Vancouver Canucks hire Jason King as assistant coach, Chris Higgins as skills coach

The Vancouver Canucks have found a replacement behind the bench as the club announced Wednesday that Jason King has been hired as an assistant coach.

The club also announced the hiring of Chris Higgins as a skills and development coach.

King, 39, was drafted in the seventh round by the Canucks in 2001 appearing in 55 games for the Canucks scoring 12 goals and 23 points.

He played his last pro games in 2013 for the St. John’s IceCaps, before becoming an assistant coach with the club the following year. Since 2016-17, King has served as an assistant coach with the Canucks AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets.

King fills a void left on the Canucks bench when Manny Malhotra departed the team for a similar role with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Higgins, meanwhile, will be taking over for Glenn Carnegie, who is rumoured to be joining THE RINK’s Kelowna hockey academy. The former Canucks forward was hired as an assistant director of player development last year.

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