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Canucks Sign Tom Willander To Entry-Level Contract

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The Canucks announced they’ve signed Tom Willander, the organization’s top defense prospect, to a three-year, entry-level contract beginning next season. The deal carries a $950K cap hit with an $855K base salary and a $95K signing bonus each year, per PuckPedia.

It’s been a rocky few months for Vancouver and Willander, whom they selected No. 11 overall in the 2023 draft. After a repeat performance of his strong freshman performance at Boston University in his sophomore year in 2024-25, most expected he’d turn pro with the Canucks as soon as BU’s season ended.

That didn’t happen, and reporting quickly indicated a rift in contract talks related to how much they were willing to give Willander in Schedule A performance bonuses. General manager Patrik Allvin even said shortly thereafter that Willander informed them he planned to return to BU for his junior season. Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK reports Willander’s ELC affords him up to $800K in A bonuses each season, short of the $1MM max but above the $475K they entered talks with, Dhaliwal said last month. PuckPedia confirms his deal averages $800K in A bonuses per season – up to $500K in 2025-26, $900K in 2026-27, and the maximum $1MM in 2027-28.

Willander, 20, will now have the chance to make the Canucks’ roster out of camp in the fall. He’ll begin his professional career with AHL Abbotsford if he doesn’t. Signing his contract prohibits him from returning to college, and since he’s a first-round pick, Vancouver doesn’t have to offer the Swede on loan to the Swedish Hockey League team that owns his rights (Rogle BK) before assigning him to the minors.

A 6’1″, 190-lb righty, Willander has good offensive tools but isn’t an all-out point producer. He plays more of a well-rounded game and racked up a +57 rating in 77 games over two years with the Terriers, including six goals and 43 assists for 49 points. He was named to Hockey East’s Second All-Star Team in each of his two collegiate seasons.

Willander has also done well for his country at the last two World Junior Championships, posting eight points and a +12 rating in 14 games. While Sweden didn’t medal at this year’s tournament, he won a silver medal with them last year. He ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Canucks’ system behind winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki in Scott Wheeler of The Athletic’s most recent team-by-team breakdown. He’ll first be eligible for restricted free agency in 2028.

Canucks To Name Adam Foote Head Coach

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12:27 p.m.: Vancouver made Foote’s hiring official in short order. General manager Patrik Allvin had the following statement:

Adam is a strong leader, good teacher and person who knows what it takes to build a great culture and winning attitude. His past experiences on the ice have translated nicely into a coaching style that fits our organization’s goals and vision. He has worked extremely hard the past few years, gaining our players respect and trust for his strong communication and honest straight forward opinion. He knows this group better than anyone else we interviewed and has inside knowledge and understanding of what it will take to get us back to where we want to be. Adam brings structure, accountability, and a detailed oriented approach to his coaching, a process that will send a clear message to our group about the way we want to compete, practice, and play hockey. We are very happy to have him take over as the new Head Coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

11:50 a.m.: The Canucks will promote assistant coach Adam Foote to fill their head coaching vacancy, according to Darren Dreger of TSN. Foote’s deal will run for three seasons, per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK.

Foote joined the Canucks’ bench midway through the 2022-23 season, hired alongside Rick Tocchet – the man he’s replacing as bench boss in Vancouver. It was his first NHL coaching job in a sparse staff resume since ending his playing career in 2011. Before being hired by Vancouver, Foote’s only behind-the-bench experience came with some of the Avalanche’s youth programs in 2014-15 and the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets from 2018 to 2020.

The 53-year-old Foote’s duties under Tocchet, who’s now landing a head coaching role with the Flyers, mainly revolved around team defense. Of course, Foote was a top-20 rearguard in his prime for the Avalanche around the turn of the century, routinely averaging upwards of 25 minutes per game and leveraging his 6’2″, 220-lb frame to be one of the league’s most effective two-way defenders. As for his success in Vancouver, the Canucks played an extremely low-event style this year – but it did yield above-average results defensively.

While Vancouver ranked 18th in the league with 3.06 goals against per game, other metrics were quite promising. Their 82.6 penalty kill percentage this year ranked third, and they also ranked in the top 10 in shots, shot attempts, expected goals, scoring chances, and high-danger chances against per game at 5-on-5.

