“First of all, he’s a really smart guy; that’s number one. But number two, I’d be curious to see if that was something that would sort of be Quinn Hughes approved. They’re close, too, [have a] good relationship. Foote has really helped Hughes improve as a player, given him good advice, and they bounce things off each other very well. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in addition to the fact I think he really knows hockey well, that would have Foote on Vancouver’s shortlist.”

“I believe that with Rick and Footy (assistant coach Adam Foote) and the way that they coach and structuring how we are defensively,” Hughes said, “if we add another player or two and have some guys within our group play better next year than they did this past season, I think we can be a really, really successful team. We’re very structured, we don’t give up much, we have maybe the best goalie tandem in the league, and we have a great D-corps and others that are coming that will help us. The point is, if we get Rick back and add a piece or two, we can be very successful.”