By: Brayden Fengler / June 28, 2024
It can be hard to keep watching when your team is eliminated from the playoffs. You watch them through thick and thin, community is forged, memories are made, and then just like that, it’s gone. The world keeps spinning, playoff hockey keeps happening as if your team was never there, and it can be hard to keep watching.
If this sounds like your experience then this article is for you. Below is a compressive list of all the moves – big and small – that have been made around this team since their elimination from round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers. Now that lord Stanley’s mug is on vacation in sunny Florida, it’s safe to turn back to the world of hockey and check in on the Canucks.
Canucks Coaching Changes
Changes in Abbotsford
May 24th – It was announced that Abbotsford’s Assistant Coach Gary Agnew and Head Coach Jeremy Colliton would not be staying on with the team. It was reported that Colliton opted on his end not to sign any extensions with the club. Colliton has since taken an assistant coaching role with the New Jersey Devils.
On this day the Canucks named Manny Malhotra head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks. Malhotra has recently been with the Toronto Maple Leafs for four seasons. Regarding his connection to Vancouver, he also worked as a development coach in 2016-17 and as an assistant coach from 2017-2020.
Changes in Vancouver
May 28th – On the proper Canucks, Assistant Coach Mike Yeo and the club mutually parted ways. Yeo was originally brought onto the Canucks in July of 2021 under then-coach Bruce Boudreau.
June 5th – Yogi Švejkovský was promoted to the role of Assistant Coach with the Vancouver Canucks. GM Patrik Allvin cited Yogi’s familiarity with the Canucks’ systems as a key component that will help the Canucks in their coaching transition.
In this same press release, it was also stated that linked to this coaching change was the plan for Henrik and Daniel Sedin to now be more directly involved in on-ice coaching, both in Abbotsford and Vancouver. Also noted was the promotion of Ian Beckenstein from Abbotsford, who will join the Vancouver Canucks as an Assistant Video Coach.
June 10th – Lastly it was announced that Jason Krog would be a new hire, joining the Canucks as a Skills and Skating Coach who will work in both Vancouver and Abbotsford, filling Švejkovský’s previous role. Jason was a seasoned NHL/ AHL player. Beginning his career with the New York Islanders in 1999 and playing his last four NHL games with the Canucks during the 2008-09 season.
Canucks Player Signings/ Extensions
June 18th – Filip Horonek extended his contract with Vancouver. Horonek’s extension marked the first major signing of the off-season. This signing was one of Allvin’s big to-do list items and he got it down for an AAV that did not in fact start with an eight. This deal locks in a solid defence partner for Quinn Hughes as well as the possibility to strengthen multiple defensive lines should the rest of the Canucks roster develop accordingly.
June 19th – A day after Hronek’s deal defenceman Mark Friedman re-upped with the team as well. Friedman has extended his time with the club for one more year at $775k for the year.
June 20th – Patrik Allvin continued to work hard to ensure that analysts had as little as possible to talk about come free agency on July 1st. For the third straight day in a row, Allvin announced new signings, this time it was a two-for-one.
Both right winger Linus Karlsson and right d-man Cole McWard agreed to extend their stay in Vancouver for another year at the $775k price tag.
June 26th – After almost a full week without further signing news, Allvin still wasn’t quite ready to wait until July 1st for more moves. Allvin announced a two-year extension had been reached with Teddy Blueger.
This deal will see Blueger making a cool $100k less each year than he was making last year. However, at 29 years old the term of two years rather than one no doubt made this offer more appealing to Blueger’s camp. It also speaks to Vancouver’s ability to retain players for less than they possibly would’ve gotten on the open market. Only good teams can do that.
June 27th – This day saw another set of double signings, and this time the profile of the two players involved was bigger. The Canucks were able to re-sign both Dakota Joshua and Tyler Myers.
Joshua’s future as a Canuck was one of the most uncertain. Last year Joshua was earning $825k on the final year of his two-year deal. However, coming off of the best season of his career with 32-points to his name and a chemistry developed with Conor Garland that should be studied in a lap, there was no way he’d be making the same money on his new deal. Joshua will now cost the Canucks $13M over four years.
Lastly, the Canucks re-signed Tyler Myers, one of two insanely tall defencemen that the Canucks had becoming free agents this year. Myers has signed on for half the price and nearly half the term compared to his last deal. Jim Benning penned Myers’ last contract ahead of the 2019-20 season, for a cool $6M per year for five years.
Myers proved this season, especially in the playoffs, that he is a key component to this Canucks team, but it was just never at the price that showed up in his bank account every two weeks. However now at an annual hit of $3M, this seems to make sense. Especially if the Canucks continue their postseason appearances.
With these signings out of the way, the Canucks now have Elias Lindholm, Ian Cole, Nikita Zadorov, and Casey DeSmith to either try and re-sign or let go as NHL free agency opens up in only a matter of days.
Trade Tracker
June 26th – During all of the signings in late June, Allvin also had time for one trade. Sam Lafferty and Ilya Mikheyev were both sent to Chicago in the same deal. This deal happened on the same day as the Teddy Blueger extention, and the eve of the Joshua, Myers contracts as well. The Canucks will retain 15% of Mikheyev’s just over $4M salary and have also given the Blackhawks a 2027 2nd-round pick.
The Canucks walk away from this deal with 2027 4th-round pick and $3.325M worth of room in their pockets.
Canucks Awards
May 22nd – A few days after the Canuck’s playoff run formally ended, it was announced that Rick Tocchet was the winner of the Jack Adams Award for NHL coach of the year. Tocchet was the clear front-runner in this category from the outset, having been such a key part in Vancouver’s year-over-year improvement.
June 27th – Quinn Hughes was the only Canuck beyond Tocchet to win an award this year at the NHL Awards. Hughes walked away with the Norris Trophy for the league’s best defenceman and it was more than deserved. Hughes was a Norris front-runner for virtually the entire season. This year Hughes had 17 goals and 75 assists for a total of 92 points. Each number is a personal best for Hughes by a difference of at least 10 in all categories when compared to his best years prior.
Worth Mentioning
June 21st – The Canucks announced their pre-season schedule. If all of this news has gotten you excited for next season, it’s now officially not too early to mark your calendar.