Why we keep circling back to Manny Malhotra as possible Canucks head coach
Mike Vellucci is as an assistant coach with Team USA at the 2025 world hockey championship.
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He's guiding Vancouver Canucks ' wingers Conor Garland and Drew O'Connor in the 17-day event in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark. He's also looking for NHL work.
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Vellucci was part of the Pittsburgh Penguins' purge when bench boss Mike Sullivan bolted to the New York Rangers on May 2, so there's another Canucks connect-the-dots familiarity consideration in the continuing search to replace head coach Rick Tocchet.
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Vellucci, 58, was a Penguins assistant for five seasons, partly under general manager Jim Rutherford, and won AHL, OHL and North American Hockey League championships. It spoke to an ability to motivate those on cusp of transitioning to the NHL and those hoping to get to 'The Show' some day.
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After all, Vellucci was a seventh-round draft choice of the Hartford Whalers in 1984 and the defenceman knew about hope and reality. He played just two NHL games.
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It depends how the Canucks' hockey operations department — and especially ownership — views the hope-and-reality franchise spectrum. They're more than a centre and winger away from contending in the competitive Pacific Division, and growing their game over several seasons is an easier sell to fans than the owner.
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It's always been about the playoff and revenue push, and with belief there's still a narrow window to win, a play for a proven veteran coach is probably more realistic for ownership. There's hockey ops familiarity with Peter Laviolette and options include Adam Foote (if he doesn't join Tocchet), Marco Sturm, Todd Nelson and Gerard Gallant.
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Conversely, there's a win-win scenario for Malhotra to ascend after just one season of running a pro bench. His impact to advance Abbotsford to third round of the AHL playoffs, which opens Friday at home, is hard to ignore.
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Consider a franchise best 44-24-2-2 record, including 13-game winning streak, and finishing the regular season with an 8-1-0-1 run. Consider injuries and recalls by the parent club and it paints a picture of decision-making and motivation progress.
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'I have to give Manny a lot of credit,' Abbotsford general manager Ryan Johnson, who doubles as a Canucks AGM, recently told Postmedia. 'He has playing and coaching experience at the NHL level, but the AHL is a different animal. He has adapted very quickly.
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'One of the biggest challenges when you have inconsistency is consistency. He stayed consistent with messaging and environment and players have really embraced it.'
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Lapping up every experience at the NHL level is also part of the process to get prospects to the NHL and stay there. It's why they're a sense of anticipation what winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki, rookie blueliner Elias Pettersson, and centre Aatu Raty could accomplish next fall as roster regulars.
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