Canucks News N Notes 25-26

[Lancer]

There was no compelling reason to keep Foote and his crew. Even if management gave him chickenshit and expected chicken salad out of him and injuries beset the roster, I never saw much development from the younger players even when the direction was tank/develop. Whether it was a fair or unfair fate for Foote, few will shed tears at his departure.

If the Twins and RJ go through a similar process, cast a wide net and talk to people, and still come back to Malhotra I can live with it. He knows the kids, and they know him. More to the point, RJ (and to an extent, the Twins) know what he has in Malhotra. It's not like he has no profile in the league and there has been speculation of him getting offers elsewhere - so it's not a case of utter nepotism. I'll trust that the Twins and RJ will exercise due diligence in the process - I'll give them the benefit of the doubt at this early honeymoon stage.

The question will be who he brings in for assistants - especially for the defencemen. The biggest concentration of youngsters on the roster with upside are defencemen and developing/coaching them properly is probably one of the most critical parts of the rebuild. I don't care too much about their 'X's and O's' skills as long as the system they bring in is digestible to the youngsters. I recall hearing that Foote's system in the defensive zone was hard for the youngsters to get used to.

If it's Malhotra as coach, I'm not going to call nepotism/favouritism. If they hire Manny Sr. AND draft Manny Jr., it will be a harder optic to manage.