I'm not opposed to the Canucks talking to anyone. If anything, talk to as many qualified candidates as you can especially if that candidate could be an assistant. Reirden has kind of been singled out by Penguins fans as sucking. That's usually not a good thing for an assistant.
I think it depends on what you want to accomplish. An experienced coach like Boudreau when we hired him was boring and bland (who brought exciting hockey back to Vancouver) but he's an experienced coach who steady the ship. If we are looking for some stability and get back to the playoffs a boring and bland "good assistant" coach like John Stevens isn't going to cut it. We'll just be average and finish just out of the playoffs again.
Hardest thing for management might be to figure out what the teams identity is. Tocchet was brought in to create that and players were brought in to fit it but the buy in wasn't always there. Bruce was the high octane offence but the team has changed quite a bit since then. Last year the team struggled to score. Maybe a less defensive coach and more offensive coach might work better with this team. The roster strength is clearly on the defensive side.
I understand all the reasons against hiring Quennville. But when they make playoffs over us, he would've played an outsized role in it.
I'd rather miss the playoffs then hire him.
I don’t like bringing on a coach to “create” an identity. That’s something GMs did back in the day. I prefer management to figure out our identity and acquire players and hire coaches that fit into how the team wants to play.
We also have morals and that's pretty neat.
