Dan Cloutier – Pro Hockey Rumors

Vancouver Canucks Restructure Front Office

By Gavin Lee | at September 11, 2019 12:44 pm

The Vancouver Canucks have made several changes in the front office in preparation for the upcoming season. Chris Higgins re-joins the team as assistant director, player development, Todd Harvey and Derek Richard will take on additional responsibilities as amateur scouts and Troy Ward, Phil Golding and Martin Bakula have all been hired as amateur scouts. Other changes in the scouting department include Pat Conacher moving to the amateur side after several seasons as director of hockey operations with the Utica Comets, and Ryan Biech joining the team as a video analyst. Dan Cloutier, who has served as a goaltending coach and director of goaltending for eight seasons, has resigned.

This is a big season for the Canucks, given their investment in players like Tyler Myers, J.T. Miller and Micheal Ferland this offseason. Getting Brock Boeser is obviously the biggest thing left on the to-do list, but adding more resources to the scouting department is always an important step. The Canucks have hit home runs in Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson and Boeser over the last few years, and appear to have another top talent in Vasili Podkolzin from June’s draft.

3 comments Dan Cloutier Vancouver Canucks Chris Higgins

Is Vancouver Looking To Make A Big Splash?

By Zach Leach | at September 2, 2018 7:45 pm

It is no secret that the Vancouver Canucks do not operate like a typical rebuilding team. Make no mistake, the team has accrued plenty of talented young building blocks over the past few years: Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen, Adam Gaudette, Quinn Hughes, Olli Juolevi, Thatcher Demko, Michael DiPietro and the list goes on. However, the team has also gone about business as usual, signing free agents and at times even overpaying to add veterans to the roster. Over the past two off-seasons, Vancouver has taken roster spots away from younger players in order to sign the likes of Erik Gudbranson, Sam Gagner, Michael Del Zotto, Anders Nilsson, Thomas Vanek, Darren Archibald, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, Tim Schaller and more. The moves have put the team no closer to being a contender. The Canucks have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since their 2011 Stanley Cup Final appearance and have failed to reach the postseason altogether in each of the past three years. It seems unlikely that the trend will change any time soon, either.

The Province’s Ed Willes is worried that things might get even worse. Willes claims that recently departed team president Trevor Linden ” lost his job because he favored a patient, methodical approach to the team’s rebuild”. With Linden gone, the team has been even more aggressive than usual this summer in targeting older players. Vancouver made an offer to John Tavares that was rejected and more recently has been linked to Erik Karlsson. While he isn’t convinced the team has the means to acquire Karlsson, the fear is that some player will come along on the trade market that they can afford and will deplete their promising prospect ranks to acquire. Willes firmly believes that Benning and the Canucks are in the hunt for a cornerstone player, no matter the cost.

Just as it has in recent years, even adding an elite veteran player is unlikely to get the Canucks to where they want to be. As it is currently composed, the team lacks the supporting cast to be a true contender. The greatest strength of the organization is the youth waiting in the wings, with at least two goaltenders, four defensemen, and eight forwards under the age of 25 that are all almost universally expected to be NHL regulars for a long time to come. Yet, the cost of adding a marquee player would be a package of those exact players or upcoming (early) draft picks. The patient approach that Linden fought for could transform the Canucks into one of the league’s top teams in five years time. An impatient acquisition could cost them what progress they have made and, in Willes’ opinion, cost them fans as well. So perhaps the question is not “is Vancouver looking to make a big splash?”, but “should Vancouver be looking to make a big splash?” and the answer seems to be a convincing no.

Vancouver Canucks Announce Full Coaching Staff

By Gavin Lee | at June 7, 2017 12:06 pm

Following in the flurry of coaching news, the Vancouver Canucks have announced their full coaching staff for the 2017-18 season. New head coach Travis Green will be joined by Newell Brown, Nolan Baumgartner, Doug Jarvis and Manny Malhotra as assistant coaches, while Dan Cloutier will return as goalie coach. Glenn Carnegie and Ben Cooper will also be part of the staff in skills development and video respectively.

Green will attempt to take Canucks in a direction rarely seen in Vancouver as they begin to truly rebuild the franchise for the first time since the Sedin twins were drafted in 1999. He’ll be joined by a good mix of experienced and up-and-coming names, as the team tries to build a new identity behind some of their younger players. Brown was fired by the Arizona Coyotes recently after four years in the desert, but has 20 years as an NHL assistant to his name. Baumgartner will follow Green from Utica for the first NHL opportunity of his coaching career. The former Canucks defenseman actually had the best season of his playing career in Vancouver, when he registered 34 points in 70 games during 2005-06 for the club. He would only play 73 other NHL games and record 13 points over his career, making his stop in Vancouver a memorable one.

The announcement comes as something of a promotion for Malhotra, as he had previously been listed as a development coach in the organization. The long-time NHL center will still have to wait for a chance behind an NHL bench however, as only Brown and Baumgartner will be there during the game. Another former Canucks player, Malhotra was part of the team that went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011, but missed most of the playoffs after a scary eye injury that nearly ended his career. His return in game two of the finals is one of the most memorable moments for any Canucks fan of the last decade.

