Report: Canucks promote Ryan Johnson to general manager
Some familiar names are taking over control in B.C.
According to multiple reports, the Vancouver Canucks are promoting assistant general manager Ryan Johnson to general manager, becoming the 13th person in franchise history to take on the role.
The Canucks will be announcing their new organizational structure with Ryan Johnson as the General Manager. Henrik and Daniel Sedin will now have elevated roles in the organization.
Per Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali – The Team, franchise legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin have been promoted to co-presidents of hockey operations.
The announcement comes after former GM Patrik Allvin was fired last month, with president of hockey ops Jim Rutherford stepping down from his post after the 2026 NHL Draft.
Johnson has had ties to the Canucks organization dating back to his playing days, having spent the 2008-09 and 2009-10 campaigns in Vancouver. A few years after retiring in 2011, he was hired back by the Canucks as a development coach. In 2015, he was promoted to assistant director of player development. Then, two years later, he became the director of player development and general manager of the Canucks’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Utica Comets. He has held the role of GM of Vancouver’s primary affiliate through the transition to Abbotsford. He helped piece together the roster that won the Abby Canucks the franchise’s first Calder Cup in 2025.
From 2022 to 2024, the Thunder Bay, Ont. native was special assistant to Allvin, before serving as assistant GM for the past two seasons.
The Sedin twins were initially hired as special advisors to the GM during the 2021-22 season, but moved into development coaching roles the following year.
The new regime will look to turn the franchise’s fortunes around after a disastrous 2025-26 campaign. The Canucks finished with the worst record in the NHL, but ended up not winning the draft lottery, falling back to third overall.