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A new name has popped up on Vancouver Canucks' assistant coach radar

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
May 29 2025, 7:16 pm
A new name has popped up on Vancouver Canucks' assistant coach radar
Kevin Dean (right) worked under Luke Richardson (left) with the Chicago Blackhawks (Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)

You can add another name to the list of Vancouver Canucks assistant coaching candidates.

Kevin Dean is a “possible fit” for Adam Foote’s coaching staff, according to CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal. The 56-year-old has eight years of NHL coaching experience as an assistant. Dean worked under Bruce Cassidy for five seasons with the Boston Bruins before joining the Chicago Blackhawks for three years under Luke Richardson.

The Madison, Wisconsin native also won a gold medal as an assistant coach with Team USA at the World Championship, which Canucks forwards Conor Garland and Drew O’Connor were also part of.

“The Canucks really like this guy,” Dhaliwal said Thursday morning on Donnie and Dhali, adding that a league source told him Dean is a “smart defensive coach” that’s “great with the kids.”

A defenceman in New Jersey, Atlanta, Dallas, and Chicago during his NHL playing days, Dean got his start in coaching back in 2006. He spent nine years in the AHL as an assistant coach and one year as a head coach in the ECHL. His last minor league gig was as head coach of the Providence Bruins, leading them to a 43-23-10 record and a trip to the third round of the AHL playoffs in 2016-17.

Dean seems to tick the boxes that Adam Foote outlined earlier this month. Foote said he’s looking to add both an offensive and a defensive-minded coach to his staff, and Dean could work with the team’s defencemen.

Richardson, along with Bob Boughner, was mentioned as a possible assistant coaching hire by Dhaliwal last week. Those coaches both have NHL head coaching experience, and like Dean, would appear to be candidates to run the defence.

Stay tuned.

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