All signs point to Manny Malhotra being next Vancouver Canucks head coach

It seems like now or never for Manny Malhotra.

The Vancouver Canucks fired head coach Adam Foote, as well as his three assistant coaches, on Tuesday morning. It was the first major move from the new management team of co-presidents Daniel and Henrik Sedin and GM Ryan Johnson.

All eyes now point to Malhotra, who was passed over for the Canucks head coaching job one year ago.

Manny Malhotra led the Abbotsford Canucks to a Calder Cup championship in 2025 (AHL)

If there was ever a job lined up for Malhotra, it’s this one. The 46-year-old is a former teammate of the Sedins in Vancouver and worked closely with the twins and Johnson in Abbotsford.

Malhotra has paid his dues, working seven years as an NHL assistant coach on Travis Green’s staff in Vancouver (2017-18 to 2019-20) and Sheldon Keefe’s staff in Toronto (2020-21 to 2023-24).

Abbotsford won a Calder Cup championship during Malhotra’s first year behind the bench in 2024-25. The Abbotsford Canucks missed the playoffs last season, though that’s understandable given the depleted roster Malhotra was left to work with.

Who better than Malhotra to reset the team’s culture? He’s as well respected as they come around the NHL.

“Culture is huge,” Henrik said last week. “You cannot win without it. That’s impossible. You cannot be sustainable without it.”

Malhotra is also familiar with a number of current Canucks, whom he helped graduate from the AHL to the NHL. He seems quite capable of handling the Vancouver media market, too.

We’ll see if the Canucks conduct an extensive search, but it would be a surprise if they don’t promote Malhotra. As a rebuilding team, this isn’t likely a desirable landing spot for a highly touted veteran coach like Bruce Cassidy. The Canucks could opt for a less accomplished veteran coach, but that comes with the risk of the unknown.

So if they’re open to a first-time NHL bench boss, why wouldn’t they hire Malhotra?

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