The Vancouver Canucks finally rounded out their coaching staff for the 2025-26 season on Thursday (June 5). Kevin Dean, Scott Young and Brett McLean will be joining head coach Adam Foote behind the bench next season, replacing Yogi Švejkovský, Sergei Gonchar, and, of course, Foote. Švejkovský left the Canucks earlier on Thursday for the Philadelphia Flyers to reunite with Rick Tocchet, while Gonchar will not be returning to the part-time role he has held for the last two seasons.
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With that announcement, apart from Foote transitioning to head coach, the Canucks will have an entirely new set of voices running the show next season. Let’s meet them and find out a little more about their background and what their roles will be.
Kevin Dean
Dean started his coaching career in the American Hockey League (AHL) as an assistant with the Lowell Devils in 2006-07 after a 331-game career in the NHL. He held that position until 2009-10 when he was promoted to head coach of the ECHL’s Trenton Devils, where he only lasted for one season. He then moved back to the AHL as an assistant with the Providence Bruins, where he remained for five seasons until he took over as head coach in 2016-17. That season, he led the Bruins to a 43-23-10 record and made it to the third round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. His performance caught the eye of the NHL club, and he joined Bruce Cassidy’s staff in 2017-18 to run the defence.
Kevin Dean, seen here with the Chicago Blackhawks (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)
Between the 2017-18 and 2021-22 seasons, Dean helped develop the likes of young defencemen Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo, who are now big-time minute-munchers and two of the best two-way defenders in the game. In 2022-23, he moved to the Windy City and joined the Chicago Blackhawks under then-head coach Luke Richardson. He again ran the defence corps and worked with the underrated Alex Vlasic, Connor Murphy, and up-and-coming stars Kevin Korchinski and Artyom Levshunov.
Now with the Canucks, Dean has another crop of young defenders and prospects to work with. In addition to superstar Quinn Hughes, who doesn’t really need any more development, he will also have Tom Willander, Elias Pettersson, Victor Mancini, and Kirill Kudryavtsev as his next students. Foote confirmed on Thursday in his media availability that Dean will (of course) handle the defence for his third straight team, and run the penalty kill. Basically, he will be taking over the job Foote had under Tocchet.
“He’s got a ton of experience, and the way we spoke about the game, I felt like I’ve known him [for] a very long time. I knew within the second or third phone call that this was the guy for us. We’re very excited about him being down that side of the bench and letting him do his thing. I think he’ll do a great job with our d-core.”
Brett McLean
A hometown boy from Comox, BC, McLean brings with him a lot of experience as a player and coach in the AHL and NHL. Before he joined the coaching ranks, he played 385 games with the Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, and Colorado Avalanche, along with various stints in the AHL, IHL, and overseas in Sweden, Switzerland, and Austria. After his final season with Linz EHC in the Austrian league in 2016-17, he made his way back to North America and hung up his hockey jersey for a suit in Iowa. After three seasons as an assistant with the Minnesota Wild’s farm team, he was promoted to the NHL, where he became a part of then-head coach Dean Evason’s staff. He held that job for three seasons before returning to the AHL to take over as head coach in Iowa, where he remained until he was hired by the Canucks. In both seasons, he led the Wild to identical 27-37-8 records, missing the Calder Cup Playoffs both times.
Brett McLean, seen here with the Iowa Wild (Alyssa Hertel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
While McLean’s record as a head coach doesn’t paint a pretty picture, he does have experience as an assistant in the NHL, dealing with stars like Kirill Kaprizov and youngsters like Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi. He also comes highly recommended by Evason, as per Foote in his media availability.
“His presentations and game plans are big, and it’s something I always felt about Brett, and I love. To hear [Dean] Evason speak that highly of him, and then also, Anaheim was after him real hard. He’s a great addition, a little bit younger than maybe a couple guys that we were looking at, which I love. He’s got the energy, great practice plan, he can dig and show guys the things maybe a Yogi or the Sedins would show on a regular basis. So, we’re really excited to have him.”
With Švejkovský out, McLean will take over running the power play, which had its ups and downs last season. While it’s not always an indicator of success at the coaching level, McLean only had nine power-play goals over the course of his six-year career in the NHL, not exactly a specialist by any means. The Iowa Wild also struggled on the power play in the two seasons he was behind the bench, finishing 32nd in 2024-25 and 27th in 2023-24, although he might not have been entirely to blame for that, with other coaches likely being responsible for the man advantage.
Scott Young
Young may be a new face behind the bench, but not in the organization. He has been with the Canucks for the past three seasons as the director of player personnel. His only coaching experience comes from his time in the NCAA when he was an assistant with Boston University from 2015-17, and at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics with Team USA. What he does bring is a lot of experience from his time as a player in the NHL, where he was a member of the 1,000-game club and won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins (1991) and the Colorado Avalanche (1996). He also had 342 goals and 756 points; he was an eight-time 20-goal scorer and had a career-high 40 goals in 2000-01 with the St. Louis Blues.
Dallas Stars right wing Scott Young (48) in action against New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer (27) at the Continental Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY NETWORK
Foote said that Young will also help run the power play alongside McLean and take on special projects with player development coaches Jason Krog and Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Where McLean lacks in power play success (both as a player and coach), maybe Young will make up for it, along with a more extensive history of offence in the NHL. He finished his career with 108 power-play goals, hitting double-digits twice (Hartford Whalers in 1989-90 and the Blues in 2000-01). Foote called him the “glue guy”, similar to the role he held in his first season with the Canucks.
“I’m really excited to have his knowledge, and he’s there to support all of us in that coaching group. My first year with Rick, I wasn’t doing PK, but I was supporting [former assistant coach Mike Yeo] and I call it the “glue guy” just going around and making sure everyone’s just okay and sending the message out. I think he’s a big part of this, a big piece.”
Next Up, the 2025 NHL Draft
With this off their to-do list, the Canucks will turn their full attention to the 2025 NHL Draft, which gets started in less than a month on June 27 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. General manager Patrik Allvin and his scouts have already kicked off their meetings and will be prepared to select prospects in all seven rounds this year – barring a trade, of course.
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