On January 22, 2023, the Vancouver Canucks made wholesale changes to their coaching staff, switching former head coach Bruce Boudreau and assistant coach Trent Cull for Rick Tocchet and Adam Foote. Only two seasons later, the bench changed once again. Foote has replaced Tocchet as the team’s new head coach, with Kevin Dean, Brett McLean, and Scott Young joining him. On Thursday, Foote met with the media to discuss the team’s new hires.
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The search for Foote’s assistant coaches was one that began after the new head coach was hired on May 14. At the time, he explained that he wanted to hire one coach who is more offensively-minded, and one who is more defensively-minded. He cited his desire to find their defence coach first, with this leading him to former Chicago Blackhawks assistant coach Dean through mutual connections.
“Dean had history in Boston, and as a penalty-killer defence coach, I always liked how Chicago killed penalties,” Foote said regarding the search for Vancouver’s defence coach. “Everything that I learned about Dean, I liked it more and more and more. And we actually opened up the relationship real early. We spoke almost every day throughout the world championship. He did a great job with Garly [Conor Garland] on that PK and Garly was hopping over the boards of the first PK unit guy over there. I think he gained a lot of confidence.”
The fact that Dean coached Garland and Drew O’Connor at the 2025 World Championship definitely helped bolster his résumé, but as Foote mentioned, it was his “calm demeanor” that convinced the head coach that this was the guy he wanted on the bench.
“His personality and the way he carries himself, with that calm demeanor, is what I was looking for. I felt like he’s going to be himself, but I liked, as far as the calm demeanor and being strong back there, and things get shaky, he’s got a ton of experience. And the way we spoke about the game, I felt like I’ve known him a very long time. I knew within the second or third phone call that this was the guy for us.”
“This City Wants To Win, And It’s Nothing But What We All Want To Do”: New Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote Speaks On The Role
In January 2023, Adam Foote was brought into the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouver-canucks">Vancouver Canucks</a> organization as Rick Tocchet’s assistant coach. Only a little more than two years later, Foote was <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouver-canucks/latest-news/vancouver-canucks-name-adam-foote-as-next-head-coach">named</a> the 22nd head coach in franchise history, coming into Tocchet’s role after the latter <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vancouver-canucks/latest-news/former-vancouver-canucks-head-coach-rick-tocchet-officially-joining-the-philadelphia-flyers">joined</a> the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers/">Philadelphia Flyers</a>.
As for McLean, Foote noted that he was “always in the mix.” The former head coach of the Minnesota Wild’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild, is originally from BC and comes into his role with 385 NHL games played under his belt. The new Canucks assistant coach also received a glowing recommendation from former Minnesota head coach Dean Evason, which was something that really stuck with Foote throughout the hiring process.
“He really liked Brett, and he was the one that asked Brett, along with Bill Guerin, to go down to the minors and be a head coach. They felt like he had head coach material,” Foote said of Evason’s perspective on McLean. “He’s a great addition, a little bit younger than maybe a couple guys we were looking at which I love. He’s got the energy, great practice plan. He can dig and show guys the things maybe a Yogi [Švejkovsky] or the Sedins would show on a regular basis.”
Foote also noted that while Dean will take over his old role as the defence coach, McLean will primarily take the power play with some input from Young. Young, who was with the Canucks for three seasons before being promoted to Foote’s bench, was in a situation similar to Foote’s in terms of coaching.
“Scott’s kind of in a situation where I was with Rick, where we did a lot of other things because we weren’t ready to put that time in to be a coach, in a time that’s needed, because we both wanted to be with our family. And he’s in a situation now where he can put that time in, and someone that I would call the glue guy, maybe how I started out with Rick, and someone that I trust and respect,” Foote said. “I’m really excited to have his knowledge. He’s there to support all of us in that coaching group.”
With the Canucks’ coaching staff now locked in for 2025–26, the team will now need to prepare themselves for the 2025 NHL Draft on June 27 and 28.
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