All Roads Lead Back to Manny Malhotra Being Named as The Vancouver Canucks' Next Head Coach

The Vancouver Canucks continue to weigh their options behind the bench after the departure of Rick Tocchet late last month after parts of three seasons as the team's head coach.

Several names have been mentioned as potential candidates over the last couple of weeks, all of whom have a wide range of experience in their respective coaching careers, but one name that keeps popping up is Manny Malhotra.

Malhotra, the former Vancouver Canucks forward and assistant coach, is currently the bench boss for their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford and has done some incredible work in his first season with the club.

This year, Abbotsford has set a new team record for most wins with 44 wins, including a 13-game winning streak towards the end of the regular season, while leading them to the Pacific Division Finals, the furthest they've ever made it in the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Abbotsford Canucks General Manager Ryan Johnson was full of praise recently for what Manny Malhotra has been able to accomplish in his short time with the team.

During the 2024-25 season, Malhotra has helped get the best out of a number of Vancouver Canucks prospects including Arshdeep Bains, Aatu Raty, Linus Karlsson, Ty Mueller, Danila Klimovich, Max Sasson, among others.

Being a coach in the American Hockey League isn't an easy task because you have to find the middle ground and balance between wanting to be a competitive hockey team and getting wins, while helping the organization develop these prospects so that they're prepared and ready to make the jump to the NHL.

So far, Manny Malhotra has managed to do both and while he doesn't have the amount of experience as someone like Peter Laviolette for example, who is reportedly in the mix, the 44-year-old remains a legit candidate to become the next head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.

Source: The Province
Why we keep circling back to Manny Malhotra as possible Canucks head coach