The Vancouver Canucks have done plenty of promoting from within to overhaul their hockey operations and coaching staff.

Their new co-presidents of hockey operations, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, have been part of the Canucks’ staff for five seasons, along with their 17 seasons as players. Their new general manager, Ryan Johnson, has been on staff since 2013. And their new head coach, Manny Malhotra, was promoted from their AHL farm team, where he was head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks for two seasons.

On the whole, these promotions have been met with widespread approval from Canucks fans, and for good reason. But then there’s that lingering question: weren’t you guys part of the group that got us here in the first place?

Look, if you’ve never once thought, “If I was in charge, there’d be some changes around here,” then you’ve never had a job. The Sedins, Johnson, and Malhotra have seen firsthand how things can go sideways and presumably have plenty of ideas for how to do things differently.

But it’s still nice to see a couple of outside voices brought in with the Canucks’ two most recent hires: Daren Hermiston and Rich Seeley. And both were brought in to key development roles that will have a direct impact on the team’s future.

Daren Hermiston, a former NHL player agent with The.Team, was brought in as the Canucks’ director of player personnel and player development, replacing…well, no one.

Scott Young was the Canucks’ director of player personnel up until this past season, when he stepped behind the bench as one of Adam Foote’s assistant coaches. As far as I can ascertain, his previous role was never filled.

With the Sedins leaving their roles in development, there was a clear need for more development staff; bringing in someone on the director level to oversee both development and player personnel makes a lot of sense.

The exact job descriptions for Hermiston’s job title vary between teams. In most cases, the director of player personnel is part of the scouting department, and the director of player development is a separate role. It’s not quite clear what shape Hermiston’s job will take, given that the Canucks already have Brett Henning as director of professional scouting and Todd Harvey as director of amateur scouting.

What does seem clear is that Hermiston will oversee the path to the NHL for Canucks prospects. His experience as a player agent is more transferable to this role than one might expect, as agents need a knack for identifying talent, developing relationships with players and their families, and providing them with resources to get better, as well as helping them handle off-ice obstacles so they can focus on their work on the ice.

Hermiston has received rave reviews from people in the prospects world, but he’s a first-time executive, so whether or not he’s right for the job remains to be seen. The Canucks are placing a significant element of their rebuild in the hands of a neophyte.

Fortunately, the Canucks’ other hire has a lot more experience.

Before he was hired as assistant general manager of the Canucks and general manager of the Abbotsford Canucks, Richard Seeley was the general manager of the Ontario Reign for eight seasons.

The AGM tag represents a promotion for Seeley, who wasn’t an AGM with the Los Angeles Kings, even if his day-to-day responsibilities likely won’t change much. He’ll replace Ryan Johnson at the AHL level, handling hockey operations, contract signings, and roster decisions for Abbotsford.

But most importantly, he’ll play a major role in developing the Canucks’ prospects that come through the AHL.

That’s an area that has taken some steps forward in recent years, with a few prospects taking some major steps forward in Abbotsford en route to the NHL. It will become even more important in the coming years, as the Canucks rebuild their prospect pool, and that development will be Seeley’s primary focus.

Here’s how Seeley put it early in his tenure with the Kings’ organization.

“The number one goal is we want to develop hockey players for the Los Angeles Kings, first and foremost, but I’m of the belief that winning hockey games, being involved in an AHL playoff race, and ultimately the Calder Cup playoffs is key for development,” said Seeley. “I don’t think it’s one or the other; the goal is to do both, and at the end of the day, one can’t be at the cost of the other.”

Seeley has been praised as an intelligent innovator, and some solid NHL players, such as Michael Amadio, Matt Roy, Sean Durzi, and Jordan Spence, developed in the AHL with the Ontario Reign, along with first-rounders like Gabriel Vilardi and Quinton Byfield. The track record looks pretty good for Seeley.

That said, it’s always hard to parse just how much credit any member of a team’s development staff is due for a prospect becoming successful in the NHL.

Does Seeley deserve credit for Brandt Clarke becoming a 40-point defenceman for the Los Angeles Kings because he spent a season with the Ontario Reign? Or was Clarke, the eighth overall pick in 2021, always going to develop into that type of player?

Conversely, how much blame should Seeley get for Alex Turcotte, a fifth-overall pick, failing to reach his ceiling? Was Turcotte a case of injuries derailing a player’s development, or could Seeley have done more when Turcotte was with the Reign?

There are factors beyond the development staff’s control, and a player is ultimately responsible for his own development.

Still, Seeley clearly has a lot of experience and brings an outside perspective to the Canucks organization. He’s seen how the Kings operate their development for nearly a decade and can bring that knowledge into his new role. Likewise, Hermiston brings a fresh perspective from outside the Canucks’ organization.

Hopefully, having two new voices within player development will help the Canucks avoid falling into the same patterns that led them to their current predicament.