Darren Dreger, speaking on the Sekeres and Price podcast, suggested that Vancouver Canucks head coach Adam Foote may have been given a difficult assignment, questioning the fairness of his situation given the team’s roster and circumstances.
“Adam Foote was handed a tough deal,” Dreger stated. “I mean, in terms of the roster he has, right? You know, when he started the year, I think part of his pitch to get the job as head coach of the Vancouver Canucks was, ‘Hey, you know, I’m a Quinn Hughes whisperer. So I, you know, I’m gonna get Quinn on track here. Everything’s gonna be fine. The team is going to be fine.'”
However, the situation evolved with injuries, the JT Miller trade, and Quinn Hughes’s own trade, leaving Foote coaching what Dreger described as potentially the worst team in the National Hockey League. This raises questions about how much of the team’s performance is attributable to him versus the challenges he’s faced with the hand he’s been dealt.
Furthermore, the success of Manny Malhotra within the organization adds another layer to the discussion. Dreger pondered whether, if the rebuild is still ongoing, a change in coaching might be considered by the Canucks this offseason, acknowledging that such a possibility exists but remains officially unconfirmed.
Regarding Manny Malhotra, Dreger believes he is ready to coach at the NHL level, whether with the Vancouver Canucks or another team. When asked by Matt Sekeres if other NHL clubs would be interested in Malhotra, Dreger responded positively.
“I think there would be,” Dreger said. “And, and that’s not firm. That’s just knowing what the view of Manny Malhotra was a year ago, and the fact that Manny said that, well, he’s, he’s a coach that we’re keeping an eye on, right?
And when, when you get to that level, that means that other clubs, not just Vancouver, are monitoring, right? And they have their list. It’s no different than players. You know, every team’s got their collection of whiteboards, and these are the players that we believe are in play. Here are the players that, as an organization we feel we should have interest. And they do the same thing with coaches at every level, right?
And so again, the messaging last year was that Malhotra was on the radar of a lot of teams. And again, just kicking tires this morning with a couple, and that’s why I said earlier, the belief is he’s NHL ready. And that’s not just Vancouver Canuck sources thinking, based on what they’ve seen, that he’s NHL ready. That’s coming from other teams in the National Hockey League. So maybe Vancouver doesn’t move, somebody else will try.”
