3 Candidates for Canucks Head Coach

The Vancouver Canucks’ management team, led by Henrik and Daniel Sedin and newly appointed general manager (GM) Ryan Johnson, decided to wipe the coaching staff clean and start fresh and new. With Adam Foote now out of the head coaching position with the Canucks, the organization is in the hunt for a new leader behind the bench as they look to reshape the team back into a contender. Many options are available to the team as of now, and there are three names that I feel will best suit the Canucks as their next head coach.

Kris Knoblauch

Newly fired from the Edmonton Oilers, Kris Knoblauch has had recent success as he reached the Stanley Cup Final in both 2024 and 2025. He had a good reputation with his time coaching Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl for running a good offensive system, creating a team that was able to generate in the offensive zone and score key goals when needed.

Now, having two of the best players in the world on your team is very helpful when it comes to creating offence, but the sheer difference in Edmonton’s game between when they were coached under Jay Woodcroft and when they were coached under Knoblauch was incredibly telling and showed that the Oilers were able to execute well with this coach. An underwhelming recent playoffs against the Anaheim Ducks is what cost him his job, and he now looks for a new opportunity.

With Knoblauch still under contract with the Oilers for three more seasons, Vancouver will need to ask permission to interview him for their open coaching vacancy. If they can interview him and eventually hire him, I feel he can succeed with the Canucks. Knoblauch, as an offensive mind, has had a knack for finding ways to get his team to score goals. That is what the Canucks are truly lacking, amongst other things. They need to find a way to get their star players on the scoresheet more often.

Elias Pettersson obviously needs to be better, Brock Boeser will need to be better, and Jake DeBrusk the same as well. More offensive pieces are coming into the fold, like Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren. Potentially, players like Braeden Cootes and Jonathan Lekkerimaki will be on the team as well next season. You will need a more offensively minded coach to get the best out of those players, and Knoblauch can do that.

Manny Malhotra

The collective favourite to get this job, Manny Malhotra, has both coaching and playing ties to the Canucks organization. As someone who was a Canuck during their most successful seasons of the Sedin era, and someone who has been an assistant coach and head coach in the organization for five seasons, odds are, he knows a thing or two about what this team means to the city.

Johnson spoke candidly about Malhotra and said he plans to speak with him about this new vacancy in the organization and wants to speak with him before any other team. “I would love to have the first conversation with him, and I intend to have that.” With the Canucks looking to get younger, Malhotra would be a fantastic candidate, as he has just come off two seasons in Abbotsford and has a reputation for being a great coach with younger players.

A wrinkle may get thrown into this process. Manny’s son Caleb has been widely speculated to be drafted by the Canucks at third overall. As the projected top centre in this upcoming draft, he would be a fantastic fit in the Canucks system because they need a game-breaking centre, which he has been this season with the Brantford Bulldogs. But in a recent episode of the Steve Dangle Podcast, The Athletic writer Scott Wheeler mentioned that Manny may be “reluctant” to coach Caleb because of the father-son connection.

Wheeler also mentioned that former GM Patrik Allvin and his staff were very high on Caleb during this season. With a new GM coming in, maybe they feel differently about the player. I personally do not think either of these situations should impact the other. If the Canucks want to hire Manny, they should. If they want to draft Caleb, they should. Both people are adults and will find a way to make this work for the betterment of the Canucks organization.

Bruce Cassidy

Bruce Cassidy’s departure from the Vegas Golden Knights was very surprising since it happened very late in the season, but the team has had massive success without him and may win the Stanley Cup. That doesn’t take away the fact that Cassidy still won a Cup in 2023 and is one of the top coaching candidates around. A coach like him could speed up the Canucks rebuild as he is known for getting the best out of his players. I think a coach like him has the potential to shake Pettersson out of his funk and get Boeser going as well.

A problem Vancouver may have is the fact that Vegas has not been letting teams interview Cassidy since he is still under contract with the team. On multiple occasions with the Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings, the Golden Knights did not allow either team to interview him for their open coaching job. Both of those teams are in the Pacific Division, like the Canucks, and that could be a reason why they are not allowed to interview him. But maybe because the Canucks are a team at the bottom of the standings, they feel comfortable allowing management to interview him because it will take the team multiple years before they become good again.

There are several really good coaching candidates out there for Johnson, and this hiring will be a big moment in his tenure. Coaches can’t score goals, but they can help create them, and all the Canucks need is someone who can get their players to be at their best. Time will tell who that is.