Boudreau wants to complete what he started in Vancouver after “minor details” are worked out

Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau remains very interested in returning behind the bench next season, according to multiple reports.

In an interview with Vancouver Hockey Now yesterday, Boudreau said “the plan and desire is to come back” to the Canucks for the 2022–23 season.

“I have as special a relationship with these players in Vancouver as I did with the guys in Washington on my first NHL job,” Boudreau said. “My dream now is to win as much as possible with the Vancouver Canucks. We started something special here and I want to see it to fruition.”

The Vancouver Hockey Now report mentioned that “a couple of minor details” still have to be worked out before Boudreau’s return is confirmed, something that Rick Dhaliwal confirmed on Twitter and on Donnie & Dhali – The Team on Wednesday.

“The details are not about money and term, because he’s got a contract. He’s been told by the Canucks, ‘come back next year at this [dollar figure],’ and he knows that,” Dhaliwal said on Wednesday’s edition of Donnie & Dhali. “The hope is they get this figured out next week.”

“‘I want to be back.’ That’s what Bruce told me,” Dhaliwal continued. “He loves Vancouver, the fans, the players.”

Boudreau, 67, led the Canucks to a 32–15–10 record in the final 57 games of the 2021–22 regular season after replacing Travis Green as head coach in December.

The Toronto product has a 599–317–125 record in his 15 seasons as an NHL head coach with the Canucks, Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks, and Washington Capitals. He was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2007–08.