Vancouver Canucks narrowing coach shortlist and two names have emerged
The Vancouver Canucks seem to be narrowing down their list of candidates in their coaching search.
The club has been looking for a new head coach for next season since Rick Tocchet rejected their $25 million offer and elected to test the open market instead.
This has left the Canucks searching for what will be their fourth head coach in four years. It’s not an enviable position but it’s the one that the Canucks find themselves in.
The good news for the Canucks is that the hiring process seems to be moving along. They are reportedly on the verge of cutting down their list of candidates to just a few names.
And it sounds like Manny Malhotra and Marco Sturm will be finalists for the job.
“I believe they did a whole bunch of interviews last week. Malholtra’s name obviously is there, Marco Sturm’s name got out, and I think that’s pretty legitimate,” said Elliotte Friedman on Donnie & Dhali.Ā
“I believe that this week the Canucks are going to try to drop to shortlist of three or four candidates. I would think that Sturm would be on that list. I would think that Malhotra would be on that list and then probably one or two more.”
The Canucks interviewed a larger group of potential coaches last week and are cutting down the list to just a few names for the second round soon according to Friedman.
Malhotra has been one of the leading candidates since Tocchet announced he was leaving. President of hockey operations Jim Rutherford publicly confirmed that Malhotra would be on the shortlist when the team started its search.
The former Canucks player has experience as an assistant at the NHL level and this year took over his first professional bench for the first time. His debut season as a professional head coach has gone very well. He’s got the Abbotsford Canucks deep in the playoffs and many of the team’s prospects played very well when called up to the NHL.
Keeping Malhotra would bring some measure of continuity to the Canucks. Many of the team’s young players have experienced him in Abbotsford and seem to like his style.
Sturm has emerged more recently but seems to be a serious candidate. He has led the AHL’s Ontario Reign to the playoffs in each of the past three seasons and was an assistant at the NHL level with the Los Angeles Kings.
The Canucks are not the only team that has been connected to Sturm and he’s viewed as an up-and-coming coach. The Boston Bruins are also reportedly interested in Sturm.
The Canucks seem to be getting close to deciding on a head coach. Once done, that’ll be a significant step completed and allow the organization to focus on filling out their roster ahead of next season.