Generating enough offense was the Canucks’ biggest issue last season, making a defense-focused hire in Foote an eye-opening decision at first glance. It seems they’ll do the heavy lifting to fix that problem later in the summer with player personnel changes, not coaching staff ones.

With the Canucks promoting Foote, four coaching vacancies remain ahead of the 2025-26 season: the Blackhawks, Bruins, Penguins, and Kraken.

Image courtesy of Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images.

Canucks Coaching Race Coming Down To Manny Malhotra, Adam Foote

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The Vancouver Canucks are nearing the final days of their search for a new head coach after Rick Tocchet opted to part ways with the club this summer. The race for next-man-up has come down to NHL assistant coach Adam Foote and AHL head coach Manny Malhotra, per Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News. The report was seconded by Patrick Johnston of The Province on Bluesky.

No matter which candidate Vancouver chooses, these reports emphasize the club’s desire to promote an internal candidate rather than search externally. That sentiment can definitely be appreciated, after Vancouver hired Tocchet and Malhotra, promoted Jaroslav Svejkovsky to NHL assistant coach, and added two AHL assistant coaches all just one year ago.

Neither Malhotra nor Foote have had much work behind a pro bench. Malhotra’s coaching career started in an assistant role with Vancouver in 2017-18, just three years after he spent his final NHL games in Montreal. Malhotra served behind the Canucks bench for three years before moving back across Canada to join the Toronto Maple Leafs for four years of the same role. He returned last summer and inspired a strong push from the Abbotsford Canucks this season. With Malhotra at the helm, Abbotsford pushed to a 44-24-4 record – good for second in the AHL’s Western Conference. They’re set to take on the only Western Conference team to outperform them – the Colorado Eagles – in the AHL’s Pacific Division Finals. That playoff race might delay, or dictate, any incoming promotion for Malhotra, despite Johnston suggesting he was the slight favorite.

Foote finds himself in a spot that’d be familiar to Malhotra – currently fielding coaching offers after spending three years as a Vancouver assistant coach. The past three seasons have been the first of Foote’s pro coaching career, and come over 10 years after he retired from the NHL in 2010-11. Foote was a hard-nosed and calculated bruiser during his playing days. He pushed to two Stanley Cup wins and 142 games of playoff experience with the Colorado Avalanche from 1995 to 2004. Foote served a perennial top-four role and, while he never scored more than 31 points in a single season, his presence was simply imposing for the opposite team – evidence by his 1,534 penalty minutes in 1,154 career NHL games. He’s now a fundamental guard of the troops who would bring Cup-winning experience and 1,000 games of experience to Vancouver’s head coach role. Malhotra can’t claim either benefit, with 991 career NHL games and a 2000 Calder Cup win standing as his only pro championship.

No matter which candidate they land on, Vancouver seems destined to invest in a rookie head coach for the 2025-26 season. Their options range in playing and coaching expertise, but both have deep roots in the Canucks organization. That fact could keep the loser of the head coaching race in the organization as an NHL assistant, unless they find new options elsewhere.

Canucks GM Allvin States Team Is Interested In Retaining Brock Boeser

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin appeared to extend an olive branch to soon-to-be free agent Brock Boeser, adding another twist to their ongoing saga, per Patrick Johnston of The Province.

Allvin met with season ticket holders and answered some questions from the fanbase, with several directed at the ongoing situation involving Boeser. On one hand, Allvin has been clear the team needs to acquire goal scorers. On the other, the franchise and Boeser have been at odds over a potential contract negotiation. So, where does the franchise stand on the idea of keeping Boeser in Vancouver? Allvin simply stated, “We’re going to see if there’s a chance to keep Brock Boeser.”

If Allvin’s words hold weight, the Canucks still have time to negotiate a contract extension with Brock Boeser and his agent, Ben Hankinson. The challenge, however, is that at this stage in the process, a hometown discount seems unlikely. With free agency fast approaching, Vancouver will likely need to match, or exceed, the going market rate to retain their star forward.

