The Vancouver Canucks have narrowed their number of GM candidates to about five, according to president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford.

Among those five are Patrick Allvin and Scott Mellanby, two names we’ve heard linked to the Canucks’ vacant GM job before.

Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali – The Team is reporting that Mellanby and Allvin are both in Vancouver for the in-person interview portion of the search and to presumably meet with ownership.

Allvin has long been reported as the front runner for the job, but the Canucks are clearly going to do their due diligence on their potential candidates before naming a new general manager.

Allvin worked with and was promoted by Rutherford went the two were in Pittsburgh.

Mellanby worked within the Canucks organization for three years as a special consultant to general manager Mike Gillis and the hockey operations department. Mellanby then spent two years as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues before stepping down following the 2011-12 season.

In 2012, Mellanby was hired by the Montreal Canadiens as director of player personnel and became an assistant GM on July 30, 2014, before stepping down from the position in November of 2021.

Elliotte Friedman added that he believes Patrick Allvin’s interview will take place sometime Friday.

More to come.