CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA

Recent staffing decisions leave Canucks with big holes that must be filled in player development

Photo credit: © Tav Morisson-CanucksArmy

By Jeff Paterson

Jul 12, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 12, 2026, 13:55 EDT

Comments

As the Vancouver Canucks have shuffled their deck this summer and rearranged their front office and coaching staffs at both the National Hockey League and American Hockey League levels, it has resulted in several promotions from within. Daniel and Henrik Sedin have ascended to the top jobs of co-presidents of the organization, and Ryan Johnson has climbed the corporate ladder and become a general manager for the first time. Manny Malhotra worked his way from the farm team to the big league bench and recently added Jason Krog as a full-time assistant. Malhotra also brought Jordan Smith with him to his first NHL job, from his post as an assistant coach in Abbotsford.

On many levels, all of the organizational restructuring makes sense. The Sedins have Hall of Fame credentials as players, Johnson has paid his dues with a decade in management, and Malhotra’s work in Abbotsford made him an easy choice as the next head coach of the NHL Canucks.

But all of these moves leave gaping holes that have yet to be filled on the development side of the organization. And for a team in the early stages of a rebuild, that seems like a vital area that must be addressed.

The Sedins and Krog were the top three in terms of defined on-ice player development roles with the hockey club last season. None will be in those same jobs when next season arrives. All three spent time at practice — and before and after practice — working directly with players. Often, the one-on-one time addressed areas of the game that couldn’t be worked on in broader team practices. In the twins’ case, they divided their time, shuttling back and forth between Vancouver and Abbotsford. They have now traded in their tracksuits for business suits (or at least button-down shirts and sweaters) as they oversee the day-to-day operations of the hockey side of the company.

Krog will still be hands-on, but in a different capacity as one of Malhotra’s assistant coaches. While the division of labour has not been disclosed publicly, Krog was a high scorer at many points in his lengthy playing career, and it stands to reason he’ll have a role on the offensive side of the game and possibly on the power play. But he won’t have the same opportunities to work one-on-one with players as he did when he held the title of skills coach.

And the Canucks have yet to fill the roles both Malhotra and Smith left behind in Abbotsford. Those will be key hires, too, in developing key prospects in the pipeline.

It’s only the second week of July, and the team won’t assemble for organized activities until mid-September, so the Canucks still have plenty of time to address their staffing needs. But those are big holes to fill and seemingly significant pieces to the development puzzle. At a time when questions are being asked about budgetary constraints, hopefully the Canucks will spend where needed across the organization. That means absolutely replacing the skills coach and then finding a way to fill the gap left by the two greatest players to ever wear the uniform making the jump to the top jobs.