Optimism abounds every year at the end of the first day of the National Hockey League draft. Every team feels like it got the player or players it wanted, and on Friday night, the Vancouver Canucks were no exception. First year general manager Ryan Johnson couldn’t contain his excitement after selecting Caleb Malhotra with the…

Manny Malhotra appears to have found one of the assistants who will help him run the Vancouver Canucks‘ bench. According to a report from NHL Insider Frank Seravalli late Thursday afternoon, the Canucks are in the process of naming Providence Bruins head coach and recipient of the Luis AR Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s…