Vancouver Canucks interested in hiring NHL's first female assistant coach: report
The Sedins and Ryan Johnson have gotten to work during their three weeks on the job.
Since officially taking over on May 14, the new management group has fired Adam Foote and his assistants. They replaced Foote, unsurprisingly, with Manny Malhotra. Johnson also made his first signing on Tuesday by inking KHL prospect Ilya Safonov to a one-year deal.
Surely, though, one of the next jobs will be to finish filling out Malhotra’s staff behind the bench.
According to Elliotte Friedman, they may already have one candidate tabbed for a role in the organization.
“The Abbotsford job is going to open up,” Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast. “I have heard some early rumors that the Canucks may have some interest in Jessica Campbell.”
Campbell has been a trailblazer in the coaching world. In 2022, she became the first woman to be an assistant coach at the men’s world championships, where she hopped behind the bench for Germany. Campbell then became the first woman assistant coach in the AHL back in 2022 with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Seattle Kraken’s farm team.
Then, in 2024, she was the first woman to ever coach on an NHL bench. Campbell was the Kraken’s assistant coach for the last two seasons. She departed the organization in April to “explore other coaching roles.”
Campbell’s strengths as a coach appear to come in the skating and skills departments. She had her own business as a skating coach back, where she coached NHLers such as Mat Barzal and Luke Schenn. Campbell ran her business out of her offseason home base in Kelowna, adding fuel to the fire that perhaps she’d be interested in returning to British Columbia on a more permanent basis.
Jessica Campbell is the first woman in league history to coach behind an NHL bench. (Sergei Belski/Imagn Images)
“I’m a big believer in adding value to each player’s game through skating or skills,” Campbell said back in 2022. “But the work has to connect and make sense with the individual player.”
Like many coaches nowadays, Campbell prioritizes building relationships with individuals on a team.
“I’m a big believer in communication and showing compassion for the players of where they’re at and, especially when it gets hard,” she said in 2024.
“The process has to be a human process…getting to know [players] as people and building that trust. I think that is a strength of mine.
“I think there’s strength in being vulnerable with players and creating a space where they can talk about their greatest challenges, whether that’s on the ice or off the ice.”
Campbell primarily worked with the forwards, both in the AHL and NHL, while coaching on the power play as well. While Coachella’s power play was on fire under Campbell, the Kraken had the 25th-best power play in the league over the last two seasons with the 34-year-old at the helm. However, a lack of talent certainly played into their below-average efficiency.
Regardless, there is seemingly a fit here for Campbell in Vancouver. The question may be, will she join Malhotra behind the Canucks bench, or could she be a candidate to take over Abotsford’s head coaching job?
Friedman also noted in his report that the Kraken and Canucks could inadvertently swap old staff.
“There could be like a trade here,” he said. “You know, Patrik Allvin going to Seattle, and Jessica Campbell going to Vancouver.”
“Although you can’t make executive and coach trades anymore, it’s like, maybe they’ll pass each other on the I-5 from Vancouver to Seattle.”
Allvin was rumoured to potentially join the Kraken front office previously, with Friedman citing his ties to Seattle GM Jason Botteril.