Allvin is out, is Foote next? Massive questions face the Canucks as they begin construction of a full rebuild<\/p>\n
Published Apr 17, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 1\u00a0hour ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 10 minute read<\/p>\n
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Patrik Allvin is out as general manager<\/a>. Is coach Adam Foote next? It seems President Jim Rutherford is safe and will be the one charged with finding an Allvin replacement and make the decision on a new coach if that\u2019s the direction they choose to take.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the scouts all out of contracts<\/a>, the draft lottery, wheeling at dealing at the draft, free agency. It\u2019s going to be a busy spring at summer at Rogers Arena<\/a>, sadly not on the ice. Oh, yeah, and there\u2019s a ticket price increase<\/a> to navigate too.<\/p>\n The Canucks went out with a whimper getting roiled by the Oilers in Edmonton<\/a> and gifting the Mall-ers a first-round matchup with the Anaheim Ducks.<\/p>\n Vancouver did the Oilers dirty work this week, beating the Ducks and Kings then rolling over for their rivals. Never mind though, as we all enjoy a sunny spring Friday among the cherry blossoms. It\u2019s -6 in Edmonton this morning and they have snow in the forecast next week.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy is the guy who didn\u2019t make the big decisions is being fired by the guy who did?\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff Marek on the Daily Faceoff: <\/a>There\u2019s a lot of conversation around why Allvin out of anyone walks the plank here?.\u2026I do find it odd, maybe more than a little bit odd: Why the guy who didn\u2019t make the big decisions is being fired by the guy who did. What am I missing here? And also fired for the decisions? What am I missing here?<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Is Allvin a scapegoat? Does this mean Rutherford and Foote are staying?<\/p>\n That\u2019s the question Sekeres and Price are asking<\/a> this morning in the aftermath of Allvin\u2019s firing.<\/p>\n Blake Price: Most of us saw some sort of change coming, he (Allvin) and Adam Foote were prime candidates for change to occur. It\u2019s\u00a0 a little bit curious the two didn\u2019t get fired in tandem. I think it casts a little bit of doubt now as to whether or not Foote is going to get fired? Because why would you have two bad-news day? Why wouldn\u2019t you have one-bad news day? <\/p>\n Patrik Allvin to me was\u2026 I mean his era is very undefined. I don\u2019t know that I can put a finger on Patrik Allvin\u2019s tenure here. It feels like Jim Rutherford\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n This is the problem with these shifting of names, of titles, that has occurred in the National Hockey League where the president has a lot of\u00a0 say in hockey ops as well. This almost just feels like an AGM (assistant general manager) got fired. \u2026It\u2019s a little bit funny I don\u2019t know what influence he necessarily had on the Canucks? Or if he even deserves this?<\/p>\n That\u2019s also the interesting part here\u2026 this is Rutherford\u2019s baby? This is Rutherford\u2019s boat. Is it not on him? This season. The failure to become a contender.<\/p>\n Canucks Report<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Allvin manned the phones in trade talks but Rutherford was one in charge<\/p>\n The Athletic has a joint piece by Thomas Drance and Pierre LeBrun<\/a> that says Allvin was never able to step outside Rutherford\u2019s shadow<\/p>\n Allvin, 51, had a mixed tenure in Vancouver. While the Canucks had some notable early wins at the draft and when shopping in the bargain bin in unrestricted free agency, they endured a run of poor bets last summer \u2014 the Thatcher Demko<\/a>, Conor Garland<\/a> and Brock Boeser<\/a> extensions and the Evander Kane trade among them \u2014 and came unglued entirely this season, one which opened with the club harbouring expectations of competing credibly for the Stanley Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n Ultimately, evaluating Allvin\u2019s work with the Canucks is complicated by the fact that he never really stepped out of Rutherford\u2019s shadow. As the Canucks\u2019 general manager, Allvin manned the phones in trade talks. In contrast to some of the other president and general manager setups around the league, however, Allvin\u2019s role in Vancouver was widely viewed throughout the industry as being secondary to Rutherford\u2019s within the Vancouver hockey operations pyramid.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Report cards are in. What\u2019s your feedback?