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Chapter 1: What names are emerging in the Canucks GM search?
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Hey, what's up? Welcome to Canucks Talk here on Sportsnet 650. I'm Jamie Dodd. No Drancer on the show today. He's off for the next couple of days. He will be back on Monday for the beginning of draft lottery week. Of course, that's also pending any unexpected Canucks GM announcement here in the next 48 hours or so. We are broadcasting live from the Kintec studio.
Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintec 650. 650 is the Dunbar Lumber text line. And this hour of the show is presented by Waffle House Diner. Enjoy chicken and waffles. The Waffle House Special Classic. Full breakfast and more. Dine in or order on your favorite delivery app. Breakfast done right. Got a packed guest list, though. Really good guest list, actually.
I'm really looking forward to this. In Drance's absence here at 1230, Vancouver Golden Eyes General Manager Cara Gardner-Morrie will join the show. And I'm really looking forward to chatting with her about just how crazy the last year has been for her.
I mean, she hasn't even been on the job for a full year yet, obviously an inaugural season for an expansion franchise, the ups and downs, what she learned. And now of course, with them having the first overall draft pick and a presumptive superstar talent sitting there in Caroline Harvey, how they're going about preparing for the draft.
So I'm really looking forward to that conversation with Kara Gardner, Maury coming up at 1230 Vancouver, golden eyes, general manager at one o'clock, Kenny Albert. Do an NHL play-by-play during the playoffs for TNT down south is going to join the show. And not just that. Kenny Albert recently set a record. Most national broadcasts as a play-by-play announcer all time. And that's not just NHL.
That's across all four major sports in the United States. NHL, NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball. 1,545 national broadcasts. for Kenny Albert and his career, which is absolutely incredible. So we'll talk about that. We'll get his thoughts. He was on the call as Philly closed out Pittsburgh last night. We'll talk to him a little bit about that series.
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Chapter 2: How is the Canucks GM interview process being conducted?
His impressions of the Flyers, of Rick Tockett's Flyers, and maybe the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference as well. And then at 1.30, a day early, Dimitri Filipovich will join me here. He, of course, is the host of the Hockeypediocast. We'll chat all things Stanley Cup playoffs with Dim at 1.30. As always, when there is no drance, I always appreciate your texts.
Send them in 650-650 to the Dunbar Lumber text line, and I'll throw some questions out there. as well to you, the listener throughout the course of the show. So Kara Gardner, Maury at 1230, Kenny Albert at one Dimitri Filipovich at one 30, but right now let's go to the whiteboard. All right, fellas, let's focus up. It is your daily deep dive into what's up with the Canucks for today, April 30th.
And the headline is names. Names continue to emerge in the Canucks search for a new GM. We had a trio. of either new or at least confirmed names that the Canucks have talked to today. And a lot of this is courtesy from our pal Rick Dollywall at Check TV on Donnie and Dolly, who of course joins us every week and did so yesterday for the crossover.
He reporting Jamie Langenbruner, of course, former NHL player, Stanley Cup champion with the Stars and the New Jersey Devils. He's an AGM in Boston. He's interviewed and was apparently very impressive with the Vancouver Canucks. Brad Paschal, who's an AGM in Calgary from Coquitlam, originally also interviewed with the Canucks.
Dolly Wall also mentioned today a name that we'd wondered about for a while, and I think Drance first speculated he could be a potential target when this search process started. Jeff Tambolini, who's an assistant general manager and, of course, another guy we've
Former Canuck, lots of connections here to BC, the BCHL, his time here in Vancouver, his dad's time here in Vancouver, tons of connections. Dolly Wall reporting that Jeff Tambolini interviewed last week. Dolly Wall also goes on to say, don't be surprised if both Langenbrunner and Evan Gold, both AGMs in Boston, get second interviews. So I think with this latest influx,
of names here and reporting, it's worth kind of taking a step back and just running through the list and taking kind of a second to view the process in its totality and get some perspective here. So as far as I'm aware, here is the list of names confirmed candidates that the Canucks have interviewed.
Not just that they've been linked to or have been surfaced, but these are guys that's been reported, they have talked to, and interviewed. Here's the list as I understand it. If I'm missing someone, feel free to point it out, send it in, and let me know in the Dunbar Lumber text line. Ryan Johnson, of course. Kevin Adams. Shane Doan. Brett Peterson. Evan Gold. Ray Whitney. Patrick Burke.
Jamie Langenbrenner. Jeff Tambolini.
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Chapter 3: What insights does Jamie Dodd have on the candidates?
Bill Scott. Brad Paschal. So we have now heard a lot of names at this point. And it took a little while for them to all start coming out, or at least for them to start coming out with this much speed and this much volume. And I know Drance was on the morning show talking about this.
