Canucks: Five questions the new regime need to answer

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Figuring out who your coach is going to be is most prevalent, especially now with the Oilers and Maple Leafs both looking

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Published May 15, 2026 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 4 minute read

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canucks Ryan Johnson, Henrik and Daniel Sedin at Rogers Arena on Thursday. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNGArticle content

Feelings about the Vancouver Canucks have improved in the past few days.

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Thursday afternoon’s news conference to unveil Daniel and Henrik Sedin as the club’s co-presidents of hockey operations and Ryan Johnson as general manager drew raves from reporters and from the fan base on social media for its messaging.

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Bright and early Friday morning they were back selling their story to the masses, with Daniel appearing on Sportsnet 650’s Halford And Brough show and Johnson checking in with Global B.C.’s News Morning.

To steal a line from TSN’s Farhan Lalji’s on X Friday morning: “If nothing else, the Canucks have become eminently more likable.”

That’s true. But what’s next for the twins and their newest linemate Johnson in the bid to get this team headed in the right direction again? What moves do they need to make? Here are five questions for the Canucks’ new power trio.

Will Vancouver want to bring back Adam Foote as bench boss for a second season? Photo by David Zalubowski /APWHO’S THE HEAD COACH GOING TO BE?

With the Edmonton Oilers firing Kris Knoblauch and the Toronto Maple Leafs giving Craig Berube his walking papers, the clock is ticking on whether Vancouver wants to bring back Adam Foote as bench boss for a second season.

The fact that there is such a highly regarded in-house coaching candidate in Abbotsford Canucks bench boss Manny Malhotra means that ticking is getting louder and louder.

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Malhotra has obviously close connections to both the Sedins and Johnson, knows this market, and has worked with many of the team’s up-and-coming players in Abbotsford.

He is also already been linked to the Toronto job. He was a Maple Leafs assistant for four seasons before returning to the Canucks organization to lead Abbotsford in 2024-25.

His reputation is first rate. He’s a rising star in the coaching ranks. If he leaves, there will be a considerable public relations cleanup job to do.

Foote, meanwhile, was saddled with a mess running the bench this year, led by a clearly dysfunctional dressing room and the Quinn Hughes imbroglio.

The team readily seemed out of sorts in its own zone for extended stretches as well. Some of that falls on personnel, but some of it also has to be tied to systems.

Johnson was asked about Foote’s status twice on Thursday, and both times he talked about how he and the Sedins needed to review all aspects of the club. There’s not much to read into that.

“I think if you look at last year as a whole, it’s very tough to evaluate a head coach with all the adversity and injuries, the goaltending, everything that went on — there were so many variables that changed the course of the season,” Johnson said. “Obviously, there was some drama around the group, so to evaluate Adam just on that is unfair.”

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HOW WILL THEY ADD TO HOCKEY OPERATIONS?

You’d think that the team would need to bring in another assistant general manager to take over the role that Johnson had, including running Abbotsford. As they look to rebuild, you’d figure that they would want to add to the scouting department and analytics staff, too.

We’ll see. Johnson suggested increases in hockey operations were in play.

“Ownership has said, ‘You’ve got areas you want to improve on. We’ve got your back,’” he said. “I think we’ve got areas we can add to as opposed to subtract.”

The Canucks seemed hesitant to trade Filip Hronek. Photo by George Walker IV /APWHAT WILL THEIR REBUILD PLAYBOOK INCLUDE?

Prices were high for defencemen at last year’s trade deadline — the Calgary Flames added three second-round picks and two players from the Utah Mammoth for MacKenzie Weegar — but the Canucks seemed hesitant to trade Filip Hronek.

Hronek has a no-movement clause, so you would have to get him to agree to a deal. A 28-year-old right-shot rearguard with his skills would bring back a substantial return.

IS THIS CANUCKS GROUP WILLING TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS?

Johnson was asked about adding bad contracts via trade to gain extra draft picks. That’s happening less and less with the salary cap going up, but it’s still in play. There’s the idea, too, that they could bring in veteran free agents who would be attractive to playoff-hungry teams at the deadline.

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Johnson said at one point he didn’t think the team would have to spend to the cap, but walked it back later.

“We’re open to anything and everything, and where we sit with the space that we believe that we will have to take on situations that give us draft capital,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. We know that’s how we want to grow, and that’s something that we’re not going to be afraid to do.”

Connor Ingram and Evan Bouchard of the Edmonton Oilers track the puck against Elias Pettersson, who has struggled this past season. Photo by Leila Devlin /Getty ImagesCAN THEY HELP ELIAS PETTERSSON FIND HIS FORM?

Pettersson totalled 30 goals and 96 points the past two seasons combined. He had 34 goals and 89 points in 2023-24. If the 27-year-old centre can bring back that level of game, the Canucks’ rebuild automatically hits a higher gear.

Interestingly, the messaging from Daniel Sedin was similar to what other Canuck brass have been saying: Pettersson needs a strong off-season.

“With Elias, we’ve been through this as players,” Daniel said. “You’re going to have some really good seasons, you’re going to have some tough seasons. We’ve found that after a long career, looking back, our best seasons we had, we were well-prepared. That is everything you can control. I think that’s the one message to him: Preparation.”

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CAN THEY HELP GET THE PRACTICE FACILITY ACROSS THE FINISH LINE?

You can argue that this story is overplayed. You can also argue that the Canucks being the last team in the NHL without at least a plan for a practice rink is an unnecessary bad look on the franchise. Moving things forward at Britannia would show progress.

Henrik said: “It’s very close to having a deal done. We’re super excited to see it happening. I think it’s going to help the community, big time. We’re getting there.”

@SteveEwen

SEwen@postmedia.com

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Canucks: Five questions the new regime need to answer

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