Welcome to the Vancouver Canucks News & Rumors. In this edition, Henrik and Daniel Sedin have new roles within the organization. The Dallas Stars are considering former Canucks head coach Travis Green as a candidate for their vacant head coach job and an update on Michael Ferland’s future.
Sedins Get New Role
The Canucks announced they’ve added four people to their player development staff. The Sedin twins are two of those people, alongside former teammate Mikael Samuelsson and former NHL defenceman Mike Komisarek. The Sedins joined the Canucks as special advisors under former general manager (GM) Jim Benning last year and continued under current GM Patrik Allvin. The two will work daily on and off the ice with young players in Vancouver and Abbotsford.
“We’re pleased to have solidified our Player Development department for next season with the additions of Mikael Samuelsson and Mike Komisarek, as well as Daniel and Henrik Sedin,” Allvin said. “Cammi Granato and Ryan Johnson led an extensive search to find the individuals with the right attributes, winning pedigrees, and who fit the overall strategy of the Vancouver Canucks moving forward.”
Samuelsson returns to Vancouver after serving as the GM of Södertälje SK in the HockeyAllsvenskan league from 2019-20 to 2021-22. He also spent time as a European development coach with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2017-18 to 2019-20. Meanwhile, Komisarek spent three seasons as a player development coach with the Buffalo Sabres from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
Allvin views player development as a critical part of a successful organization. The Pittsburgh Penguins, the team Allvin spent most of his career with, is a great example of this. The club was able to maximize the talents of their mid-round picks in players such as Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzal. Meanwhile, the Canucks haven’t had much luck with developing their mid-round picks over the past few years. With Henrik and Daniel’s new role and the addition of Samuelsson and Komisarek to the department, the Canucks are starting to emphasize player development in hopes that they will get more out of their mid-round picks and create depth throughout the organization.
Canucks to Add to Coaching Staff
The Athletic’s Thomas Drance reported the Canucks intend to hire both a video coach and an additional coach to serve as an eye-in-the-sky (from ‘Canucks notebook: A glimpse inside the expansion of the Canucks’ player development department,’ The Athletic, May 21, 2022). The Canucks hope to build a coaching staff with a bit more chemistry than the one the club had last season.
Related: 4 Canucks Who May Not Return for the 2022-23 Season
The Canucks announced changes to their coaching staff earlier last week. The team decided to move on from assistant coaches Scott Walker, Kyle Gustafson, and video coach Darryl Seward, while Brad Shaw and Jason King will resume their current roles.
Green Potential Coaching Candidate for Stars
Stars owner Tom Gaglardi told Donnie and Dhali that former Canucks head coach Green will be a candidate for the team’s vacant head coach role. Former Stars head coach Rick Bowness stepped down after the club was eliminated from the playoffs in seven games by the Calgary Flames.
Green joins a long list of coaches the organization is talking to as there are a few big coaching names out there, including Barry Trotz, Pete DeBoer and Claude Julien. The Canucks fired Green, who was in his fifth season behind the bench with the club after they started the season with an 8-15-2 record.
Ferland Decides Against Returning
Donnie and Dhali provided an update on Ferland, who hasn’t seen NHL action since the 2019-20 season. The forward called former Canuck Gino Odjick about returning.
“He’s doing good,” said Odjick. “He asked me, ‘what should I do? Should I come back or not?’
“I told him no…You should worry about your quality of life. But he wants to come back to training camp and give it a try and I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I’d be surprised if he passed his physical.”
Ferland’s agent later told Rick Dhaliwal the forward has decided against returning. The Canucks signed Ferland to a four-year deal with an average annual value of $3.5 million before the 2019-20 season. He played 14 games before being placed on long-term injured reserve after attempting a comeback from concussion-related issues. He played 335 NHL games, 250 of those games with the Flames and 71 with the Carolina Hurricanes. He totalled 60 goals and 134 points throughout his six-year career.
