Mike Yeo out as Canucks assistant coach in surprise move
The Vancouver Canucks announced today they’ve mutually agreed to part ways with assistant coach Mike Yeo.
The move comes as a bit of a surprise as Yeo was part of the staff that helped the Canucks orchestrate a massive standings turnaround this past season. The entire staff got a lot of praise, and while it was head coach Rick Tocchet who won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year, he passed a lot of the credit off to the rest of the coaches.
Yeo was hired as an assistant coach back in July 2022 when Bruce Boudreau was the head coach.
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has mutually parted ways with Assistant Coach, Mike Yeo.
The organization would like to thank Mike for all his work the past two seasons. pic.twitter.com/OHvUuk3SjO
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 28, 2024
Yeo has a long history of NHL coaching experience as he was the main bench boss for the Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, and Philadelphia Flyers at different times in the past.
Yeo had a lot of responsibility when it came to the team’s penalty kill. The unit was much improved this season and did a great job when it mattered most in the playoffs.
While he did have better personnel at his disposal, Yeo helped take a unit that was historically bad and made it strong enough to help the team win games. Even when faced with the tall task of slowing down the Edmonton Oilers power play in the second round, Yeo’s unit did a solid job.
The Canucks offered Yeo an extension, but he turned it down, per Sportsnet’s Satiar Shah. Thus, there was interest from the team in having him return.
The team now has a vacancy on its coaching staff that needs to be filled. While the penalty kill was much improved this season, the power play had its fair share of struggles and acquiring a coach who specializes in that area could help the Canucks greatly.
More to come…
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