The Vancouver Canucks are making some major leadership changes in both the front office and behind the bench. On Monday, the team announced that general manager Jim Benning, assistant general manager John Weisbrod, head coach Travis Green and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner have all been relieved of their duties.
In coordination with the moves, the Canucks announced that Bruce Boudreau has been named the team’s new head coach. In addition, Scott Walker has been named as an assistant coach while Stan Smyl will serve as the interim general manager and Ryan Johnson will be the interim assistant general manager.
Vancouver has begun the search for long-term replacements in the hockey operations department.
“First, I want to sincerely thank Jim, John, Travis and Nolan for their passion and dedication to the organization and our community,” Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini said in a statement. “We are grateful for everything they have done for the Canucks during their tenure, and we wish them nothing but success in the future.
“These are difficult decisions, but we believed we would have a competitive group this year. As a result, I’m extremely disappointed in how the team has performed so far. I’m making these changes because we want to build a team that competes for championships and it’s time for new leadership to help take us there.”
Boudreau will be 20th head coach in Canucks history and brings a very successful track record to the position. In his nearly 1,000 games behind the bench, Boudreau, 66, has accumulated a 567-302-115 record and has led his teams to the playoffs in 10 of his 14 seasons as a head coach.
He has spent time as the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild and Washington Capitals in the past. Boudreau was most recently was the head coach of the Wild before he was relieved of his duties during the 2019-20 season.
Entering Monday, the Canucks hold a 8-15-2 record, which is the second-worst in the Western Conference. They’ve lost 10 of their last 13 games.
