EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsThe Vancouver Canucks named Ryan Johnson as their new general manager while Daniel and Henrik Sedin were named co-presidents of hockey operations, the team announced Thursday.Johnson, who has been with the organization since 2013-14 as a development coach, had served as the club's assistant GM over the past two seasons. He replaces Patrik Allvin, who was fired in April after four seasons with the Canucks owning the NHL's worst record.The Sedins, who spent their entire NHL careers with the Canucks, joined the hockey operations department in June 2021. The identical twins will replace Jim Rutherford, who is stepping down from his role after the NHL draft in June. Rutherford, 77, will remain with the Canucks as an adviser and alternate governor.Promoting Johnson along with the Sedins comes with the intent that their experience within the organization can help the Canucks forge a new path in what has been a challenging past 18 months for a franchise that has struggled with consistency for more than a decade.It appeared the Canucks were making strides when they hired Rick Tocchet and had them a win away from the Western Conference finals in his first full season in 2023-24.Tocchet guiding a team featuring Thatcher Demko, Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, and Elias Pettersson created the belief that they might be a perennial playoff team that could challenge for the Western Conference.Instead, the 2024-25 season was one that was curtailed by injuries and inconsistencies. There was also the fact that the internal friction between Miller and Pettersson became public. Miller was eventually traded to the New York Rangers in January 2025 while Pettersson, who signed an eight-year contract worth $92.8 million in March 2024, remains with the club.Tocchet was offered a new contract by the Canucks but left to coach the Philadelphia Flyers and led his new team to the second round of the playoffs in his first season behind the bench.His departure led to the Canucks promoting Adam Foote going into a 2025-26 season that was filled with several questions about the direction of the franchise.Some of those questions were answered in December with the Canucks trading Hughes, who was their captain, to the Minnesota Wild in December in exchange for Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren, Marco Rossi and a 2026 first-round pick.Vancouver would also move on from David Kampf, Tyler Myers, Lukas Reichel and Kiefer Sherwood ahead of the NHL trade deadline.The Canucks finished the season with the worst record in the NHL and had the strongest odds to win the draft lottery. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the lottery with the San Jose Sharks getting the No. 2 pick while the Canucks will pick third.Altogether, the Canucks have two first-round picks and have five picks in the first three rounds of this year's draft.Another item in addition to the draft that Johnson and the Sedins will seek to navigate is how they'll continue to build the team around its current core featuring Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Filip Hronek, Kevin Lankinen, Marcus Pettersson, Demko and Pettersson.Vancouver is projected to have $21.16 in salary cap space this offseason, according to PuckPedia.
