The Vancouver Canucks have made some moves to their front office over the last week, and they're finally ready to announce the changes. Daniel and Henrik Sedin have been promoted to Co-Presidents of Hockey Operations and Ryan Johnson has been named the 13th General Manager in franchise history.
“Francesco Aquilini will not answer questions, but will deliver a prepared statement in advance of the club introducing Henrik and Daniel Sedin as co-Presidents and Ryan Johnson as general manager,” Thomas Drance of The Athletic wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Just a week ago, then-president Jim Rutherford announced at a press conference that he was stepping down as president.
“I'm going to get away from the day-to-day operations,” Rutherford said at the press conference. “I'm going to stay with the team as an adviser and alternate governor. But as far as the day-to-day operations, we're going to put together a really good staff here going forward.
“This is something I've thought about anyways for a couple of years. But it's time for me to do that. I feel bad that I have to do it at such a young age, but decided to do it anyways.”
Now, the team will bring in Daniel and Henrik, who played for the team from 1999 to 2018.
As for Johnson, he's also a former NHL player who appeared in 701 career games, including some with the Canucks. Johnson has experience in a front office role, as he's been the Assistant General Manager for several seasons now.
These moves are to try to help the Canucks get back to being competitive, as they finished with the worst record in the league this season. They'll have the No. 3 pick in the NHL Draft, and the hope is that the player can be the beginning of a strong rebuild for the team.