<\/p>\n Patrick Johnston took a turn from the usual report card and offered up season-long marks on the Canucks. Here\u2019s some selected marks but he wants your feedback too, email him at pjohnston@postmedia.com<\/a> for your thoughts on his grades and how you view the Canucks season.<\/p>\n Marco Rossi. B-<\/p>\n Showed some smart flashes, especially as the season wound to a close. He\u2019s not a guy who will take the game over, but he\u2019s a smart player who is fine as a second-line centre, but on a good team is centring the third line.<\/p>\n Liam \u00d6hgren. C+<\/p>\n Showed some real glimmers down the stretch and proved to be a reliable presence on the wing. Just 8 goals so despite everything still needs to take a big step forward next year.<\/p>\n Elias Pettersson<\/a>. C<\/p>\n Led the team in scoring, but with a pitiful total. He was good defensively most nights, but the nights off he was dire. He used to be great. Now he\u2019s fine at best.<\/p>\n Jonathan Lekkerimaki. C<\/p>\n Broke camp with the team because of his offensive talents but struggled a lot and ended up back in the minors. A season-ending injury means we\u2019re now wondering what role he might play next year.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Zeev Buium. C+<\/p>\n Lots of wonderful glimpses of his offensive prowess but lots of defensive struggles. One of many reasons why a new coach is needed.<\/p>\n Marcus Pettersson. C-<\/p>\n Brutal season for the veteran. Openly disappointed by his own play. Needs to re-set and find himself again next season.<\/p>\n Tom Willander. C<\/p>\n Great skater. Some nice moments with the puck. But the defensive end was too often an adventure. Again, would benefit from a new coach.<\/p>\n Thatcher Demko<\/a>. C+<\/p>\n When he played he was really pretty good. Then he got hurt. Again. How many games will he play under the three-year deal that starts this summer?<\/p>\n Adam Foote. D<\/p>\n Not a total failure but a real struggle this season for him. Chose to change the team\u2019s defensive structure, shifting away from Rick Tocchet<\/a>\u2019s heavily disciplined system to a read-based setup that left his defenders swirling and exposed most nights. Couldn\u2019t adapt to the struggles. His staff did pull a nice power play unit together by the end of the season. Even before the decision to rebuild came, the Canucks were dragging near the bottom of the league in many categories, including the standings.<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The Edmonton Journal took some glee in looking at the dealings between the Oilers and Canucks<\/a>, punctuated by last summer\u2019s deal that brought in everyone\u2019s least-favourite Vancouver Canucks<\/a>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no argument that Stan Bowman orchestrated a heist from the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> in the summer of 2024 when he traded a fourth-round pick to bring in Vasily Podkolzin<\/a>. Podkolzin blossomed into both a power forward and a Top 6 forward in his two years since with the Edmonton Oilers<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also going to suggest that Bowman pulled off another heist last summer, at least from the Oilers\u2019 perspective, when he traded Evander Kane, 34-years-old and on the final year of his $5.125 million per year contract, to the Canucks on June 25, 2025 for a fourth-round pick.<\/p>\n At the time of the trade, Bowman faced a nasty problem with the Oilers. Not only had the salary cap been all but flat for years due to the COVID crisis, but the Oilers faced in 2025-26 paying full value for its three superstar players, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, with Draisaitl and Bouchard in the first year of their new and expensive deals, Draisaitl at $14 million per year and Bouchard at $10.5 million. Combine that with Darnell Nurse\u2019s costly deal at $9.25 million and McDavid\u2019s bargain contract of $12.5 million per year, and the Oilers were slated to pay 48.4 per cent of their cap hit on four players, more than any Stanley Cup-winning team had paid their top four players in the entire salary cap era of the NHL, 2005-2026.<\/p>\n Advertisement 8<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Faced with such predicaments, Bowman had to find a way to bring in strong new players to replenish the Oilers and bolster the team\u2019s superstar trio \u2014 but he had to do so under brutal salary cap constraints.<\/p>\n Trading Kane gave Bowman a path for progress. It wasn\u2019t that Kane had been a bad player for the Oilers. In fact, he\u2019d had a strong 2025 NHL playoffs. And in the 2024 playoffs, Kane standing up and partly nullifying Vancouver\u2019s apex predator Nikita Zadorov<\/a> had been critical to beating the Canucks in seven games. Kane was also still putting up points at an OK clip. But he was 34 and banged up, having missed the entire 2024-25 regular season. He was no longer likely to be a Top 6 forward on the Oilers, but he was still getting paid like one on his $5.125 million per year deal.