Vancouver Canucks executive could land GM job with another team
With the Vancouver Canucks at the bottom of the NHL standings, it’s fair to wonder about Patrik Allvin’s job security.
The Canucks current general manager has been at the helm for four years now. During his tenure, the Canucks have made the playoffs once, they’re on their third head coach, and they’ve traded away stars like Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller under his watch.
For argument’s sake, if the Canucks were going to replace Allvin, Ryan Johnson would surely be a leading candidate.
But will another organization poach him first?
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Tuesday during the 32 Thoughts podcast that Johnson could be a candidate for the Nashville Predators’ general manager job.
In fairness, Johnson was mentioned on a long list of potential candidates.
āI think you’re going to see a huge cross-section of contenders, Kyle, from the people who’ve been in big roles before: Brendan Shanahan, Rob Blake, Mark Bergevin,” Friedman said.
“I think the next generation… People like Ryan Martin, Evan Gold, Jamie Langenbruner, Sonny Metta, Ryan Johnson, Ryan Bonus, Scott White, like, you know, even someone like Brad Paschal.ā
It’s certainly been a slow and gradual rise up the ranks for Johnson.
The 49-year-old is the longest-tenured executive left in the Canucks organization. He’s been with the team since Mike Gillis was still in charge, starting in player development before working his way up to assistant general manager.
He helped manufacture the Abbotsford Canucks’ Calder Cup-winning squad last season, something that garnered attention from around the NHL.
CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal mentioned back in September that Johnson was getting interest from around the NHL about being a potential GM candidate.
Of course, there are only 32 of these jobs available. And, like Friedman laid out, Johnson isn’t the only up-and-coming future general manager.
However, now that he’s worked his way up from player development to the Canucks’ assistant general manager, the next step really is to become an NHL GM.
The question is, will that be in Vancouver, or elsewhere?