Vancouver Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson joined David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal on West Coast Conversation to discuss the team’s difficult start to the season, Elias Pettersson’s resurgence, and the organization’s approach to building a sustainable winner in Vancouver.

Johnson said the Canucks’ early struggles weren’t unexpected, given how much has changed within the organization and the challenges that come with establishing a new identity.

“If you look at the wins and losses, it’s not surprising in a sense,” said Johnson. “My first five minutes of addressing our entire organization was prepping them for how hard this was going to be, especially out of the gates. With new management, new coaches, players, systems, structure, everything, it’d be naive to think we were just going to show up and things would instantly turn around.

“I was trying to prep them that once the initial energy and honeymoon phase of coming out of camp was over and we got kicked in the stomach, and faced some real hard adversity, I knew it was going to be a challenge to dig out of that. You look at the last four or five games, and we’re seeing signs of a hockey team still not piecing 60-minute efforts together.

“This league is so hard that when you make the mistakes that we do, it changes the outcome of games. Nobody feels sorry for the Vancouver Canucks or what we’re doing, they’re out for blood. We’ve put ourselves in some tough spots that we’re learning from. We’ve played some teams who have been together for six or seven years and have won a Cup. It’s no secret that’s where we want to get, and I think it’s been good for our players to see what that looks and feels like, as hard as it is to take some of these losses.”

Johnson also praised Elias Pettersson’s response to a challenging 2025 campaign, saying the centre has taken responsibility and set an example for his teammates through his play away from the puck.

“He’s had a heck of a season to this point. I give him credit, he got prepared this summer. I wanted to give him a comfortable environment to decide himself how he wanted to get uncomfortable. Even in the first set of games, when you see a player of his calibre leading the way physically, I took that as a decision that he made of where he wanted to be uncomfortable and how it was going to push him to be better, and he has been.

“He’s been an outstanding teammate. I see him shouldering a lot of the responsibility of needing to make something happen. He doesn’t get anything offensively by cheating the game, he’s as responsible a two-way centre as there is in the game.

“I don’t recall the game, but he laid out to block a hard shot, and it’s a great lesson for the rest of our group and our younger guys. Look at where he is at in his career and how he’s approaching each shift with what he’s willing to do. He’s done a lot of good things and taught a lot to the guys around him in a short period of time.”

Finally, Johnson addressed the organization’s decision to commit to a longer-term build, emphasizing that the priority is establishing a foundation rather than simply accumulating draft picks or accepting losing as part of the process.

“It’s a hard position to commit to. When I took the [GM] position, we decided this is where we needed to go to not just be good for a season or half but be sustainably good year after year and build a foundation.

“When people talk about rebuilds, I don’t necessarily think it’s the most respectful term when considering the players I have here, with these 23 guys who are hockey players and competitors who want to win games. I haven’t told anyone, ‘Hey, we’re going to sit at the bottom and we’re going to do this because we want to pick high,’ but assuring everyone that we just can’t show up and things be different. We have to invest in it and do it the right way.

“When we have that foundation in place, then we can fold in the results, but trust me, we’re going to get the foundation right first. By no means is it a guarantee that just because you finish low that you draft well and it’ll eventually work itself out. That’s naive thinking too and is something I’m being very cognizant about, not just stockpiling draft picks and hope for the best, but finding players we want and fit to how we play.”

You can watch the full segment here. Johnson spoke about Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and much more in the full interview!

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