from 1990 to 2005 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. Her brother, Tony Granato, played 13 NHL seasons, coached the Colorado Avalanche from 2002-04 and in 2008-09, and is coach of the men's hockey team at the University of Wisconsin. Her husband, Ray Ferraro, played 18 NHL seasons.
"I'm a team player, I grew up in a team environment from the start, and that was one of the first things Jim talked about was how collaborative we'll all be," Granato said. "All voices will be heard on leadership, hockey ops, things that come up, and I really love that idea that we can work together, on a flat level together, and share all of our ideas. That's really exciting and I think a super healthy way to run a team."
Granato and Castonguay join the Canucks front office after Rutherford was hired Dec. 9, three days after Jim Benning was fired as general manager. Patrik Allvin was named general manager Jan. 27.
"Cammi is a tremendous leader and has earned the respect of the hockey world," Rutherford said. "She has a great mind for the game and experience and influence at all levels. In her role, Cammi will oversee our player development department and our amateur and pro scouting department. Cammi's input will also be included in all areas of hockey operations as we leverage the diverse opinions and experience of our new leadership group to build a winning team."
Prior to becoming an agent, Castonguay, who was named one of the 25 most powerful women in hockey by Sportsnet in 2020, played four seasons of NCAA Division I ice hockey as a forward at Niagara University, where she won a National Scholar Athlete award.
"It's a really big day to have two women in management on one team," Granato said. "It just goes to show Jim's vision to sort of diversify, get different voices, get different people's experience and draw them together. It's something to celebrate, looking at two women on a management team, it really is. On the other hand, maybe this conversation will change in 10 years it won't be a big deal, or in five years it won't be a big deal when other teams do the same and follow suit."
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report