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JPat’s Monday Mailbag: How does NHL coaching carousel impact Canucks?
Jeff Paterson's weekly Vancouver Canucks mailbag.
Jeff Paterson
Apr 6, 2026, 12:45 EDTUpdated: Apr 6, 2026, 14:01 EDT
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Just 11 days remain in the Vancouver Canucks season. And for many, the end can’t get here soon enough.
Since our last mailbag, the Canucks successfully secured the best odds in the National Hockey League’s May 5th draft lottery. So maybe 11 days isn’t even the countdown we should be charting. Make it 30 days until the ping-pong balls start rattling around and the draft order is revealed. Based on the questions received this week, there is really nothing left to ask about the remaining games on the schedule. All eyes already seem to be locked on an offseason that is sure to present change. With that, let’s get down to the business of answering some of your queries.

Do the Canucks pull a Las Vegas/Islanders and can Foote with games left?

— A C just wants a break from TW (@phoenix00.bsky.social) 2026-04-05T20:48:55.340Z

No, they do not. Adam Foote will coach the remaining games on the schedule. Those other teams made coaching moves out of fear of missing the playoffs. That is not something the Canucks have had to worry about since about Christmas. We have covered this topic before in this space. It felt like the Olympic break was the opportunity to make a move because it would have permitted a new head coach to conduct a week’s worth of practices before resuming the schedule. When the Canucks opted to stick with their staff through the February stoppage, it seemed evident that they would ride out the season with Adam Foote and his lieutenants behind the bench. I don’t see that changing at this late stage of the schedule.
I think this is a little bit of Column A and a little of Column B. With one win in seven games at the time of the change, I think Vegas felt its season was slipping away. And it saw John Tortorella as the right guy to scare that team straight. With three wins to begin his tenure – including an impressive 5-1 romp in Edmonton on Saturday – the Golden Knights seem to have responded and righted the ship.
The Islanders, on the other hand, likely saw Pete DeBoer as the top coaching candidate available and knew he’d be snapped up by another organization sooner rather than later. So they made the bold move to oust/sacrifice Patrick Roy with just four games remaining in their season to get the guy they wanted with an eye to the future. As we’ve seen for a while now, there is absolutely no job security for NHL head coaches. Proof of that is that nine teams have made coaching hires since Adam Foote ascended to the Canucks head job just 11 months ago. So to answer your question, I’m not sure it’s a future strategy we’ll see used every season. But it is a reminder that you don’t want to be the coach of a team spinning its wheels a few weeks before the playoffs. It’s becoming clear that owners aren’t likely to sit around waiting to see if their current coach can snap their team out of a late-season funk if there is a candidate waiting in the wings that they think can and will do a better job.
I don’t think anyone on the current roster qualifies as anything remotely close to a golden egg. So I’ll have to look at the draft. But maybe not this year’s draft. Obviously, if the Canucks win the lottery and get the top pick, they’re hoping that player turns into a difference maker. But a true golden egg? We’ll have to wait and see. Perhaps the even bigger prize awaits at the top of the 2027 Draft, where Landon Dupont is expected to be a franchise-altering prospect. Beyond the Everett Silvertips defenceman, the top of the class of 2027 is full of projected first line centres. It seems pretty obvious that the Canucks need an absolute game-changer from the next couple of drafts if this rebuild is going to one day reach Stanley Cup contender status.
I have a tough time seeing it. I get the confidence issues he’s talked about in recent interviews, and I know it can’t be easy coming in and out of the lineup. But Linus Karlsson and Max Sasson, to a lesser degree, have found ways to contribute in limited roles for much of the season. There is just nothing to Hoglander’s game these days. It’s not enough to come away at the end of the night recalling one aggressive forecheck. That should be the baseline on every shift. And you’d like to think some offence would follow. But he just looks lost, and the fact that he’s sitting to make room for Ty Mueller right now likely speaks volumes about the way he’s seen by the organization. Hoglander will turn 26 days before Christmas and still has two years left on a three-year deal that pays him $3M per season. I think there would be other teams that would see Hoglander as a buy-low candidate. But I just don’t see how he comes back to this organization next season if he’s currently the 13th or maybe even the 14th forward on the roster. In my mind, it just feels like it’s time for a change of scenery this summer.
I’d be surprised. I like the idea of a Curtis Douglas-type player for this team. I’m just not sure that Curtis Douglas is the guy. I’m still not sold on the idea that he is an everyday NHL player. In saying that, I think he’s been more noticeable around the puck in recent games and came close to scoring his first NHL goal on the club’s last road trip. Still, the team has been outscored 5-0 in his limited minutes. He’s played nine games, hasn’t recorded a point, finally found a fight with Adam Klapka in Calgary and is averaging just 7:59 of ice per game. I think the Canucks can and should find someone who can bring some pugnacity while also being able to be an every night player who can give the team more than Douglas has. I had no issue whatsoever with the Canucks claiming Douglas off waivers to see what he could do. But the cold, hard truth is that he hasn’t done very much. Or at least not to earn an extension in my mind. But maybe he’s offered a league-minimum type deal that allows the contract to be buried in the minors if he winds up in Abbotsford.
Now, this isn’t a question. But I wanted to weigh in after the Whitecaps pulled off a thrilling 3-2 win over rival Portland on Saturday night, just hours after the Canucks went quietly in a 7-4 loss to Utah. The two games were played across the street from each other. What struck me was the ‘Caps playing to the final whistle and a crowd of 25,000 fully behind what seems, from an arm’s length, to be such a likeable group. And this is just a warm-up for what is to come in a couple of months. The action on the pitch should be amazing, but what I’m looking forward to every bit as much is the passion, the emotion, and the over-the-top celebrations of fan bases from around the world that will be descending on our city. It will be a reminder of what we all love about sports. And it should serve as a welcome distraction for a market usually dominated by hockey headlines.

If you had to assign a drink to each player's profile, who is milk and who is Monster energy?

— 🇨🇦 Trent Leith 🏳️‍🌈 (@trentleith.bsky.social) 2026-04-05T23:45:21.509Z

I’m not going to go through every player, but I know the fan base is a (whiskey) sour. I don’t think there is much debate about that after the season it has endured. Sadly, the Canucks traded their Monster Energy guy to San Jose in January, and he really hasn’t been replaced on the roster. Otherwise, this team has mostly been tepid tap water for much of the season. Yeah, that’s it — big tall glasses of lukewarm water. 

PRESENTED BY STAKE

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