Thomas Drance got a brief interview with Calder Cup-winning coach Manny Malhotra recently, published in The Athletic.* Malhotra was on the (very) short list of replacement head coaches when Tocchet left, but remains the top dog in Abbotsford for now.
The interview brought to mind the huge differences between the NHL and their closest league, the AHL. As static as the Vancouver Canucks have been, their affiliate must change. That's simply the nature of the feeder league, and it's true in every sport. They, like Vancouver, aren't quite in their final form. But general manager Ryan Johnson needs to wait for Vancouver's final decisions before he can make his own.
The Abbotsford Canucks won the franchise's first-ever championship since the Dallas Black Hawks won the Central Hockey League's Adams Cup in 1979. Their head coach was John Muckler, and more than a few Canucks appeared. Stan Smyl played the only three games of his minor-league career there.
Can Vancouver get a new Stan Smyl out of last year's batch in Abby? It's not as unlikely as you might think. Maybe not a 13-year career guy, but a long-term, rock-steady player? There are a surprising number of options.
Linus Karlsson and Max Sasson are name-dropped specifically by Malhotra as guys who got their call-up and came back with the same energy that earned it. That attitude of knowing what they can do and knowing it gets rewarded is essential for AHL players. These are two very different guys: Sasson carries the puck with speed, and Karlsson gets his points in front of the net. How they play is the similarity.
Sasson's skating made him stand out among the AHL sampler set last year. He's a lot more productive in the AHL, sure, but he's also getting first-line ice there. The same can be said of Karlsson's more, ah, "methodical" skating and play. But they play the same game in Abbotsford as they did in Vancouver, even if it's for fewer minutes.
When Malhotra talks about what success means in Abbotsford, it's exactly what you want to hear. Winning games is important, especially in the playoffs, when players aren't collecting a paycheque. A winning atmosphere is something players can carry with them the rest of their careers. But that isn't all.
The goal, which they make very clear to the players, is for them to graduate to the NHL. That ambition can best be realized with their parent club, sure, but if it's with another team, so be it. Play well enough to have your value recognized, and someone else will come calling. That's what happened with Artūrs Šilovs. Sammy Blais is getting another NHL shot in Montreal. Heck, John Stevens is extending his career in Finland.
And it's all because each individual has bought in. That means mostly playing like the team in Vancouver does, but with some flexibility for the different talent available. It's why you might see a top goal scorer like Danila Klimovich stay down, but low-scoring defenceman Elias Pettersson move up. It's not just blindly taking the most talented player, but who fits best for what Vancouver needs.
Aatu Räty has likely graduated already. If he's not pencilled in for a bottom-six centre spot, it's because they used ink. If anyone is getting the "next Steamer" vibe, at least Räry has the provenance. He knows how to put points on the board, worked hard to get where he is, and is only 22.
The most interesting player in Abbotsford, as far as I'm concerned, is Arshdeep Bains. He is a furiously hard worker, and he's reached the AHL through sheer determination. Overagers in the CHL don't often translate into NHL regulars, but he's doing everything he can to get there. The problem is, while he's a creative and adventurous player in Abbotsford, in Vancouver, he plays scared.
Not physically, of course. He wouldn't have lasted three minutes for Tocchet if he avoided contact, never mind 13 games. His first NHL goal - and only point - came from him charging the net for a rebound. While Vancouver doesn't expect brilliance from a call-up, they do need more results than that. And Bains has the talent to provide them, but is second-guessing himself on the regular.
Watching him in the AHL is fun. He works the boards, goes in on the forecheck, and is a very good passer. He'll send linemates in with spin-o-rama passes or go between the legs of opponents when they're mucking in the corner. Those kinda vanish with Vancouver, where he focuses more on not making mistakes.
The bad news is that we probably won't see Malhotra ever coach in Vancouver again. Ideally, anyway. Adam Foote has the job, and presumably, he's safe for the year unless we're all thinking Gavin McKenna thoughts in December.
It's difficult to shake off the "professional assistant coach" label when it's applied, and that was one reason why Malhotra took the job with Abbotsford. Being an assistant coach as your first job? Of course, that just makes sense. The third time you're an assistant coach in the NHL? That label gets sticky. The only promotion he wants now is to a head coaching job in the NHL.
Has he earned it? Working in Vancouver's favour is that last season was Malhotra's first as a head coach anywhere. Exciting as that is, there's not much of a track record there. Hitting a bullseye on your first throw could be skill. Or not. Teams are going to see a lot more throws before they take a chance with the flagship of their $2 billion franchise.
Malhotra has one more year plus an option right now. If he gets an offer from another team, the Canucks can block his move if they want. But if they do that, Foote should be looking over his shoulder.
*Apologies for the New York Times subscription. I only read it for the sports articles, I swear!
