abbotsford – CanucksBanter

By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter

July 10, 2026

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Ryan Johnson announced today that the club has named Ryan Mougenel, Jordan Smith, and Jason Krog Assistant Coaches, and Andrew Shaw as Assistant to the Video Coach, the team announced in a press release late this morning.

“Finalizing our coaching staff is another important step for our organization,” said Johnson.

“When we started this process with Manny, we wanted to find quality people first and foremost, who are good teachers and have intelligent hockey minds.

We have assembled a group that can help us build a solid foundation, connect with both our veterans and younger players, and put in place the system and style of play that Manny wants to see on the ice.

We are excited to welcome Ryan, Jordan and Andrew to Vancouver, and I am very happy to see Jason get a much-deserved promotion.”

Ryan Mougenel

Mougenel recently completed his eighth season with the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL), the last five having served as the team’s Head Coach and is coming off being named the winner of the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL Coach of the Year.

Prior to his time with Providence, the Scarborough, ON native spent four seasons in the San Jose Sharks organization, serving as an Assistant Coach with the San Jose Barracuda (three seasons) and Worcester Sharks (one season), in addition to one season with the Hershey Bears.

Mougenel also spent eight seasons in the ECHL, first as an Assistant Coach with the Fresno Falcons, before moving to the Las Vegas Wranglers in the dual role of Head Coach and General Manager.

Before joining the coaching ranks, Mougenel spent six seasons playing professional hockey, split between the ECHL, AHL, and International Hockey League (IHL). In 180 career ECHL games, he posted 105 points (46-59-105) and 271 penalty minutes, capturing the Kelly Cup with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in 2002.03.

He also skated in 20 AHL games, scoring one goal and registering two penalty minutes, in addition to 95 IHL games, recording 25 points (9-16-25) and 106 penalty minutes.

Jordan Smith

Smith spent the past two seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Abbotsford Canucks (AHL), helping the team capture the Calder Cup in 2024.25. He joined Abbotsford after spending the previous two seasons with the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL).

Before his time in the AHL, the Sault Ste. Marie, ON native spent five seasons as an Associate Coach in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), split between the Soo Greyhounds and Sudbury Wolves.

He also served as the Head Coach of the Soo Thunderbirds of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) from 2013.14 to 2016.17, where he was named the NOJHL Coach of the Year back-to-back seasons (2013.14 and 2014.15) and guided the Thunderbirds an NOJHL Championship in 2015.16.

Smith played 60 career AHL games across two seasons, split between the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks and Portland Pirates, posting 15 points (6-9-15), 164 penalty minutes, and a +4 plus/minus rating.

He also spent parts of four seasons in the OHL, all with the Soo Greyhounds, registering 68 points (13-55-68), 398 penalty minutes, and a +13 plus/minus rating across 211 games, and was selected by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the second round, 39th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Jason Krog

Krog has served as a Skills & Skating Coach with the Vancouver Canucks and Abbotsford Canucks for each of the last two seasons.

The Fernie, BC native previously spent time with the Burnaby Winter Club as both a Head Coach and Assistant Coach from 2021 to 2024, as well as a Hockey Advisor to Simon Fraser University during the 2023.24 season.

Prior to entering the coaching ranks, Krog spent 18 seasons playing professionally after being signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Islanders on May 14, 1999.

He played parts of nine seasons in the NHL, split between the Islanders, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Atlanta Thrashers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks, posting 59 points (22-37-59), 46 penalty minutes, and a +6 plus/minus rating in 202 career games.

He also appeared in parts of nine seasons in the AHL, split between the Lowell Lock Monsters, Providence Bruins, Springfield Falcons, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, Chicago Wolves, and Manitoba Moose.

In 535 career AHL games, Krog registered 598 points (190-408-598), 191 penalty minutes, and a +40 plus/minus rating, winning the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s Most Valuable Player, the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as AHL Playoff MVP, and the Calder Cup in 2007.08 with Chicago.

Andrew Shaw

Shaw spent the previous two seasons with the Abbotsford Canucks, serving as the team’s Video Coach and helping the team capture the Calder Cup in 2024.25.