0 comments Dan Cloutier Travis Green Vancouver Canucks Manny Malhotra

Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Pacific Division

By Zach Leach | at March 1, 2017 9:51 pm

The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the upstart Pacific Division:

Winners

Anaheim Ducks:

Acquired Patrick Eaves from Dallas Stars for conditional second-round pick

The Ducks had one real need at the deadline and that was another top six winger. By getting ahead of the market and making the deal for Eaves earlier this week, Anaheim was already a winner at the deadline. The conditional second-rounder, which can become a first, is a steep price. However, given that Eaves is having a career year, the market value had yet to be set, and the Ducks desperation had grown due to the Antoine Vermette suspension, they were right to swing a deal when they had the chance. It was a quiet deadline day in Anaheim, but this is still a team that could make a lot of noise down the stretch.

Arizona Coyotes:

Acquired 2017 third-round pick and conditional 2018 fifth-round pick from Calgary Flames for Michael Stone
Acquired 2017 first-round pick, 2018 second-round pick, conditional 2019 fourth-round pick, and Grayson Downing from Minnesota Wild for Martin Hanzal, Ryan White, and 2017 fourth-round pick
Acquired Teemu Pulkkinen from Minnesota Wild for “future considerations”
Acquired Joe Whitney from Colorado Avalanche for Brandon Ranford

The Coyotes messed up by not trading Radim Vrbata (and might have been able to get more for Stone), but put that aside and what they were able to get from the Minnesota Wild is pretty extraordinary. The team wanted to re-sign Hanzal, but when talks fell apart, it became a foregone conclusion that he would be moved. Yet, that inevitability never drove the prices down and the Wild ended up offering an amazing deal for the career Coyote. The Avalanche should take note because this is how you work the trade deadline as one the league’s worst teams. In exchange for impending free agents who were not coming back in Hanzal and Stone, Arizona ends up with five picks and two prospects (assuming, as it often does, that “future considerations” means nothing) and the team has suffered almost no loss. If GM John Chayka has decided to deal Vrbata, he likely would have added another pair of good picks to that mix, but as it stands, the Coyotes still did pretty well.

Calgary Flames:

Acquired Michael Stone from Arizona Coyotes for 2017 third-round pick and conditional 2018 fifth-round pick
Acquired Curtis Lazar and Mike Kostka from Ottawa Senators for 2017 second-round pick and Jyrki Jokipakka

Yes, the Flames are a fringe playoff team that gave away their second and third-rounders this June. Normally, that would make them losers and if Stone leaves in free agency and Lazar never pans out, they will be. For now, they’re winners because both players could have long, successful careers in Calgary. Lazar is a former first-rounder who needed a change of scenery and a better environment to develop in. The young, speedy Flames squad is the perfect fit and the “big picture” thinking of Brad Treliving strikes again. On the same note, Stone has never played anywhere but Arizona, but will need a new home in 2017-18 and beyond. By bringing him in at the deadline, Calgary gets a head start on convincing the young puck-mover to sign with them and it would be no surprise at all if he does. The Flames will need another top four defenseman next year, after Dennis Wideman and Deryk Engelland leave, and Stone fits the bill. The Flames could have done more to improve their playoff chances this year, but they are a young team whose true contender future is still down the road. No use spending when you don’t stand much of a chance in the powerhouse Western Conference at this point in time.

Vancouver Canucks:

Acquired Jonathan Dahlen from Ottawa Senators for Alexandre Burrows
Acquired Nikolay Goldobin and conditional 2017 fourth-round pick from San Jose Sharks for Jannik Hansen

Vancouver GM Jim Benning is the MVP of the trade deadline and, despite being sellers, the Canucks are the ultimate winners with deadline day having come and gone. Other than goalie Ryan Miller, Vancouver’s only other real trade bait players were long-time Canucks Burrows and Hansen. Burrows was an impending unrestricted free agent who was unlikely to be re-signed and Hansen had one year left on his contract but was a prime candidate to be exposed in the Expansion Draft. Benning took these two players, essentially throwaways to the franchise, and turned them into former first-round and second-round prospects and a pick that can go as high as a first rounder. Dahlen was just named the best player in Sweden’s junior league and Goldobin is already tearing up the AHL. Both players project to be top-six wingers, and soon. It’s an incredible and almost unthinkable return for two aging bottom-six skaters. Benning deserves all the credit in the world, and you can bet that the Canucks are now the Sharks biggest fans, as a Stanley Cup title in San Jose adds a first-rounder to the deadline haul.

