continue to dismantle their NHL roster<\/a>, too.<\/p>\nAnd most importantly, they\u2019ll have made at least 10 picks at the 2026 NHL Draft \u2014 including a critical selection at No. 3, which is the most valuable draft pick the Canucks have owned in over 25 years.<\/p>\n
For the first time in a generation, the Canucks have entered an intentional rebuilding stage. Now this nascent, overdue rebuild is going to reach a critical phase over the next few weeks, and it\u2019ll be Johnson at the controls guiding what comes next.<\/p>\n
With this in mind, we caught up with Johnson and asked him some big-picture rebuilding questions to try to get a sense of what to expect from the Canucks this summer. His message: above all else, expect the club to be extremely patient in determining where the next step falls.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve hired Daren Hermiston as a director to this point, and the widespread expectation in the market is that you\u2019ll be further fleshing out your staff \u2014 and presumably Manny Malhotra\u2019s coaching staff \u2014 in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n
Are you close to hiring an assistant general manager, and what can you tell us generally about the state of that process?<\/p>\n
Yes, I\u2019m getting there. I\u2019ve got some good names and some good people.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a priority, Abbotsford has to be shaped, and I only have so many hours in the day while I\u2019m focused on working on our team in Vancouver. I\u2019m working to get it in place as soon as I can, but I\u2019m trying not to rush anything, because I also want to make sure I\u2019m doing it the right way.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important, though, there\u2019s a lot to figure out with players and personnel down there. It\u2019s all stuff that I\u2019m trying to work through daily.<\/p>\n
What sort of profile of an executive do you think you need to identify as an assistant general manager to round out your staff?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve always been an advocate for not just going with the person who\u2019s done it before. I\u2019m not against trying to find the next really good person in the game, and I\u2019ve given that a lot of thought.<\/p>\n
At the same time, there\u2019s value in the experience aspect. Someone who knows the American League, knows the importance of development at that level and knows how to accomplish that. So that\u2019s what I\u2019m keeping in mind.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, any of our hires will have to have a certain skill set and bring value. The top priority for me is that they\u2019re good people. They have to check that box first.<\/p>\n
You were just in Buffalo at the NHL Draft Combine, and it\u2019s obviously been well-reported that you had several live viewings personally of Caleb Malhotra during his OHL season and in the playoffs. What stands out to you about him as a player?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s so much that he brings to the table. One of the most enticing aspects for me, and I think you can say the same thing about Chase Reid, is the level of improvement from viewing to viewing, or from month to month. It\u2019s the way the momentum picked up in his game. Every time you saw the player, you could see that massive step forward.<\/p>\n
So you have to start projecting. \u2018OK, what is this going to look like in two years, or four years, or in six years?\u2019 It\u2019s a pretty scary thought when you consider all of that, with all of the components of his game that are there already.<\/p>\n
It was impressive to see that, and to see how even on a really good team surrounded by first-round picks, the game still ran through him. When you\u2019ve got teammates of that quality and experience, and they\u2019re deferring to the 17-year-old, that\u2019s pretty impressive.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a saying, I think it\u2019s Kevin Cheveldayoff\u2019s, and the idea is that in amateur scouting, \u201cA general manager sees just enough games to be dangerous to the process.\u201d You\u2019ve personally been running amateur meetings even before being officially hired as GM. Do you have to be careful in managing your own involvement?<\/p>\n
Absolutely. There\u2019s a level of shaping guidance and setting the foundation of what the organization values and what you want to see in your team moving forward, but you can\u2019t influence a staff that has 50 viewings of a player by outlandishly forming an opinion based on just a couple of views.<\/p>\n
The important thing is to bring an aspect of conversation. You try to make sure that everything is talked about and that every stone is turned over.<\/p>\n
You give your thoughts about the direction you want to see the team go in, and how you\u2019d like to see it, but you have a director of amateur scouting for a reason. I trust him to make the best decisions based on the information they\u2019ve gathered and the information that I\u2019ve given them.<\/p>\n
Obviously, every interview you or anybody else does, the questions circle back to Elias Pettersson. I\u2019m more curious to ask the general question about having seven players in their late 20s or early 30s, all locked up long-term with various forms of no-move or no-trade protection.<\/p>\n
Given the patient timeline that you\u2019ve discussed and the ages of these players, there\u2019s a high probability that they\u2019ll age out as you assemble a new, younger core. Is continuing to shed commitments and get younger a priority for you this summer?<\/p>\n
Those are things we have to consider. I\u2019ve only been in this position for a short period of time, but I think I\u2019ve been very clear about the direction that we will go.<\/p>\n
That said, I don\u2019t want to make any knee-jerk reactions. I have to consider everything, consistent with the vision and the plan that we\u2019ve laid out. And that\u2019s not just about the commitments that we\u2019ve made to older players.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like I\u2019ve said since day one: there\u2019s nothing I won\u2019t take into account if it\u2019s consistent with the vision and the build, and the way we want this team to play and function. And the environment that we will be creating and making a commitment to as well.<\/p>\n