And I think one of the dynamics here is that not all of these names, some of these names surely will get second interviews. And in fact, as Dollywell's reporting, you know, wouldn't be surprised if Jamie Langenbrenner and Evan Gold do. But a lot of these names are probably guys who are out of the running and therefore not as concerned with keeping everything close to their chest anymore. Right.
And hey, it's actually good for me. if people around the league know that I interviewed for this position. So I think that's one of the signs or one of the reasons we are starting to hear a lot more names in direct connection to the Canucks general manager opening. Another sign, in addition to all the reporting that's been done on this topic, that the process is moving to its next stage.
And there's some reporting about that that I'll get to in the broadsheet as well. But I'll throw this out. And by the way, actually, one last thing I want to mention from Rick Dollywell before I throw out my first question here.
He did note that Shane Doan, who's been very impressive, and he's hearing a lot of traction on Shane Doan, likely to get in-person interviews if he hasn't already, being looked at probably for more of a director of hockey operations job than a pure GM job, which makes a lot of sense for Shane Doan.
So again, with all of that in mind, that list of names, the fact that it's been a panel conducting these interviews, there's a wide range of candidates, everyone from rookies, AGMs for successful teams, former players from the league office, retread GMs too, and a guy like Kevin Adams. It's been a very, very wide-ranging process.
Given everything we know about the process from the outside, what is your level of optimism right now with how the Canucks are going about their business? And again, I'm just asking you to evaluate the process because obviously we can't know what the outcome is going to be. They haven't made that decision.
And look, sometimes you can follow a really good process and the outcome can leave a lot to be desired. And they could hire someone that I'm really excited about, but it turns out that they're not cut out to be an NHL GM. That could happen, of course. So we're really just talking about the process. And I think any way you slice it, you have to be...
pretty happy with how this team is going about it, right? The fact that they are willing to take their time. They didn't rush into a decision. You look at the sheer number of candidates they're talking to. I think that's really positive. I think the resume of a lot of them. And of course, you're not going to look at every candidate and think, oh, wow, that guy would be an amazing hire.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of a clear transition of power in the Canucks organization?
inspire you when you hear them, and that's fine. Now, if one of them is selected, that may be a different part of the story, and we can criticize that or deal with it as it comes, but as part of the process, I don't have a problem. So if we were doing it as a ranking out of 10, how optimistic are you about how this process is unfolding? I mean, I think you've got to be pretty high.
Maybe an 8 out of 10? And even that is really more about docking the couple points. There is more about that kind of lingering uncertainty that Because it is the Vancouver Canucks, and Vancouver Canucks ownership is involved. And it's great to go through the process, but will it be seen through to the end? And will they make the right decision?
So maybe I'm even being unfair going as low as 8 out of 10. But overall, I think you have to really, really like what we've seen. And I know Drance was talking again on the morning show today, even that he's hearing they're asking a lot of the right questions, a lot of smart questions.
about the timeline, about the rebuilding process, about what it's going to look like, their thoughts on the coach, all of those things. And again, without being privy to those details of the conversation, are they going to be seduced by someone selling a really quick timeline? That's possible. That's absolutely possible, and I don't want to rule that out.
But this is about as close to the process I was hoping to see as I could imagine. I never really expected it to look like this. And I'm really glad that it does at this moment. We'll see where it goes from here, but I think it's worth just taking a pause, taking stock in this moment and noting from the outside looking in, There's a lot to like about how the Canucks are going about this.
So send your thoughts and how optimistic with the process are you right now? I've also been thinking a lot about, all right, given all the names we know, and there's probably a bunch of other names that we haven't heard yet. We'll see if we start to get more really solid reporting on the short list here over the next few days. How would you rank the various names?
And I'm not going to go through all 10 or whatever that we have and rank them one to 10. But just at the top, as I was thinking about this, We're going through it. I think one through three for me would be, number one, I'd have Brett Peterson. We talked a lot about him, Florida AGM, former agent on the show.
And I just keep thinking about all of the fascinating, gutsy decisions that that front office has made over the last almost six years since he's been there with Bill Zito. I think a guy who's been in those conversations, who's had those experiences, who's been a part of those decisions, that's a tremendous asset to have in your organization.
In addition to what you hear about his personality and his ability to convince people. In addition to his work as an agent. So I think Brett Peterson for me would be candidate number one. Two and three are pretty close. I look at Evan Gold and again, his background, experience running the AHL team for the Boston Bruins. I do get a little bit worried about You know, it's not as if they've rebuilt.
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Chapter 5: How does the Canucks' current situation affect their draft strategy?
