Afternoon Notes: Tuch, Andersson, Kraken Hires
According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Alex Tuch appears more likely to be heading to the open market.
The 30-year-old winger ended his 2025-26 season scoring 33 goals for 66 points in 79 games played with the Buffalo Sabres. In the final season of his current contract, fifth in Buffalo, the Syracuse, NY native added seven points in 13 playoff games to cap off his seven-year, $33.25MM ($4.75MM AAV) contract. Back at the Sabres breakup day, Tuch said he had an interest in returning to Buffalo, and general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen expressed that he wants him back in exit interviews. Contract talks were put on hold during the playoffs, but it appears as though things aren’t promising for a reunion.
LeBrun referenced two recent eight-year extensions in comparison to this situation with Nick Schmaltz‘s $64MM ($8MM AAV) deal with the Utah Mammoth, which will end when he turns 38, and the $85MM ($10.625MM AAV) deal with Adrian Kempe staying in Los Angeles till he is 37. He thinks the Sabres GM doesn’t see Tuch as a double-digit valued player.
Additional notes:
- Shayna Goldman of The Athletic dissected Rasmus Andersson‘s current situation and his ability to cash in. Goldman referred to other players who have a key similar attribute to Andersson, like Jacob Trouba, Connor Murphy, Andrew Peeke, Connor Clifton, Dylan Coghlan, etc; they’re right-handed. Aside from Darren Raddysh, whose 70 points in 73 games this season had a UFA defenseman’s best $14K cost-per-point, Andersson is listed as the only other shiny option among those rare options within their primes but noted that given Andersson’s lackluster Stanley Cup Final performance, he could be a risky bet for a team to pay for on the open market. His average annual market value is as low as $6.8MM and as high as $9.65MM, per Evolving-Hockey.
- The Seattle Kraken have hired two assistants to the young-franchise’s front office and bench. They announced they’re bringing on former Vancouver Canucks GM Patrik Allvin, who was a 2024 finalist for NHL GM of the Year in that role, and Pascal Vincent, who, for the last two years, has been head coach for the Laval Rocket, where he won his second AHL Coach of the Year in 2025. Allvin, 51, joins forces with current Kraken GM and Executive VP of Hockey Operations Jason Botterill. Both spent 10 years together in Pittsburgh, including a Stanley Cup victory in 2009 and back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017 while Botterill was assistant GM. Vincent, 54, was an NHL assistant coach for seven seasons, five with the Winnipeg Jets (2011 to 2016), two with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2021 to 2023), where he also served one year as their head coach in 2023-24.
Canucks To Promote Ryan Johnson
5/14/26: The Canucks’ promotion of Johnson to the GM position will be announced today, Frank Seravalli of Victory+ reports. CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal added that in today’s announcement, the Sedin twins will be elevated to new roles as co-presidents, presumably of hockey operations.
5/12/26: The Vancouver Canucks are expected to promote Abbotsford Canucks General Manager Ryan Johnson sometime in the near future. The anticipation is that the position will be that of either Director of Hockey Operations or General Manager, as reported by Rick Dhaliwal of Cheknews. Dhaliwal also stated that both Daniel and Henrik Sedin will have a big say in the final decision that will be a pivotal one for the Canucks’ front office.
The search itself has been an extensive one, with Canucks ownership and front office interviewing more than 15 candidates before narrowing the field. In recent weeks, the race had reportedly come down to Johnson and Boston Bruins assistant GM Evan Gold, before momentum shifted decisively in Johnson’s favor, and Dhaliwal reported he does not believe Gold remains in the mix.
The search to fill key front office vacancies has been ongoing for the last month following the dismissal of former GM Patrik Allvin. Adding to the shake-up, the team announced last week that President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford will also be stepping down from his role, though he will remain with the organization in an advisory capacity and as an alternate governor.
The changes in Vancouver do not come as a shock following an extremely disappointing 2025-26 season. The Canucks finished the season a staggering 25-49-8 with 58 points, which was last in the NHL by 14 points. Moreover, the Canucks were forced to part with franchise defenseman Quinn Hughes back in December, after he indicated he had no intention of re-signing with the team.
Johnson is no stranger to the NHL or to the Canucks organization. After wrapping up a 701-game playing career in 2011, he found his way back into the game in 2013-14, rejoining his former team of two seasons as a development coach. He climbed the ranks quickly: promoted to Assistant Director of Player Development within two years before being handed the reins of Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, as General Manager in 2017. When the affiliate relocated in 2021, Johnson became the first GM in Abbotsford Canucks history. Two years later, Patrik Allvin promoted him to Assistant General Manager in Vancouver while keeping him on in his role with Abbotsford. Across five seasons as Abbotsford GM, Johnson has compiled a 191-134-31 record and captured a Calder Cup in 2024-25.
