<p>With <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/rick-tocchet-will-not-be-returning-vancouver-canucks-report">Rick Tocchet having gone his separate way</a> from the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a> organization, the hunt for their next head coach begins. There hasn&#8217;t been a lot of talk about who they&#8217;re considering outside of <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/jim-rutherford-says-manny-malhotra-on-shortlist-be-vancouver-canucks-next-coach">Manny Malhotra</a>. But on Monday morning, we heard another potential candidate for the head coaching job, and it&#8217;s another internal option:</p>
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<p>&#8220;I think Adam Foote would have a serious chance there in Vancouver,&#8221; Sportsnet&#8217;s Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts &#8211; The Podcast.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;First of all, he&#8217;s a really smart guy; that&#8217;s number one. But number two, I&#8217;d be curious to see if that was something that would sort of be Quinn Hughes approved. They&#8217;re close, too, [have a] good relationship. Foote has really helped Hughes improve as a player, given him good advice, and they bounce things off each other very well. I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if, in addition to the fact I think he really knows hockey well, that would have Foote on Vancouver&#8217;s shortlist.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Foote was brought into the Canucks organization in January of 2023, as Tocchet&#8217;s assistant coach. He spent the last two and a half seasons as Tocchet&#8217;s right-hand man, helping the Canucks fix up their defensive structure, and elevating the blueline. Nobody benefited more than Captain Quinn Hughes under the coaching of Tocchet and Foote.</p>
<p>In 2023-2024, Hughes led the league in defensive scoring, tallying 17 goals and 75 assists for 92 points. His efforts earned him the first Norris trophy in Canucks history.</p>
<p>Hughes spoke to <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/hughes-feeling-weight-of-canucks-season-this-year-has-been-hard/">Sportsnet&#8217;s Iain MacIntyre</a> before the season ended, giving both <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/quinn-hughes-big-vote-confidence-vancouver-canucks-coaches-rick-tocchet-adam-foote">Tocchet and Foote praise</a> before tons of potential change heading into the offseason:</p>
<blockquote><p>“I believe that with Rick and Footy (assistant coach Adam Foote) and the way that they coach and structuring how we are defensively,” Hughes said, “if we add another player or two and have some guys within our group play better next year than they did this past season, I think we can be a really, really successful team. We’re very structured, we don’t give up much, we have maybe the best goalie tandem in the league, and we have a great D-corps and others that are coming that will help us. The point is, if we get Rick back and add a piece or two, we can be very successful.”</p></blockquote>
<p>After the season, the Canucks gave Foote permission to speak with other teams if he does want to move on. However, he may not be going anywhere if he is being strongly considered for the Canucks next head coaching job.</p>


With <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/rick-tocchet-will-not-be-returning-vancouver-canucks-report">Rick Tocchet having gone his separate way</a> from the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks</a> organization, the hunt for their next head coach begins. There hasn't been a lot of talk about who they're considering outside of <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/jim-rutherford-says-manny-malhotra-on-shortlist-be-vancouver-canucks-next-coach">Manny Malhotra</a>. But on Monday morning, we heard another potential candidate for the head coaching job, and it's another internal option:
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&nbsp;

"I think Adam Foote would have a serious chance there in Vancouver," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts - The Podcast.
<blockquote>"First of all, he's a really smart guy; that's number one. But number two, I'd be curious to see if that was something that would sort of be Quinn Hughes approved. They're close, too, [have a] good relationship. Foote has really helped Hughes improve as a player, given him good advice, and they bounce things off each other very well. I wouldn't be surprised if, in addition to the fact I think he really knows hockey well, that would have Foote on Vancouver's shortlist."</blockquote>
Foote was brought into the Canucks organization in January of 2023, as Tocchet's assistant coach. He spent the last two and a half seasons as Tocchet's right-hand man, helping the Canucks fix up their defensive structure, and elevating the blueline. Nobody benefited more than Captain Quinn Hughes under the coaching of Tocchet and Foote.

In 2023-2024, Hughes led the league in defensive scoring, tallying 17 goals and 75 assists for 92 points. His efforts earned him the first Norris trophy in Canucks history.

Hughes spoke to <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/hughes-feeling-weight-of-canucks-season-this-year-has-been-hard/">Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre</a> before the season ended, giving both <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/quinn-hughes-big-vote-confidence-vancouver-canucks-coaches-rick-tocchet-adam-foote">Tocchet and Foote praise</a> before tons of potential change heading into the offseason:
<blockquote>“I believe that with Rick and Footy (assistant coach Adam Foote) and the way that they coach and structuring how we are defensively,” Hughes said, “if we add another player or two and have some guys within our group play better next year than they did this past season, I think we can be a really, really successful team. We’re very structured, we don’t give up much, we have maybe the best goalie tandem in the league, and we have a great D-corps and others that are coming that will help us. The point is, if we get Rick back and add a piece or two, we can be very successful.”</blockquote>
After the season, the Canucks gave Foote permission to speak with other teams if he does want to move on. However, he may not be going anywhere if he is being strongly considered for the Canucks next head coaching job.

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