Utica ground zero for the rebuild
Canucks’ AHL affiliate in need of the right coach as franchise lines up its prospects
The Vancouver Canucks unveiled their latest hope on Wednesday and given the state of the franchise, it seemed curious the search for the next head coach wasn’t particularly far-reaching or exhaustive.
“We didn’t interview any other candidates,” Trevor Linden said as Travis Green was announced as the Canucks’ next head coach.
But at least they did interview Green.
Still, as much as the hiring of Green registered as a formality, the Canucks now face an organizational decision that might be as important and figures to be a lot more complicated. Green leaves behind a coaching vacancy with the American Hockey League affiliate in Utica, N.Y. As it happens, Utica will be the station through which the Canucks’ collection of young talent passes in the next couple of seasons.
That collection also holds the key to the franchise’s future, whatever that might be, and while much is uncertain about what the organization will be looking for in the Comets’ next head coach, one thing is certain: This time around, they’ll be interviewing a lot more than one candidate.
“I said to Trevor, that’s going to be a big, big decision,” said Canucks GM Jim Benning. “For the first time, I feel we have depth in our organization. We have real prospects down there we can develop into important pieces up here. We’ve got to make sure we pick the right guy.” And that right guy is who, exactly? “We’ve been talking about that,” said Linden. “Is it an up-and-comer? Is it a veteran guy who’s seen the NHL? That’s something we need to figure out and I don’t think we’re there yet.
“He’ll have to have head coaching experience somewhere, whether that’s college or junior. Beyond that, we’ll want to hire the best head coach.” That’s advisable. Green, as you may be aware, has come under some fire for failing to develop impact players for the Canucks during his four years in Utica. But if you look at the Comets’ rosters during Green’s tenure, it’s not like he was gifted with an over-abundance of blue-chip talents. Current Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom was his most notable success. He had Jake Virtanen for most of this season and while Virtanen didn’t exactly flourish under Green, he reportedly made strides in his development.
There were a couple of others; a season and a half for Brendan Gaunce, 15 games for Sven Baertschi. But, mostly, it was a motley assortment of journeymen, hasbeens and never-weres.
That all changes beginning next season when, depending on how things fall out with the big club, the Comets might have Nikolay Goldobin, Jonathan Dahlen and Thatcher Demko in their lineup. The year after, Olli Juolevi, Adam Gaudette and Guillaume Brisebois might all be playing in Utica. Beyond that, stay tuned. There will be top draft picks from other drafts because the Canucks figure to be in the lottery for a couple more years.
“It’s conceivable we’ll call up players who go into our top six,” said Linden. “We’ll have young players with no waiver requirements who are real prospects. We haven’t had that luxury. Absolutely, the hire in Utica is going to be really important.”
So what are they looking for in an AHL coach? Well, it’s likely the new guy isn’t going to be a household name because the coaching pool isn’t that deep this off-season.
Green, in fact, qualified as something of a hot commodity even with his limited resume and the Canucks were convinced they’d lose him to another NHL team as a head or an assistant.
The estimable Nolan Baumgartner, who was Green’s right-hand man, is also coming to Vancouver as a Canucks assistant, so that takes him out of the Utica mix. As for other candidates, Jason King, the former rookie scoring whiz, impressed during his first year on Green’s staff, but he’ll return to the Comets as an assistant next season.
“We’re just putting some names together,” said Linden. “(Green) was an easy decision, but the Utica thing is big. That’s the starting point for us.”
It will also say so much about where the Canucks are heading. With Green and Baumgartner now on board, there is a young, dynamic look to the organization. Linden is the leader. Goalie coach Dan Cloutier, Ryan Johnson, the director of player development, and Manny Malhotra, who should be back next season in an undetermined portfolio, are all part of the newly imagined Canucks. All are relatively young. All are bright. All look good in suits.
Now if they can just get the hockey part right.
“Those things we’re trying to instil in our whole organization need to start down there,” said Benning.
And that starts with the right head coach.