"Manny and his group will be focusing on structure and the compete and how we prepare," Johnson said. "My focus is how we practice, how we prepare, our professionalism."
As much as their play on the ice, those elements eroded as Vancouver went from winning the Pacific Division and making it to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023-24, to finishing 14 points behind the 31st place Chicago Blackhawks and 32 points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card in the Western Conference last season.
In the two seasons in between, the Canucks traded top center J.T. Miller amid a rift with forward Elias Pettersson, saw Jack Adams Award-winning coach Rick Tocchet leave for the Philadelphia Flyers and traded the best defenseman in team history, Quinn Hughes, to the Minnesota Wild after it became clear he had no intention of staying beyond his current contract, which expires after this season.
Which is why the focus of the new regime is how players act as much as how they perform.
Mentorship and leadership were a big part of why the Canucks signed veteran defensemen Jamie Oleksiak and Luke Schenn on July 1, two days after acquiring high-character 34-year-old forward Brendan Gallagher in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens.
"You hear me talk a lot about professionalism and quality of teammate -- is there anybody that checks the boxes more than this guy?" Johnson said of Gallagher following the trade.
Gallagher grew up in Vancouver and played four seasons with Vancouver of the Western Hockey League. Schenn makes his offseason home in Kelowna, British Columbia, about 250 miles northeast of Vancouver, and has played for the Canucks on two other occasions, most recently in 2022-23. Oleksiak spent the past five seasons playing down the highway with the rival Seattle Kraken.
Most importantly, according to Johnson, all three wanted to be Canucks.
"They were pining to come here," he said. "It wasn't, 'I got a job,' it was, 'I want to -- we want to -- be a part of getting this organization back to where it deserves to be.'"
That means setting the right examples while Vancouver continues to add young players as part of a rebuild that started in earnest with the Hughes trade Dec. 12.
"I hope there's some young players I can help out, help expedite their development in certain areas of what being a pro is all about," Gallagher said. "One of the most important things we did (in Montreal) that sometimes gets overlooked, obviously you add good players, but in terms of culture, we created a really good culture and that comes from your darkest days and having guys that want to be around and are committed to the process. Any organization, whether sport or anything, is nothing without culture, and first and foremost that will be the focus, and I think that's something I can help with."
That's not to say results won't matter at all.
The turnaround from finishing tied for 30th in goals (210), 32nd in goals against (314), and 32nd on the penalty kill (71.5 percent) won't be easy. Johnson, who values size, speed and "stiffness by committee," believes the Canucks can create more offense playing a more direct style under Malhotra, who coached their American Hockey League affiliate in Abbotsford to a Calder Cup championship in 2024.
The Canucks signed forward Paul Cotter, who checks those straight-line style boxes, as a free agent July 1, and will have a full season of 24-year-old top-six center Marco Rossi, who was acquired from Minnesota as part of the Hughes trade and finished the season with 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in his final 22 games.
"We'll play north, we'll play fast and we'll attack in the offensive zone," Johnson said. "That is how I want to play. That is how Manny coaches. There isn't a lot of east/west. It's not going to happen overnight but it's get up and go, attack and hit lanes."
Defensively, they hope a group that projects to include three defensemen age 23 and younger will benefit from increased clarity and creating simpler reads than what was required in the system used by coach Adam Foote before he was fired May 19 after one season.
"There will not be any gray area," Johnson said. "When you think, typically your feet stop moving. We don't want to think. We want to move. We want certainty where pucks are going. It will be very clear what your duties are, from puck retrievals to (defensive) zone responsibilities without the puck, and I think it will help our group as a whole and also be a big part of the maturation of our young defensemen."
Johnson said he will evaluate the group by its growth as players and people, with an eye on buy-in, maturity and being able to execute within the improved structure.
"That's how I will measure success; it won't necessarily be the scoreboard," he said. "It'll be in a lot of the fine details that we're going to be discussing with them right from Day 1."
The belief, of course, is eventually those details will turn the scoreboard in the Canucks' favor after 7 p.m. But for now, the focus starts with the players' habits at 7 a.m.
"If we start getting wishy-washy, start shifting the focus to what it shouldn't be," Johnson said, "we'll be right back at (square one)."