So how does he view that process? Does he think, yeah, hey, no, look at us. Like we had a top 10 pick last year and then we were back in the playoffs. That concerns me a little bit. But overall, what you hear about Evan Gold, pretty positive. His background, his experience, very positive. And then I think number three, I'd have Ryan Johnson.
And maybe people will say, oh, you're biased because you've talked to a bunch on the show or all that. But look, he's been very impressive when we have interviewed him. It's very hard to find people who aren't.
impressed with ryan johnson his experience running abbotsford counts for a lot he's done a lot of different jobs in the front office so i think that's how i would have it power ranked right now brett peterson evan gold ryan johnson i also want to mention this uh in the headline section here before i move on to some of the other rumors that are kind of associated with the Canucks GM search.
Rick Talkett and the Flyers threw to the second round after beating the Penguins 1-0 in overtime. A Cam York point shot, of all things. Imagine that, beating Archer Shelovs after he played an incredible game. And I was thinking about this, and I know there's a lot of Canucks fans who are very, very sour on Rick Talkett.
And look, to a degree, I understand that, even though I look at what Talkett did as extremely, extremely relatable, leaving a very, very... tough situation here in Vancouver for greener pastures because he had the leverage. I get it. So I don't really hold that against him.
But I think even if you are extremely anti-Talkett, right, angry that he left, maybe angry for some of the decisions that he made when he was here, I think in retrospect, you should look at it as a very, very good thing, ultimately, that Rick Talkett left the Vancouver Canucks.
Because there's no way they were going to finish at the bottom of the standings and be guaranteed a top three pick if Rick Dockett had stayed and continued to coach this team. The floor would have been way, way too high. And we'd probably be looking at, you know, the eighth overall pick or something like that. And you wouldn't be getting this incredible shot in the arm to begin the rebuild.
that you're getting in Rick Talkett's absence. So I think no matter what, no matter where you fall in the Rick Talkett debate, how positively you remember his time in Vancouver, whether he's a good coach, all of that stuff. And I mean, at this point, I don't know really how you can argue against him being a pretty dang good coach.
But whatever you fall on it, we can all agree, ultimately for the best for the Canucks, because at least him leaving paved the way to them picking top three in this draft. And of course, we'll find out exactly where in the top three They're going to pick at the draft lottery next week. All right, to the broadsheet.
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Chapter 6: What questions are being asked to GM candidates about media relations?
The most important thing, of course, is that there is a clean transition from Jim Rutherford as the top decision maker in hockey operations to whoever the new general manager is.
As long as that happens, and I'm willing to take Jim Rutherford at his word here, which he laid out when he spoke to the media and to the fans at the end of the season, and he said the next GM is going to be making all of these decisions. The coach, that's the GM. Elias Pettersson, that's the GM. I'm stepping back. It's all going to be on him. That's appropriate. That's fine.
As long as there's no confusion about that. And I don't think there needs to be. If Jim Rutherford is in an advisory role, then I have no problem with him sticking around. What you don't want, of course, is rookie GM. Jim Rutherford is still the president of hockey ops. And does it start to get confused about who's doing what?
But as of right now, I am more than willing to take Jim Rutherford at his word and that they're going to avoid that situation and that whatever the structure is, if he is around, it's going to be Justin's advisor and it won't be him stepping in and taking major decisions off the GM's plate like he did with Quinn Hughes, the Quinn Hughes trade and Patrick Alvin. But it is going to be fascinating.
And I wonder how does that play into whether or not they hire somebody like Shane Doan in a director of hockey operations role? How does Jim Rutherford's immediate future impact exactly who gets hired? how many people get hired, and what the structure of the front office will be.
Irfan Ghaffar also reporting that a few candidates have already been interviewed in person with more to come soon, to which I say, get those eyes on YVR, people. Get out there. Stake out the arrivals terminal. Get your flashcards so you know what Evan Gold looks like, what Brett Peterson looks like. Get those reports.
Get those weird, blurry Twitter photos up there so we can speculate wildly about exactly who is interviewing in person for the Vancouver Canucks. And finally, here on the Canucks, Rick Dollywall, and he noted this a little bit, on the crossover yesterday as well, reporting that in these interviews, the Canucks are asking candidates how they'll deal with the dreaded Vancouver media.
And I think I've seen from a lot of people in the media, right? Their first instinct is to scoff at this notion. They're always so worried about us. Why don't they focus on building a team? And that's fair. But I also look at this and think, yeah, of course you should be asking your candidates about this market, about the media, about their strategy for dealing with it.
The candidates should be thinking about the realities of working in Vancouver, the realities of running the Canucks. It would be naive not to take that into consideration. And really, a good candidate... I think they will have a clear strategy for handling the media, for relating to the media.