Before his arrival in Abbotsford, the Chilliwack, BC native split parts of five seasons with the Chilliwack Chiefs and Prince George Spruce Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).

He served as Video Coach, Assistant Coach, and Associate Coach with Chilliwack, and Associate Coach with Prince George.

Prior to his coaching career, Shaw spent two seasons in junior hockey as a player, appearing in 20 games with the Nipawin Hawks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), as well as 71 games with the Castlegar Rebels of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL), recording 55 points (17-38-55) and 51 penalty minutes, adding three points (1-2-3) in 14 playoff games.

He also played one season at the University of the Fraser Valley (British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League), scoring 22 points (7-15-22) in 20 games.

Former Assistant to the Video Coach Evan Mathias is no longer with the organization. The club thanks Evan for his contributions and wishes him all the best in his future endeavours.

Vancouver’s Coaching Staff for 2026.27:

Manny Malhotra, Head Coach
Ryan Mougenel, Assistant Coach
Jordan Smith, Assistant Coach
Jason Krog, Assistant Coach
Marko Torenius, Goaltending Coach
Ian Beckenstein, Video Coach
Andrew Shaw, Assistant to the Video Coach

Source: Canucks Communications

Overview

As of November 26, 2025, the Vancouver Canucks organization finds itself in a state of operational and identity crisis.

With a regular-season record of 9-12-2 through the first quarter of the 2025-26 campaign, the franchise is not merely underperforming relative to management expectations; it is exhibiting a roster unable to respond to the loss of key players, with key talents and skills, that were counted on to lead the Canucks to the 2026 NHL Playoffs.

The “retool or band-aid, on the fly” philosophy, championed by the current management group as a means to maintain competitiveness while marginally upgrading the roster, has collided violently with the realities of the modern National Hockey League (NHL).

This is the start of a series looking into the lack of success of the Canucks to this point of the 2025-26 season.

The series serves to shed light on the failures that have precipitated the current collapse—most notably the mismanagement of distressed assets like Lukas Reichel and the friction surrounding the usage of franchise pillars— and historical trade precedents, that possibly could help the Canucks put them on the right track, if not this season, over the next couple of seasons.

Furthermore, this series will involve assessment of the looming salary cap of the 2026-27 season, where it is projected to rise to $104 million , to construct detailed, cap-compliant trade scenarios with the New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, and Utah Hockey Club.

Analysis of the Canucks roster is that the current roster within the competitive scope of the Western Conference is fundamental to the success, or in this case, lack of success, to the Vancouver franchise.

The “mushy middle” of the NHL standings—that purgatory where teams are not good enough to contend for the Stanley Cup but not bad enough to secure lottery talent—is the most dangerous position in professional sports. The Vancouver Canucks are currently a resident of this domain, after many seasons of consistently being in the top 12-15 of NHL teams.

The 9-12-2 record is not a statistical anomaly driven by variance or injury; it is the output of a flawed process that prioritized short-term stability over long-term ceiling.

The success of the American Hockey League affiliate Abbotsford Canucks last season, while useful to add “callups” to the NHL teams, has put pressure on their talent and skills to perfrom at the NHL level, that has times proven to be a struggle, and deteriment to club through no fault of their own, from being put into situations that their lack of NHL experience is not sufficient to deal with on a full time basis.

The disconnect between elite individual talent and collective team failure suggests a broken culture or a tactical mismatch between the coaching staff’s system and the roster’s capabilities, for the team record this season, and the Canucks need an in-season shake-up to appease fans and ownership.

The regression of the Canucks season is particularly alarming given the individual performances of key personnel. Captain Quinn Hughes continues to operate at a Norris Trophy caliber, logging sustainable minutes and driving play, yet the team structure around him has crumbled. Elias Pettersson has begun to resemble the Elias of “old”. But the roster is band-aided with talent insufficient to “weather the storm” to key injuries.

The operational objective for General Manager Patrik Allvin and President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford must now shift from “playoff push” to “asset maximization.”

The market conditions in November 2025 are unique; teams are capped out, but they are also aware of the impending cap inflation of 2026. This creates a window for creative, high-value transactions that can reset the Canucks’ trajectory.

CanucksBanter will explore this topic further in the coming days.

Until then, hockey fans