The Vancouver Canucks named Manny Malhotra their 23rd head coach on Monday night, turning to a former player and assistant to lead the club after a last-place finish. General manager Ryan Johnson announced the hire and said the team believes Malhotra has the teaching, leadership and patience needed to help the roster move forward.
The move gives Vancouver a fresh start after it finished last in the league with a 25-49-8 record and fired Adam Foote on May 19 after one season behind the bench. It also brings Malhotra back into the organization where he once worked as a development coach and assistant, this time with a much bigger job and far less margin for error.
Johnson and Malhotra already know each other from their time together with the American Hockey League's Abbotsford Canucks, and the general manager said he had seen firsthand how Malhotra handled a difficult environment. Johnson praised his ability to build a consistent culture and help players improve, saying the organization wants a team fans can be proud of moving forward.
That familiarity cuts both ways. The Canucks hired Malhotra after he guided Abbotsford to a Calder Cup championship in the 2024-25 campaign, but that same club missed the playoffs last season because several players were dealing with long-term injuries. For Vancouver, the hire leans on the belief that Malhotra can produce structure and development even when the standings are not kind.
The 46-year-old brings a long playing career and a painful piece of franchise history to the job. Drafted by the Rangers in 1998, Malhotra played 16 seasons in the NHL, put up 116 goals and 295 points in 991 regular-season games, and skated for Vancouver, New York, Dallas, Columbus, San Jose, Montreal and Carolina. He also took a puck to the face in March 2011 while playing for the Canucks, leaving him with limited vision in his left eye and sidelining him for much of that spring's run to the Stanley Cup final.
His promotion comes just days after Daniel and Henrik Sedin were named Vancouver's co-presidents of hockey operations on May 14, adding another familiar figure to the front office. Malhotra now joins an organization trying to reset quickly, and the next step is not just whether he can coach the Canucks — it is how fast he can impose an identity on a team that needs one immediately.