With the 2026 NHL Draft Combine just weeks away and Vancouver holding the third overall pick, whoever ends up running hockey operations won’t have much time to settle in. Johnson, if officially named, will inherit a roster in transition, a fan base running thin on patience, and the heavy task of building the Canucks’ first Stanley Cup contender in over a decade.
Canucks Sign Defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph
The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to a one-year contract worth $775,000, per a team release.
The former first-round pick (23rd overall in the 2017 NHL Draft) joins Vancouver after skating in 194 career games over five NHL seasons. Joseph spent time with both the St. Louis Blues and Pittsburgh Penguins last season, the latter reacquiring him midway through the year. In 47 games between the two teams, he recorded just three assists and finished with a minus-22 rating.
During the 2022–23 season with the Penguins—his first full NHL campaign—Joseph displayed the potential that made him a first-round pick, setting career highs in games played (75), goals (five), points (21), and plus/minus (plus-eight). However, he has been unable to replicate that level of success in the seasons since.
It’s worth noting that Jim Rutherford, now the Canucks’ president of hockey operations, was the Penguins’ GM when they brought in Joseph as part of the trade that sent Phil Kessel to the Coyotes. The deal also reunites Joseph, 26, with former teammate Marcus Pettersson. The Canucks appear set in their top four with Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Tyler Myers, and Pettersson, but Joseph could compete for a role on the third pairing or, at the very least, provide the organization with a reliable depth option on the blue line.
“Pierre-Olivier has good speed and mobility and will add to our depth on the back end. His addition gives us a player with some solid NHL and pro hockey experience, he is comfortable playing both sides, and he won a world championship with Tyler Myers in 2023. We look forward to getting him here to start working with our group,” said GM Patrik Allvin.
Canucks Sign Patrik Allvin To Multi-Year Extension
11:04 a.m.: It’s a three-year deal for Allvin, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports. Allvin will be under contract through 2027, the same term as Rutherford.
10:02 a.m.: The Canucks have signed general manager Patrik Allvin to a multi-year extension, per a team announcement Wednesday.
Allvin, 49, celebrated his two-year anniversary in the GM role for Vancouver last Friday. He’d previously worked under Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford with the Penguins, first in scouting roles from 2012 to 2020 before being promoted to an assistant GM role ahead of the 2020-21 campaign.
Pittsburgh named Allvin their interim GM after Rutherford resigned in Jan. 2021, although that lasted for only 12 days until they brought in Ron Hextall for an ill-fated run in the manager’s chair. When Rutherford found a new home as president of hockey operations in Vancouver later that year, he appointed Allvin GM shortly thereafter.
In a short time, Allvin’s work has kicked the Canucks’ decade-long span of middling performances to the curb, seemingly ushering in an era of contention with an Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes-led core. The Canucks are 8-0-2 in their last ten games and would win the President’s Trophy if the season ended today, boasting a 33-11-5 record through 49 games at the All-Star break.
His two largest signings, a seven-year, $56MM deal for J.T. Miller and a three-year, $19.95MM deal for Brock Boeser, have paid off in spades this season. The deals faced a fair bit of criticism when they were signed in the summer of 2022, but Miller is tied for fourth in the NHL with 67 points, and Boeser is tied for sixth with 30 goals.
Allvin’s biggest free-agent splash, a four-year, $19MM deal for Ilya Mikheyev in 2022, has been a decent bit of business as well. Now healthy, the 29-year-old is on pace for 18 goals and 42 points this year.
He’s also made 19 trades during his tenure as GM, notably sending captain Bo Horvat to the Islanders in Jan. 2023 for depth winger Anthony Beauvillier, center prospect Aatu Räty, and a 2023 first-round pick. That first-round selection was later packaged with a second-round pick and sent to the Red Wings for Filip Hronek, who sits fifth on the team in scoring with 36 points in 49 games and has formed arguably the league’s best defense pairing alongside Hughes this season. Beauvillier was later flipped to the Blackhawks for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2024.
Allvin’s signature moment in Vancouver is still ahead of him, though. The 25-year-old Pettersson is still a pending RFA and needs a new deal to return to the Canucks next season. He’ll earn well north of his $8.82MM qualifying offer on a longer-term deal.
The team has not confirmed the length of Allvin’s extension, although they recently signed Rutherford to a three-year deal carrying him through the 2026-27 season.