Canucks hire – Vancouver has reached an agreement to make Manny Malhotra the franchise’s 23rd head coach, with the 46-year-old set to take over after Adam Foote’s firing. The move follows a sweeping Canucks off-season, including a GM change and the planned step down of Jim R
The decision landed with the force of something that needed to happen fast: Vancouver is set to hire Manny Malhotra as its next head coach.
A deal is in place to make Malhotra the 23rd head coach in franchise history, sources confirmed to Sportsnet on Monday. NHL insider Frank Seravalli was the first to report that an agreement was in place.
Malhotra, 46, has spent the past two seasons as head coach of the Canucks’ AHL affiliate in Abbotsford. In 2024-25, he led the Abbotsford Canucks to a Calder Cup title—his first season as head coach of the team.
His coaching path before Abbotsford runs through the NHL ranks as well. Malhotra served as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks for three seasons from 2017-20, and then spent four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2020-24.
As a player, Malhotra put in 14 NHL seasons, including three with the Canucks toward the end of his career.
Now he’s being asked to take over the bench in Vancouver. Malhotra will replace Adam Foote, who was fired after his first season as head coach of the Canucks.
Under Foote, Vancouver finished with a league-worst record of 25-49-8.
The Malhotra hire is the latest move in an off-season built around change. Vancouver parted ways with GM Patik Allvin after the season and promoted assistant GM Ryan Johnson to fill the general manager spot. Johnson’s promotion was made by Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who were promoted to co-presidents of hockey operations.
There’s also a leadership transition still unfolding. Vancouver’s current president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford, announced on May 6 that he will step down from his role following the draft and become an adviser.
With the Canucks owning the No. 3 overall pick in June’s NHL Draft, the franchise is entering the next phase with a new coaching voice and a reshaped front office—exactly the kind of reset that comes after a season like the one Foote endured.
Manny Malhotra Canucks Vancouver Canucks NHL head coach Adam Foote Patik Allvin Ryan Johnson Jim Rutherford Daniel Sedin Henrik Sedin NHL Draft Calder Cup