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Why A Reunion Between Brad Shaw And The Vancouver Canucks Makes Sense

Why A Reunion Between Brad Shaw And The Vancouver Canucks Makes Sense

Yahoo19-05-2025

After promoting Adam Foote to the head coaching position, the Vancouver Canucks are in the market for some new assistant coaches. According to GM Patrik Allvin, the goal is to add two additional assistant coaches to round out Foote's staff for the 2025-26 season. If Vancouver is looking for experience as well as somebody who knows the organization, then Brad Shaw may be the perfect hire.
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According to reports, Shaw won't be returning to the Philadelphia Flyers and is now a free agent. The 61-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Flyers and, after John Tortorella was fired, took over as interim head coach. Shaw's main focus was the defensive group, where he worked with notable defensemen like Jamie Drysdale, Travis Sanheim and Cam York. Over the three years Shaw was in Philadelphia, the Flyers averaged 28.5 shots against per game, which was the sixth-lowest in the NHL.
Shaw has plenty of experience in the NHL. He has been an assistant/associate coach since 2005 and was also behind the bench for Team Italy at the 2022 Winter Olympics qualification tournament. Part of his long coaching history also includes a stop in Vancouver, which occurred during the 2021-22 season.
While Shaw's time with the Canucks only lasted one year, he had the opportunity to work with some key players on Vancouver's current roster. Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers both played under Shaw in 2021-22, as well as Elias Pettersson, Thatcher Demko, Conor Garland and Nils Höglander. Even though he hasn't worked with these players in three years, having some level of familiarity is a positive when bringing in new coaches.
Based on how the Canucks current coaching staff is built, they need to add someone with experience. With Foote being promoted, Vancouver also needs to hire a coach with experience running the defensive side of the bench. In the end, Shaw checks a lot of boxes and would be a smart hire by the organization this summer.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

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Canucks notebook: Manny Malhotra and Abbotsford's run to the Calder Cup Final
Canucks notebook: Manny Malhotra and Abbotsford's run to the Calder Cup Final

New York Times

time11 hours ago

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Canucks notebook: Manny Malhotra and Abbotsford's run to the Calder Cup Final

The Abbotsford Canucks came back in front of a raucous crowd in the Fraser Valley on Sunday night, and will compete for the Calder Cup over the next two weeks. It wasn't an easy win. It took another massive game from Artūrs Šilovs, an incredible third period comeback and some heads up plays from prospects like Max Sasson and Kirill Kudrayvtsev and Arshdeep Bains. In the end Abbotsford found a way to defeat the Texas Stars 4-2 on Sunday night. Advertisement It was a win that closed out a tightly contested series, which absolutely could've gone either way given how close all of these games were, in six. It was a win that secured the American League's Western Conference for Abbotsford, and an opportunity to play the Charlotte Checkers for the Calder Cup in the Final. And it was a win that sent lower mainland hockey fans scrambling to secure tickets to see the Calder Cup Final. The Abbotsford Centre sold out in minutes once tickets became available on Sunday evening. Let's open the notebook and consider a couple of the most interesting storylines surrounding Abbotsford's run to the Final, in addition to why the Derek Forbort signing is such a good fit for Vancouver. For Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra, guiding the Canucks to the Calder Cup Final in his first season as a professional bench boss is remarkable. Obviously this playoff run has been a feather in Malhotra's cap, and, of course, it's an accomplishment that falls at an especially intriguing moment in time during Malhotra's coaching career. Truthfully, it's relatively rare for an American League coach to remain in place for long when they enjoy this level of team success. That should come as no surprise, of course, since the American League is a development league for coaches too. To illustrate this, perhaps it's instructive to consider the recent history of Calder Cup finalist teams, and the bench bosses that led them there. Of the eight head coaches that have qualified for the last five Calder Cup Final, a stretch that dates all the way back to the 2017 season due to the challenges that pandemic conditions posed for minor league hockey, four — or half — of those coaches ended up being hired as head coaches at the NHL level within a year or two. Advertisement Three of those coaches became NHL head coach as a result of internal promotions (Dan Bylsma in Seattle, Sheldon Keefe in Toronto and Drew Bannister in St. Louis), while a fourth, Ryan Warsofsky, was hired away to serve as an NHL assistant coach in San Jose the summer after winning the Calder Cup, and was later promoted to the top job. A fifth (Derek Laxdal) Calder Cup finalist head coach in our sample was promptly promoted to the NHL level by the same organization he led to the Calder Cup Final, albeit as an assistant coach. A sixth (Rocky Thompson) remained in place for one more season, but was poached by a rival club after one final American League season to serve as an associate coach at the NHL level. A seventh American League bench boss immediately changed organizations after winning the Calder Cup, but remained a head coach at the AHL level (Mike Velucci). And the eighth coach in our sample, and the only two-time Calder Cup trophy winner, is Todd Nelson, who is the most overqualified American League head coach of my lifetime and it's absurd that he hasn't been given a second shot at the NHL level. 4 WINS AWAY‼️ GRAB THAT PUCK, THE WESTERN CONFERENCE IS OURS! — X – Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) June 9, 2025 Let's frame this data set somewhat differently: of the eight American League bench bosses to qualify for the last five Calder Cup finals, four coaches promptly received internal promotions of some variety, and of the other four, three departed their current organization within a full cycle of the hockey calendar. The recent history of top American League coaches tells us that qualifying for the Calder Cup Final is something that increases the industry profile of a head coach massively. It enhances both their leverage internally, and their attractiveness to rival clubs. 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Sasson brought the crowd at the Abbotsford Centre to it's feet with a deft deflection that punched the club's ticket to the Calder Cup Final. Victor Mancini's offensive tools and athletic traits have caught the attention of Canucks fans and Canucks brass alike. Linus Karlsson has paced Abbotsford throughout this playoff run, and has been their most valuable skater. The club's most valuable player, however, has been Šilovs who has put the memories of an inconsistent American League season and a tough go at the NHL level squarely in the rearview mirror with a Calder Cup playoff run that has been nothing short of dominant. Šilovs is at the very least an asset now for the Canucks to consider trading this summer, and perhaps a solid option that the club could turn to if the trade market for Thatcher Demko is too strong to ignore (or if the club can't find common ground with their star netminder in extension talks). And yet arguably this club's breakout star in this postseason has been unassuming blue liner Kudrayvtsev, who wasn't even an every game player for the club at the outset of the playoffs. Kudrayvtsev, however, has been a two-way force — the margin by which Abbotsford has outscored their opponents in Kudrayvtsev's minutes at five-on-five in this playoff is nothing short of astounding — and has found an entirely different level in the spring of his first full American League season at the age of 21. Advertisement On Sunday evening, for example, Kudrayvtsev picked up a secondary assist on Vancouver's key game-tying goal, scored early in the third period by Jujhar Khaira. It wasn't a classic, inconsequential secondary assist either. It was a play that captured everything you like to see from a clever, puck-moving defender. First off, Kudrayvtsev — aware that his club is trailing in the third period — seized fourth-man's ice and led the rush across centre ice as the puck carrier. 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