Canucks shuffle coaches, add King, Higgins
The vacancy on the Vancouver Canucks' coaching staff, created by Manny Malhotra's departure in the fall, has been filled.
Jason King, who once drew notice as a winger for the Sedin twins leading to the trio being dubbed the Mattress Line — two twins and a king — has been promoted from the Utica Comets to serve as an assistant coach to Canucks head coach Travis Green.
King has been on the Comets' staff since 2016-17, which was Green's final year as Utica's head coach. He'd spent the three seasons before that with the St. John's Ice Caps.
“We're excited to add Jason King and Chris Higgins to our coaching staff,” Green said in an emailed statement. “Jason is a bright, young coach with an eye for the technical aspects of the game. He enjoyed a long playing career, and with his coaching experience in Utica, showed an ability to guide young and veteran players alike.”
He played 55 games for the Canucks in 2002-03 and 2003-04, scoring 12 goals in the latter season, which began with a flurry of tallies when he started the season on Daniel's and Henrik's wing. He was the NHL's rookie of the month for November 2008, but his goal scoring dried up and so did his ice time. He was eventually demoted to the AHL's Manitoba Moose.
During the 2004-05 lockout season he was a point-per-game player in the AHL, but suffered a concussion playing for the Moose. He played another 36 games for the Moose in 2005-06 before moving to Sweden for a season with Skelleftea.
He played four games for the Ducks in 2007-08, but never played in the NHL again after that, finishing out his career in Europe and the AHL.
It's not clear if there are any imminent plans to hire a replacement for King to work with Comets' head coach Trent Cull and assistant coach Gary Agnew.
King's promotion wasn't the only bit of coaching news on the day: longtime skills coach Glenn Carnegie is departing the team “to pursue a new opportunity.”
It's believed that Carnegie is joining The RINK's Kelowna hockey academy, formerly known as the Pursuit of Excellence. The RINK, based in Winnipeg, bought the long-standing Kelowna operation this summer.
Canucks players at both the NHL and AHL levels were said to be big fans of Carnegie's coaching approach. Carnegie had been with the Canucks since the 200809 season. He spent a season as a conditioning coach with the Moose before being promoted to a skills coach role with the NHL club a season later.
Carnegie's position is being taken over by another former Canuck: Chris Higgins. Higgins joined the club as the assistant director of player development last season.
“Chris brings a wealth of NHL experience as a player, great knowledge of the game and a strong work ethic. He'll support the skill and development of our players and expanded roster while working alongside our team and coaching staff day-to-day,” Green said.