Boeser was a big name during the trade deadline, but a rich asking price kept him with the Canucks for the remainer of the season. Then in April, Boeser acknowledged that the chances of re-signing with Vancouver beyond this season were unlikely. He said at the time: “Honestly, it’s unlikely at this point. It sucks, it’s unfortunate. I’m just trying to play good hockey, and then I’ll worry about everything after that. We all know it’s been a roller coaster of a year. There’s been a lot of different things.”

In late February, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported that Boeser declined a five-year, $40MM extension. This would have represented a raise on his expiring contract, but maybe isn’t what Hankinson believes Boeser can get on the open market, especially with the salary cap set to climb. However, Boeser’s production (25 goals and 50 points) did not match his 2023-24 results of a career-highs of 40 goals and 73 points. It will be interesting to see what kind of deal Boeser signs this offseason—and where he ultimately lands.

Canucks Made Tocchet A Generous Offer

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  • Rick Tocchet’s departure from the Vancouver Canucks had nothing to do with their recent extension offer. Tocchet’s agent, Steve Mountain, said (via Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic), “They stepped up, made the decision hard, you can not say the Canucks did not extend themselves.” Mountain’s comments imply that the Canucks were prepared to make Tocchet one of the league’s highest-paid coaches, and they may be willing to extend a similar offer to one of their favorite coaching candidates this summer.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Manny Malhotra Will Be Considered For Canucks' Coaching Vacancy

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  • The Vancouver Canucks may not look outside the organization for their next head coach. In today’s press conference following the departure of former head coach Rick Tocchet, President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford said that Manny Malhotra is on the team’s short list. Aside from spending three years with the Canucks as a player, Malhotra has additionally spent three years as an assistant coach with the club and this season as the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Rick Tocchet Not Returning As Canucks Head Coach

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3:13 p.m.: Vancouver has formally announced Tocchet’s departure.

2:33 p.m.: The Canucks will not pick up head coach Rick Tocchet’s club option despite failing to come to terms on an extension, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Vancouver will now begin the search for a new bench boss.

President of hockey operations Jim Rutherford confirmed last week that the Canucks wouldn’t rope Tocchet into his club option regardless of whether they agreed on a new deal, so today’s news isn’t entirely out of the blue. Either the Canucks or Tocchet are expected to release a statement with his reasoning against extending his time in Vancouver later today, Friedman relays.

While Vancouver expressed interest in keeping Tocchet and was willing to pay up to do so, it’s not surprising to see at least one of the two sides decide that a split was the best way forward. The Canucks had an incredibly disappointing 2024-25 campaign, falling to a 38-30-14 record and missing the playoffs after recording a 50-win season and winning the Pacific Division in 2023-24. That campaign earned Tocchet Coach of the Year honors, but that hasn’t meant a ton for a coach’s long-term future with their club as of late.

It’s too early to say who might succeed Tocchet in British Columbia. Internal options could include assistant coach Adam Foote or AHL head coach Manny Malhotra. As for Tocchet, the Flyers have had their eye on his situation ever since firing John Tortorella with weeks left in the campaign. They’ll presumably be aggressive in bringing him back to the city in which he spent 11 of his 18 seasons as a player.

Tocchet ends his stint in Vancouver with a 108-65-27 (.608) record across two and a half seasons. He was initially brought in midway through the 2022-23 campaign after the Canucks fired Bruce Boudreau. In 2024-25, major regression from the since-traded J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, along with injuries to 2024 Vezina finalist Thatcher Demko and top-pair defenseman Filip Hronek, were simply too much to handle for Tocchet to keep the club afloat.

The Canucks are now the eighth active head coach vacancy, joining the Blackhawks, Bruins, Ducks, Flyers, Kraken, Penguins, and Rangers.

Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports.

Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, Zach Werenski Named Norris Trophy Finalists

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The Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, the Avalanche’s Cale Makar, and the Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski are the 2024-25 Norris Trophy finalists for the NHL’s top defenseman, per a league announcement.

There are no surprises in this triumvirate. While it’s likely to be a closer race than yesterday’s Vezina Trophy announcement, Makar’s the frontrunner after setting a new career high with 30 goals and 92 points in 80 games. Now a Norris finalist five times in six years to begin his career, the 26-year-old became the first rearguard since Mike Green in 2008-09 to hit the 30-goal mark. He was the first to also eclipse 90 points in the same year since Paul Coffey in 1988-89.