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Chapter 7: How does Jim Rutherford's role impact the hiring of the new GM?
We'll be good and we'll do smart things and therefore no one will criticize me. Because I kind of think that was Jim Rutherford and Patrick Galvin's strategy, at least when they arrived. It was, well, you know, I mean, we just won two Stanley Cups and Jim Rutherford won another one in Carolina. I mean, like, yeah, what? The media is going to be mean to us?
It turns out, yes, that is exactly what happened. So I think it's totally fine to make sure, hey, do you have a strategy? How do you think about this? How are you going to handle it? How are we going to handle it top to bottom in the organization? Because that's the other part of it. It's not just the front office and how they relate to the media. It's how your coach does.
It's how your players do. And I think it's totally fine, totally valid for the Canucks to be asking this question. And I'd be very curious to hear some of the answers they've got from different GM candidates. And again, I hope, look, I'm sure that the Canucks have a different idea of what a good answer to that question is than I do. So I understand that.
And maybe that's where some of the skepticism is coming from my fellow media members. But on the surface, I have no problem whatsoever with the Canucks asking GM candidates about the media and about their strategy to deal with it. That should be a part of a good GM. knowing how you want to interact with the media, knowing how you want to get your message out there.
The last thing I want to talk about in the broadsheet here is I do just want to spend a second talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs and what on earth is going on with their GM search. And we've heard for a few days now that they're trying to get a deal done with Matt Sundin to come in.
It sounds like a similar role or a similar title to what Shane Doan might be up for here in Vancouver, kind of director of hockey operations, VP of hockey operations, something like that. They're trying to get a deal done with Matt Sundin and former Arizona Coyotes GM John Chyka.
And if you really start to dig into some of the reporting around Chica's tenure in Arizona, it is pretty baffling to me how the Leafs ended up at this spot where they are not even that they haven't even successfully done it. They're just like working hard. to get the Sundin Chayka duo in the door.
I rarely say this, but I would encourage everyone to go check out Steve Simmons' latest piece in the Toronto Sun. Some pretty hilarious tidbits in there, including one, and again, look, take it with a grain of salt, it's Steve Simmons, but when Chayka was the GM in Arizona, he had like six computer monitors in his office. but only one really worked.
And the other five just had like permanent fancy stat graphs on them to make it look like he was doing work. And they discovered this after he was fired. I'm just passing it along. Cause that's deeply hilarious. I also have to say, I'm really enjoying the people citing. So John Shike, after he left the NHL in disgrace, uh, By the way, that's worth noting.
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Chapter 8: What are the potential outcomes of the Canucks GM decision?
He apparently now owns a bunch of Wendy's franchises. And I am getting a good laugh from all the Leafs fans on social media citing this as proof of his business and managerial expertise. Guys, that's not what owning a Wendy's franchise looks like. He's not out there innovating Wendy's products. He's just doing the Wendy's franchisee thing, man. It's pretty straightforward.
You got a bunch of money, you buy some Wendy's and they're cash cows for you. This does not take a business genius to run 30 Wendy's. We do not have to pretend that that makes John Jaika qualified to run the Toronto Maple Leafs. But it's pretty funny. So I guess Leafs fans keep doing your thing because it is really, really giving me some laughs. All right. We're through the broadsheet.
Let's go to the war room.
I want the new GM to make all hockey decisions.
Vancouver Canucks are proud to select them. All right, since it's just me and no drance today, I'm going to flip this one around a little bit, and I'm going to open up the war room pitches to all of you, the listener. In fact, I'm going to give you a specific task.
So let's say we're here on Wednesday and the Canucks have won the draft lottery, or at least they're picking first overall for the first time in franchise history. And you all know my feelings about Gavin McKenna, how long I've been banging the drum for Gavin McKenna.
So what I want you to do, send in your thoughts, your pitches, convince me as the theoretical general manager of the Vancouver Canucks to trade out of first overall. And of course, don't just be like, well, you know, Macklin Celebrini. It's like, yeah, of course, but the Sharks aren't going to do that. Try to make it something that the other team would reasonably consider doing.
And I want to see if we can come up with a package that A, makes sense for the other team, and B, would at all entice me to trade out of first overall and the opportunity to select Gavin McKenna. So I am assigning you, the listener, war room homework. We'll see if we can get to it after some of our interviews later on in the show. 650-650 to the Dunbar Lumber text line.
Come up with the realistic package to get me as the Canucks to trade out of first overall of this year's draft should they receive that pick. We'll see what we can do. We'll see if we can land on something spicy enough to get me to think about it, at least. All right, that's the whiteboard for today. Up next, as I mentioned, Kara Gardner-Morey.
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