Shedding salaries is one component of this process, but I\u2019m considering all aspects as we move forward here.<\/p>\n
The CBA expires on Sept. 15, and various contract structure rules will be tightened thereafter, somewhat limiting your ability to front-load contracts beyond this summer. Will you consider that deadline, and have you worked through potentially engaging in extension talks with some of your younger, second-contract players \u2014 Liam \u00d6hgren and Zeev Buium would be who I name check \u2014 this summer, or before Sept. 15?<\/p>\n
I had the chance to sit down with agents in Buffalo and begin to just talk through our players. For now, I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s something that I\u2019ve told them I\u2019m going to look to get done right now.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m in the process of having conversations with some of these players, and it\u2019s been great. I\u2019m trying to help them understand what we\u2019re going to help them do.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ve talked to the players and some of the agents, but we haven\u2019t gone in-depth on the subject of extensions just yet. I\u2019m still more focused on the more immediate future, and focused on the draft and free agency, and the items that are quickly approaching. That\u2019s where my attention needs to be right now.<\/p>\n
Understanding that you\u2019re not able to specifically discuss players on other teams, there\u2019s a lot of local interest in Brendan Gallagher. The player has specifically name-checked the city, and his agent \u2014 who has permission to facilitate a trade \u2014 has noted that there appears to be some level of interest.<\/p>\n
Now that I\u2019ve set you up, to ask a general question, how would you view the strategic notion of acquiring veteran players with inefficient contracts for their leadership ability, or potentially as reclamation project-type bets this summer?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an option that we have to consider, but we have to take into account budgeting and where we sit with contracts and with the players on our current roster. We can\u2019t just go out and add any number of players without understanding that we first have to subtract.<\/p>\n
This is all stuff we\u2019re working through as a group and talking through. These are all things that will go into the puzzle.<\/p>\n
How quickly can we do some of these things with where we sit right now? I\u2019d say that\u2019s the bulk of what I\u2019m trying to sort through.<\/p>\n
With the cap going up, some of the devices that rebuilding teams like Montreal or even Arizona (before they moved to Utah) utilized to \u201cweaponize cap space\u201d to gain additional draft picks during the flat cap era appear to be closed to your team as you enter this rebuilding phase.<\/p>\n
How do you think through the different nature of the bets you\u2019ll need to place to gain the sorts of futures and draft picks required to fuel a rebuild in this environment?<\/p>\n
The landscape has certainly changed. It\u2019s not the way it used to be, where 10 teams needed support from throughout the league in regards to shedding salary just to ice a competitive roster.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s no longer an issue for teams, and so along the journey here, you have to be aware of the assets that you do have and how they\u2019ll fit in when you start to step out of this phase that we\u2019re in and start to see the light of improvement. And, of course, seeing not just that you\u2019re getting better, but that the improvement will be sustainable with the roster that you have and the young players and assets that you have in your organization.<\/p>\n
Things will be different; the landscape has changed. The key is that you\u2019ve got to be creative and aware of what you do have and how those pieces will fit in when you get to where you want to be.<\/p>\n
What role does free agency play in your rebuilding project this summer?<\/p>\n
It depends on what we\u2019re able to do. Moving forward, as things play out over the next two or three weeks, that\u2019ll determine how active we are and where we will be active on July 1.<\/p>\n
Are we going to be a major spending team? Or are we going to be trying to do different things?<\/p>\n
What we look to do on July 1 will be determined by what the full picture looks like. At this point, it\u2019s difficult to say what free agency will look like for us, based on what could possibly change between now and then.<\/p>\n
If the question is, with what we\u2019re trying to do and where we want to go, are we going to be trying to get there through free agency? Then I\u2019d say the answer is probably not.<\/p>\n
In a recent podcast appearance<\/a>, you expressed some admiration for Montreal\u2019s patience at the trade deadline this past season. What rebuilding models from the past 5-6 years have you looked at that stand out to you, or reflect the type of direction you\u2019d like to steer this club in as general manager?<\/p>\nThere\u2019s many examples, but I think the biggest thing that you have to be is patient.<\/p>\n
You have to be making sure you\u2019re strategic in everything that you do. There\u2019s been great examples of teams that have headed in a good direction, but have maintained patience, and I think that extra bit of patience, that acknowledgement that we\u2019re getting there, but we\u2019re not there yet, that\u2019s the commonality I see in all of the successful rebuilding examples over the years.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard, and it\u2019s long, but once it\u2019s there, if it\u2019s done the right way, then you can be there for a while. That\u2019s the sort of path that I intend to stick to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Vancouver Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson has a lot on his plate. \u201cIt\u2019s been an all-out sprint,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5128],"tags":[894,5,4,893,27,5313],"class_list":["post-596431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver-canucks","tag-canucks","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-vancouver","tag-vancouver-canucks","tag-vancouvercanucks"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116731663095680012","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}