<\/p>\n The obvious move was to try to trade Kane and replace him with younger, less expensive players. That was no easy task given Kane\u2019s uniquely menacing quality on the ice, but Bowman needed that $5.125 million in cap space. He got it and a 4th round pick when Vancouver, desperate for the right ingredient to fix their chaotic and crumbling squad, bit on the trade.<\/p>\n Advertisement 9<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n But why I describe this trade as a heist is that Bowman got himself out of a terrible cap crunch and, in the end, he\u2019s been able to build up an impressive and deep group of forwards on the Oilers.<\/p>\n One final thought: just as our assessment of Bowman rests on Edmonton\u2019s playoff performance, so does the trade of Kane. Kane\u2019s real value was always in the playoffs, punishing top d-men like Drew Doughty, Miro Heiskanen and Quinn Hughes<\/a> with wicked hits, and standing up to the handful of fellow apex predators in the NHL.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n ESPN has all but ignored the Canucks since the NHL returned after the Olympics. But here they lay out their thoughts o<\/a>n the Canucks season and what their off-season looks like.<\/p>\n Vancouver Canucks What went right? Trading their most valuable player en route to having one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Moving on from Quinn Hughes<\/a> on Dec. 12 allowed the Canucks to get three young players who could play now and in the future, along with a first-round pick.<\/p>\n Advertisement 10<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Couple that with the fact they\u2019ll finish with the NHL\u2019s worst record and the strongest odds to win the draft lottery, and they are clearly in position to jump-start their rebuild.<\/p>\n What went wrong? Think about the characteristics that come with being the worst team in the NHL. The Canucks displayed many, if not all of them.<\/p>\n They were among the bottom 10 in the NHL in shot-share, scoring chances per 60, high-danger scoring chances per 60 and shots per 60. Their underlying defensive metrics were also challenging, as they were in the bottom 10 in terms of most shots allowed per 60, most scoring chances allowed per 60 and most high-danger chances allowed per 60.<\/p>\n Put it all together and as of April 13, the Canucks were 30th in goals per game (2.56), 32nd in goals against per game (3.81) and their minus-96 goal differential was 35 clear of second-worst mark in the league.<\/p>\n Keys to the off-season: The Canucks have UFAs such as Teddy Blueger<\/a> and Evander Kane that they can let walk in free agency. But beyond that, hitting a full-on reset could prove challenging. The Canucks have seven players under contract for next season who will have more than three years left on their current deals. It\u2019s a group that includes Elias Pettersson<\/a>, who will enter the third year of his eight-year contract worth $11.6 million annually.<\/p>\n Advertisement 11<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible that the Canucks could seek to sign players they believe can address some of their short-term needs, with the idea they could move on from them before the 2026-27 trade deadline to add to their future draft capital.<\/p>\n Realistic expectation for 2026-27: Unless something drastically changes, the rebuild will continue through 2026-27.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Athletic graded the Canucks season<\/a>, with predictable results.<\/p>\n Vancouver Canucks: F Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day.<\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n![\"canucks\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/img_0556_302638489.jpg\")
The season is over but the drama continues. Photo by Patrick Johnston \/Patrick JohnstonArticle content<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/21.0.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-vp.svg\"){kind=logo}
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Projected cap space: $21.6 million
2026 draft picks: 1st, 1st (MIN), 2nd, 2nd (SJ), 3rd (CBJ), 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th (WSH), 6th (BOS)<\/p>\n
The Canucks won fewer games this season than in any other season in the franchise\u2019s history \u2014 that includes the expansion era teams from the early 1970s and the performance of Canucks teams in every lockout or pandemic-abbreviated season. This was a season where the bottom fell out. Where the rebuild became a fact. \u2014 Thomas Drance\u00a0<\/p>\n
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