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The Vancouver Canucks have fired head coach Adam Foote.
In a social media announcement attributed to rookie general manager Ryan Johnson, the team also stated that assistant coaches Scott Young, Kevin Dean and Brett McLean have been relieved of their duties.
The moves continue the Canucks makeover which started in earnest last week with the hiring of Johnson and of Daniel and Henrik Sedin as co-presidents of the club.
Manny Malhotra, coach of the farm team Abbotsford Canucks, is expected to be in the running to replace Foote.
Johnson confirmed he will be speaking with Malhotra "about the future."
"It's hard to be ignorant of an internal candidate that we obviously have," Johnson said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Head coach Adam Foote has been let go by the Vancouver Canucks after one season on the job. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)"Manny has shown his ability to develop young players, to build connection and obviously win a championship with a very young group."
Johnson and Malhotra are extremely familiar with each other, having helped lead the Abbotsford Canucks to the Calder Cup championship title last year in their respective roles as general manager and head coach.
An interesting wrinkle is that Malhotra's son, Caleb, is considered one of the top prospects in next month's NHL entry draft, where the Canucks will have the third overall pick.
"As far as his son or the draft, I'm in no position to change or make decisions based off one or the other. There will be no sacrifice because of a father-son relationship," said Johnson.
Johnson said assistant general managers Cammi Granato and Émilie Castonguay will remain in their positions.
Foote served one season as head coach, during which the Canucks finished last in the NHL, struggled with injuries and traded away captain Quinn Hughes. Before that, he served as an assistant coach under Rick Tocchet for three seasons.
Malhotra played 16 seasons in the NHL, including in Vancouver from 2010 to 2012. He began coaching in the Canucks organization as an assistant in 2017, before taking on the same role with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2020.
He rejoined the Canucks organization in 2024 as head coach in Abbotsford.