GM Patrik fired by Canucks after last-place finish

Patrik Allvin is out as general manager of the Vancouver Canucks after four seasons, the club announced Friday.

The decision to move on from Allvin comes as the Canucks went from being a win away from the Western Conference finals in 2024 to finishing this season with the worst record in the NHL by more than 10 points.

"I would like to thank Patrik for all his hard work over the past four seasons," Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said in a statement. "Under his guidance we have accumulated a lot of young talent, and he has helped us lay the foundation for our rebuild. This season was disappointing for everyone in our organization, and we understand how frustrating it was for those who care about the team.

"Moving forward our goal will be to continue to bring younger players who can go together with our current group and form our next competitive core."

Allvin, who was hired in January 2022, was tasked with trying to get a core of players featuring Thatcher Demko, Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, and Elias Pettersson into becoming a perennial playoff team.

Vancouver reached the playoffs in Allvin's second season after it fired Bruce Boudreau and replaced him with Rick Tocchet. Under Tocchet, the Canucks won the Pacific Division with their largely homegrown core at the heart of that success. They would lose to the eventual Stanley Cup runner-up Edmonton Oilers in the second round.

Inconsistencies and injuries hindered the Canucks during the 2024-25 season. The Canucks would miss the playoffs in a season that was made even more complicated by the internal friction between Miller and Pettersson, who signed an eight-year contract worth $92.8 million in March 2024, going public. Miller would be traded to the New York Rangers.

Tocchet, who was offered a new contract, would leave the Canucks after last season. He joined the Philadelphia Flyers and guided them to the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.

Allvin promoted Canucks assistant Adam Foote ahead of a season in which the Canucks faced several short-and long-term questions.

One of those questions was if Hughes, who was the Canucks captain, would remain with the franchise.

Hughes was eventually traded to the Minnesota Wild in a December blockbuster that saw the Canucks receive Zeev Buium, Liam Ohgren, Marco Rossi and a 2026 first-round pick.

The decision to trade their captain and star player signaled that the Canucks were heading toward a rebuild.

Falling further down the standings reinforced the Canucks' direction for the future and it led to them being one of the more active teams ahead of the trade deadline. The Canucks would move on from David Kampf, Tyler Myers, Lukas Reichel and Kiefer Sherwood.

Allvin's replacement will be charged with trying to build and develop the next wave of prospects with the idea they could potentially complement the current veteran core featuring Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Filip Hronek, Kevin Lankinen, Marcus Pettersson, Demko and Pettersson.

The first step in that plan is the draft with the Canucks having the strongest odds to win the draft lottery ahead of a cycle that will see them have four picks in the first two rounds and 10 selections in total.

PuckPedia projects that the Canucks will have $21.56 million in salary cap space ahead of an offseason during which veteran forwards Teddy Blueger and Evander Kane become unrestricted free agents.