Makar’s defensive impacts also rebounded after a strikingly pedestrian 2023-24 season in his own end. He posted a 56.6 CF% at even strength and a 59.4 xGF%, the latter standing as a career-high over a non-shortened season. He’s finished third in Norris voting the last two years after winning the award in 2022, but he’s almost certainly set to get back into the top two.

If not for an oblique injury taking a bite out of his campaign, Hughes would have more of a chance to win back-to-back Norris Trophies for the first time since Nicklas Lidström’s three-peat from 2006 to 2008. The 5’10” lefty matched the 1.12 points-per-game rate that won him the honors last year and finished the year with 16-60–76 in 68 games, his fourth straight campaign above the 60-assist mark. Hughes’ 25:44 time on ice per game trailed only Werenski among skaters.

As for Werenski, he becomes the first defenseman in Blue Jackets franchise history to earn a Norris nomination. The 27-year-old finished eighth in voting in 2019-20 but hasn’t received any consideration since then. He exploded back onto the scene in 2024-25, driving Columbus’ resurgent seventh-ranked offense with a team-high 82 points in 81 games. His 1.01 points per game were third in the league behind Makar and Hughes, but a higher percentage of his offensive production came at even strength. 35 and 29 of Makar’s and Hughes’ points came with the man advantage, while Werenski had only 25 power-play points and matched Makar’s 54 even-strength points to lead defensemen. Werenski also led defensemen with 298 shots on goal and ranked third in the league overall.

Update On Rick Tocchet's Future In Vancouver

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  • Elsewhere, Friedman also mentioned that multiple teams seem to be working from a similar shortlist of coaching candidates—a list that, for several, includes Rick Tocchet. While Friedman doesn’t believe Tocchet has been granted permission by the Canucks to talk with other teams, he did key in on a piece of information president of hockey operations Jim Rutheford spoke on in a press conference recently. Rutherford acknowledged that the Canucks currently lack a dedicated practice facility—something Friedman believes Tocchet may have expressed frustration about. With positions available in Philly and Pittsburgh, Tocchet has ties with a few franchises currently looking for a head coach, so it will be interesting to see how things play out in Vancouver.

Canucks And Prospect Tom Willander Remain In Contract Dispute

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Vancouver Canucks prospect Tom Willander remains in contract limbo and is currently wondering what his future holds, per Cam Robinson of eliteprospects.com.

Willander, a 20-year-old defenseman from Stockholm, Sweden, was drafted 11th overall by the Canucks in the 2023 NHL Draft. He spent the last two seasons at Boston University and has developed into one of the top two-way defensive prospects thanks to his combination of speed and high hockey IQ. In his sophomore season, he recorded 21 points (2 goals, 19 assists) and a plus-16 rating in 33 games. In two seasons at Boston University, he has registered 51 points and a plus-47 rating.

However, as Robinson points out, Willander and the Canucks remain in the dispute over the bonuses he should receive in his entry-level contract (reportedly thought to be approximately $200,000). On Friday, Willander said he has simply asked the team to include the bonuses in his entry-level deal and that no other stipulations have been requested (such as a demand to start in the NHL). Willander also noted that he held off on joining the Swedish National Team, per the Canucks’ request, at least until negotiations continued to stall. Willander eventually decided to join the team in hopes of participating at the 2025 IIHF World Championships.

“They asked us earlier in the season. The Canucks didn’t want us to play there,” Willander said.  “But then as time moved on, it became viable so we decided ‘okay, it could be fun to play games with really good players.”

There were also conflicting reports between the player the team regarding where he’ll play next season. As recent as last week, the Canucks stated in a press conference that Willander would be returning to college for another season. However, as Willander told Robinson, he believes he’s ready to move on from college hockey, noting that it’s no longer the “perfect spot” for him.

Through it all, Willander said he’s trying to stay objective through the process and noted that his goal is to still to play in the NHL with Vancouver. He said that he likes the players and people he has met throughout the organization. It’s just a matter of if a deal can be reached at this point. And as Willander added, “I haven’t even thought about it hypothetically because it’s not close to being a done deal.”

 

 

 

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