Canucks Name Manny Malhotra Head Coach After Finishing Last in Standings and Trading Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller
The Vancouver Canucks promoted Manny Malhotra from their AHL affiliate to NHL head coach on Monday. The move follows the promotion of Ryan Johnson to general manager and the appointment of Daniel and Henrik Sedin as co-presidents of hockey operations.
winnipegfreepress.comThe Vancouver Canucks named Manny Malhotra head coach on Monday. Malhotra, 46, spent the past two seasons coaching the team's AHL affiliate in Abbotsford. Malhotra led the Abbotsford Canucks to consecutive playoff appearances and the Calder Cup championship in 2025.
The title marked the first time a Canucks AHL affiliate won the league championship. ESPN reported that Malhotra, whose father is from India, is believed to be the first head coach of South Asian descent in NHL history. Malhotra began his coaching career with the Canucks organization in 2016 as a development coach for one season.
He served three seasons as an assistant coach for Vancouver before spending three seasons in the same role with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He returned to the Canucks in 2024 to coach Abbotsford. The Canucks promoted Ryan Johnson to general manager more than two weeks before June 2, 2026.
Johnson had been with the organization since the 2013-14 season and served as assistant general manager for the past two seasons. "Manny and I have been in the battle together before, so I know firsthand what a good teacher, leader, and quality person he is," Johnson said in a statement. "Connection, consistency and putting in place the proper foundation will be key for our group moving forward.
The Canucks also named Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin co-presidents of hockey operations. The twins, who spent their entire playing careers with Vancouver, replaced Jim Rutherford, who remains with the franchise as an adviser and alternate governor. The personnel changes come after the Canucks finished last in the standings, a sharp decline from being one game out of the Western Conference finals 18 months earlier.
The 2024-25 season was derailed by injuries and inconsistency. T. Miller was traded to the New York Rangers in January 2025 after internal issues with Elias Pettersson became public. 8 million contract in March 2024.
Rick Tocchet left the Canucks to become head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. Tocchet led Philadelphia to the second round of the playoffs in his first season. Adam Foote replaced Tocchet as Vancouver's head coach before the team traded Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild in December for Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren, Marco Rossi and a 2026 first-round pick.
The Canucks also traded David Kampf, Tyler Myers, Lukas Reichel and Kiefer Sherwood ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
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