Vancouver Canucks Fire Adam Foote
The changes coming to the Vancouver Canucks won’t end at the front office. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the Canucks are parting ways with head coach Adam Foote and are expected to make additional changes to the coaching staff.
Shortly after Dreger’s report, the Canucks confirmed Foote’s dismissal in a team announcement. Additionally, the team has let go of assistant coaches Scott Young, Kevin Dean, and Brett McLean, starting fresh for the 2026-27 campaign.
It’s not a huge surprise to see Foote let go, even after one season. Foote was hired by Vancouver as an assistant coach partway through the 2022-23 season as a part of Rick Tocchet‘s staff. He remained in that role for three seasons and was promoted to the head coaching role when Tocchet departed for the Philadelphia Flyers last summer.
Factoring in the subpar roster and the fact that the Canucks made major changes to the front office, Foote wasn’t given a chance to succeed in Vancouver. As anticipated, the team had a disappointing season in 2025-26, finishing with a record of 25-49-8, which was the worst in the regular season.
Furthermore, there was no area in which the Canucks played particularly well. Vancouver finished 31st in goals for, 32nd in goals against, 32nd in penalty kill percentage, 29th in shooting percentage, 32nd in save percentage, 29th in CorsiFor, 30th in High-Danger Scoring Chances, and 31st in High-Danger Scoring Changes Against. The only category where the team excelled was power play percentage, finishing in 14th place.
Unlike most head coaches, it’s unlikely that Foote will find another head coaching position this summer. While he may ultimately secure a coaching position, his track record does not compare to that of Craig Berube, Bruce Cassidy, or Kris Knoblauch, who are all coaches seeking new opportunities.
On the flip side, all three of those coaches will immediately become candidates for the Canucks. Cassidy is unlikely to take the job, simply because the Vegas Golden Knights have already blocked other intradivisional rivals, namely the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings, from interviewing their former coach. However, the Golden Knights may believe that the Canucks are so far out of contention that Cassidy’s landing in Vancouver wouldn’t come back to bite them anytime soon.
Still, it’s difficult to say what direction the Canucks will go. There are expected to be significant changes to the roster this offseason, so the team may opt for a younger coach to grow alongside the team.
In that same vein, Vancouver could look to an internal candidate. Former bottom-six center Manny Malhotra has been the head coach of the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks for the last two years, and presumably worked closely with General Manager Ryan Johnson when he was serving as the General Manager in Abbotsford.
Canucks Hire Brett McLean, Scott Young As Assistant Coaches
The Vancouver Canucks are nearing the finalization of their coaching staff for the 2025-26 NHL season. The organization announced that it has hired Brett McLean and Scott Young as assistant coaches, and confirmed a report from a few days ago, indicating that Kevin Dean would also be joining the staff.
McLean earns his first stint back in the NHL since his time as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Wild from 2020 to 2023. He’s spent the last two years serving as the head coach for the AHL’s Iowa Wild, managing a 54-74-10-6 record in 144 games.
Young is the only one of the trio who’s not an outside hire. He’s spent the last three years as the organization’s Director of Player Personnel, after joining Rick Tocchet‘s staff during the 2022-23 campaign. Before his tenure in Vancouver, Young had served as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Director of Player Development, joining the team the year after Tocchet had departed in 2017.
Although the Canucks’ on-bench coaching staff is taking shape around Adam Foote, some non-bench coaches aren’t expected to return next season. According to Rob Williams of Daily Hive Vancouver, development coach Sergei Gonchar and video coach Dylan Crawford won’t be a part of Foote’s staff.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Gonchar join Tocchet’s staff with the Philadelphia Flyers in a similar role. The two have inconsistently coached together since the 2015-16 season in Pittsburgh, with Gonchar joining Tocchet upon his move to Vancouver in 2022-23.