Who will be the next Canucks GM?

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From franchise heroes to data experts, here are some possible candidates for the leadership role.

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Published Apr 19, 2026 • Last updated 17 minutes ago • 5 minute read

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A crowd of Vancouver Canucks fans celebrates a rare 2026 win for the embattled team Vancouver Canucks fans want more reasons to celebrate in future seasons. So, what’s the vision? What will the culture be about? Who can take the Canucks back to the Stanley Cup? Photo by Verity Griffin /Getty ImagesArticle content

Patrik Allvin is out. Jim Rutherford says the next Canucks GM will need to be a person who can take over all the hockey decisions and, it seems, truly serve as Rutherford’s successor.

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“I want the new GM to make all hockey decisions,” Rutherford declared Friday, before suggesting he’s also considering his own future and dialling back his involvement. “My focus is on getting a GM and getting through the draft. And when I do that, then I I will think a lot more serious about what makes sense (for him).”
Rutherford has now been in charge for 4 and a half years. He had first imagined he’d be here for two, serving as a mostly hands-off advisor to a new group of hockey leaders. He picked the team, but, it seems, he didn’t see Allvin or his colleagues across the threshold to self-sufficiency.

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Or something like that.

Above all, the Canucks need to decide what they want to be. What’s the vision? What will the culture be about? When are you winning the Stanley Cup? 2034? What’s the organization going to look like a decade from now?

Let’s consider a few options …

The return of the Conquering Hero

One dream among Canucks fans is that the guy in charge when things were last truly good could come back.

Listen: In hockey, you never say never, but this is a fanciful idea. Mike Gillis knows very well what it’s like to work for the Aquilinis and it’s extremely doubtful he’d want to do so again. He disagreed with ownership on the direction of the team and ultimately was fired for it.

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In the past, he’s said he’d be interested in a “forward-thinking” scenario if he were ever on the hunt for another hockey executive job. Since leaving the Canucks in 2014, he’s travelled the world, learning from other sports franchises. He’s consulted with the NHLPA. He has spoken with a few teams — the Penguins, Panthers and Senators, for sure — about taking on a role there, but that has yet to materialize.

Former Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis, centre, takes questions from reporters in 2011. Photo by Jonathan Hayward /The Canadian Press

Now, the Leafs are interested, and he’s apparently a strong candidate to be president there.

The Canucks? It’s not impossible, but it’s whatever is right next to impossible.

Other ex-Canucks

Laurence Gilman is in Columbus, where Don Waddell brought him in as a vice-president. He’s been in the mix for a few GM jobs before, and is well-regarded around the league.

After Gillis, he would likely be the most well-received familiar hire in Vancouver.

But two others with ties to the past are also worth mentioning: Judd Brackett and Eric Crawford.

Both have been very successful in identifying talent. Both would be assistant GMs with other teams. They certainly know the game, how to value players and have a head for what teams need.

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Notably, both Minnesota and Montreal take a data-centric approach to looking for prospects.

Is it 1999? Want one of these guys?

Historically, NHL hockey has pulled most its GMs from a pool of guys who know the sport and get along with people already in the game.

The current version of this group is populated by names like Peter Chiarelli, Rob Blake, Mark Bergevin and Dale Tallon. (Tallon, of course, is already on the Canucks’ payroll.)

But Rutherford is looking for a guy who has his eyes on the future. Do any of these names suggest “data oriented”?

The AGMs

Rutherford, we understand, is always interested in looking at the next wave of hockey leaders. Many of them are currently assistant general managers.

So we’re talking about guys like Bill Scott in Edmonton and Ryan Hardy in Toronto.

These are the guys who know the CBA in and out, who deal with contracts and have seen how the business operates.

The Canucks’ own Ryan Johnson is in this club too; Rutherford is a well-known admirer of his and Johnson is already a candidate.

Being GM would be a big step up for some of these up-and-comers, but at some point you’ve just got to find out if they’re ready.

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The data heads

Rutherford said that analytics matter. Knowing how to draw in data from all sources in your decision-making is vital, he’s said.

And so we look at a group of people working for teams in data-focused roles. The step up to GM would be a big one, and managing people is an important part of the job that none of these folks have much experience in, but they do have good minds for the game.

This group of people includes Tyler Dellow in Carolina, Alexandra Mandrycky in Seattle and Sam Ventura in Buffalo: Creative thinkers, all. Probably not yet ready for all the managerial bits a GM needs to know, but in terms of the big-picture question that GMs need to be ready to answer — What’s the plan here? — they’ll have that on lockdown.

The agents

Teams that have hired ex-agents to the GM role have a solid track record. Gillis is obviously the best example, but look at Kent Hughes in Montreal, or Bill Zito in Florida, or even historically Pierre Lacroix in Colorado.

Could someone like Dan Milstein, Todd Diamond or Craig Oster be convinced to cross the aisle?

They obviously know the scene here well. Would they want to come to this stop?

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What about Neil Glasberg, the guy does the executive search but is also an executive agent himself? He certainly knows the people involved.

Finally, the grab bag

The last potential grouping are folks who are in the game. Tom Fitzgerald just left the New Jersey Devils as GM. He’s not quite the 1999-type hire, but the Devils are a bit of a mess, so this would feel a little like a Trelving-style hire.

John and Megan Chayka? Both have strong ties around the league. Both have long experience in using data in their business.

What about someone from the NHL, like Daniel Ages or Julie Grand. Both are senior lawyers with the league itself. They know the CBA inside and out. They know how trade calls work. They have deep respect around the league. Leafs assistant general manager Brandon Pridham was formerly at the NHL’s central registry, so they would be a similar hire. Or what about Pridham himself?

pjohnston@postmedia.com