Former Rangers 1st-round pick misses chance to replace Rick Tocchet as Canucks coach
The Vancouver Canucks seriously considered hiring someone with New York Rangers ties to replace Rick Tocchet as coach, before deciding to hire Adam Foote on Wednesday.
That person with Rangers ties wasn’t Peter Laviolette either, even though the former Rangers coach was thought to be an early candidate for the gig.
Instead, it was Manny Malhotra, the Rangers’ first-round pick in the 1998 draft, who was among a small group of finalists for the Canucks job.
Malhotra is currently coaching Abbotsford of the American Hockey League in the Calder Cup Playoffs. In his first season running the bench, Abbotsford (44-24-2-2) finished second in the Pacific Division, and is 5-2 in the postseason. After eliminating Tucson and Coachella Valley, Abbotsford begins the Western Conference Final on Friday against Colorado.
Abbotsford is the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, plus Malhotra was an assistant on Vancouver’s NHL staff from 2017-20 under Travis Green. So, there’s quite a bit of familiarity between Malhotra and the Canucks.
“It didn’t take me long to think that if Manny wanted to, he could be [an NHL head coach] because he’s willing to put in the work and has a strong delivery in how he talks to the team,” Green told Postmedia this week. “I like the way he thinks the game on both sides of the puck and he’s an extremely hard worker. When you talk about all the things it takes to be a head coach — and being passionate about the game — it’s not surprising he’s being mentioned and that he became a head coach in the AHL.”
Reports indicated the the Canucks interviewed seven coaching candidates and narrowed that list down to Foote and Malhotra, before hiring the former Stanley Cup-winning defenseman, who was also was an assistant with them the past two seasons.
As for Tocchet, it appears he’s going to be hired as the next coach of the Philadelphia Flyers to replace the fired John Tortorella.
Related: How Chris Drury avoids failing grade despite atrocious Rangers season
Manny Malhotra played 4 seasons with Rangers, 991 games in NHL
Malhotra was 18 years old when he made his NHL debut with the Rangers in 1998-99, playing 73 games. He was traded to the Dallas Stars ahead of the 2002 deadline and eventually played 991 NHL games as a defensive-minded center.
He never scored more than 14 goals nor had more than 35 points in a season. But Malhotra was known for his high hockey IQ, excellent face-off prowess (56.4 percent in his career) and durability.
Malhotra played for seven NHL teams, including the Canucks from 2010-13. He also was an assistant coach under Sheldon Keefe in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs the four seasons prior to taking the Abbotsford job this season.
Tocchet left the Canucks after turning down a lucrative contract extension following this past season, when they failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs amid much dissension and numerous injuries. He won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year with the Canucks in 2023-24.
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