Losers

Edmonton Oilers:

Acquired David Desharnais from Montreal Canadiens for Brandon Davidson
Acquired Justin Fontaine from New York Rangers for Taylor Beck

Like the Calgary Flames, the Oilers are a team whose best days lie ahead and no one was expecting them to go all-out at the deadline. Unlike Calgary though, the Oilers could have actually been a factor in the 2017 postseason if they had made the right moves. Trading a young defenseman for a washed-up center is not the right move. Davidson needed to be moved for Expansion Draft reasons, but GM Peter Chiarelli could have gotten a lot more than Desharnais. They needed a backup goalie, a top-nine forward, a penalty kill specialist, and honestly could have used a veteran depth defenseman as well. They ended up with none of that. If Edmonton decided they were going to stand pat at the deadline, that’s fine. However, if you’re going to trade a promising asset like Davidson, at least get something you need in return.

Los Angeles Kings:

Acquired Ben Bishop, a 2017 fifth-round pick, and a conditional 2017 pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Peter Budaj, Erik Cernak, and a 2017 seventh-round pick
Acquired a conditional 2018 fourth-round pick from Montreal Canadiens for Dwight King
Acquired Jarome Iginla from Colorado Avalanche for conditional 2018 fourth-round pick

Unlike most of the major losers at the deadline, L.A. was an active participant. The only thing is their moves made no sense. All season long, the Kings got unexpectedly excellent goaltending from Budaj and just last week got star keeper Jonathan Quick back from injury. The defense has also been great and the team has been near the top of the league in goals against all season. Where they’ve struggled in 2016-17 is scoring. The team needed some speed and some play-makers on the power play. So what does GM Dean Lombardi do? He trades Budaj and promising prospect Cernak to Tampa for the best goalie on the market in Bishop. He then trades away Dwight King, who has been a staple of the Kings’ recent playoff success, and instead of using the cap space to acquire a quick, dynamic scorer, he adds 39-year-old Iginla, who is noticeably slower and has failed to produce points all season long. You can certainly make an argument that that the Kings got better, personnel-wise, but they didn’t improve in the areas of need. L.A. is currently outside of a playoff spot and, now even more unfortunately with fan-favorite Iginla in the fold, it’s difficult to see that changing unless the team’s existing play-makers step up their game.

San Jose Sharks:

Acquired Jannik Hansen from Vancouver Canucks for Nikolay Goldobin and a conditional 2017 fourth-round pick

It’s difficult to call the Sharks losers because they have such a complete team and didn’t have many needs at the deadline to start with. San Jose needed a top-nine forward or two and maybe a backup goalie. It’s even more difficult to call them a loser because Hansen is a solid top-nine player who had a great 2015-16 campaign and will help the team this year and next. However, Hansen doesn’t really fill the need for a scoring forward. He’s more of a two-way forward good for about 15 goals and 15 assists in a good year. You know who is more of the goal-scoring forward they need? Nikolay Goldobin. Goldobin is a 2014 first-round pick and nearly a point-per-game player in the AHL. Give him another year or two and he’s surely a top-nine player for the Sharks. San Jose just really didn’t need to make a big move and would have been fine just to stand pat or add a guy like P.A. Parenteau or Drew Stafford for cheap. Instead, they drastically overpaid for Hansen with Goldobin. Add in that the conditional fourth becomes a first if the Sharks win the Stanley Cup, and this deal goes from bad to worse.

4 comments Anaheim Ducks Brad Treliving Calgary Flames Dan Cloutier Edmonton Oilers Expansion Jim Benning Los Angeles Kings San Jose Sharks Utah Mammoth Vancouver Canucks Antoine Vermette Ben Bishop Brandon Davidson Curtis Lazar David Desharnais Dennis Wideman Deryk Engelland Jannik Hansen Jarome Iginla Joe Whitney Jonathan Quick Justin Fontaine Jyrki Jokipakka Martin Hanzal Michael Stone Nikolay Goldobin Patrick Eaves Peter Budaj Peter Chiarelli

Former Canucks Goalie Cloutier Hired As Team’s Goaltending Coach

By Brett Barrett | at June 14, 2016 8:46 pm

The Vancouver Canucks have hired former goalie Dan Cloutier as their new goaltending coach, the team announced Tuesday.

#Canucks name Cloutier goalie coach; Melanson now goalie coach, player dev.

RELEASE → https://t.co/ocOTFpUVpe pic.twitter.com/EW1how2B2E

— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) June 14, 2016

According to the release, former goaltending coach Roland “Rollie” Melanson will now work with the Canucks goaltending prospects in the AHL, CHL, and NCAA. He was the Canucks goaltending coach for the last six seasons, working with Roberto Luongo, Cory Schneider, Eddie Lack, Jacob Markstrom, and Ryan Miller. In April, Melanson announced he would not return for a seventh season in that capacity.

Cloutier has spent the previous four seasons as a goaltending consultant for the Canucks, working with their prospects. He played 208 games with the Canucks between 2000 and 2006, posting 109 wins with a .906SV% and 2.42 GAA.

Of course, we all remember Cloutier for one specific moment of his career:

0 comments Coaches Dan Cloutier Newsstand Vancouver Canucks

Headlines

Dan Cloutier News & Rumors