Fans are split after learning how Ryan Johnson really got his new Canucks job
Rick Dhaliwal dropped the line Thursday that Vancouver Canucks fans needed to hear, even if it stings.
Ryan Johnson didn't pitch a quick fix to ownership. The Canucks GM walked into the room and told the people writing the checks this is going to take a long time.
"Ryan Johnson did not pitch a 2-3 year plan to ownership to get out of this mess." That's Dhaliwal on Donnie and Dhali Wednesday.
The honesty matters. Most GMs sell hope on a timeline. Johnson apparently sold reality, and the ownership group nodded along.
The numbers explain why. Vancouver finished 25-49-8 for 58 points and 32nd overall, the worst record in the league.
The goal differential hit minus-100. The Canucks scored just 216 goals and gave up 316. That's not a tweak job.
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Adam Foote inherits a long rebuild with no shortcut available
Adam Foote's first year behind the bench told the same story the front office is now telling out loud. The team isn't close.
The home record was 9-27-5. Rogers Arena turned into one of the worst home buildings in the league, and the fan base watched every loss in person.
The last 10 games of the regular season produced a 4-6-0 record. The slide was real, the structure wasn't there, and the season ended on a 6-1 loss in Edmonton.
That's the team Johnson is rebuilding. Not a contender that lost its way. Not a bubble club looking for one more piece. A 32nd overall finish with a roster full of contracts that don't fit.
Elias Pettersson sits at the center of it all. The 11.6 million cap hit is on the books for six more years, and the Brian Burke trade rumors aren't going away.
Brock Boeser put up 48 points. The drop after that is steep. The Canucks don't have a second scoring line right now. They have one and a half.
The honest GM speech to ownership is the kind of thing that buys you trust. It also buys you fewer playoff banners in the short term, and Vancouver fans will have to swallow that.
The 2026 NHL Draft picks will help. The cap relief will help. The losses won't stop helping for a while.
What Johnson said in that meeting changes the conversation. The Canucks aren't pretending anymore. That's the first real step out of the basement, even if the next steps take years.
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MAY 14, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||