Canucks Hire Dale Tallon, Other Hockey Ops Added

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced a variety of hires for the hockey operations staff on Friday.

Maybe the most surprising was the name Dale Tallon, the former 2nd-overall pick of the expansion Vancouver Canucks as a player back in 1970, the architect of the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup teams that won three Stanley Cups over the last dozen years, and the former GM of the Florida Panthers.

To best understand his respect factor, the Blackhawks put his name on the Cup and presented him a championship ring even though he had already left the club prior them winning their first Cup.

As a senior advisor, Tallon adds an experienced voice to a hockey operations group laden with inexperience. Assistant General Managers Cammi Granato and Émilie Castonquay are among those new or relatively new to NHL management positions. He’ll do some pro scouting as he brings decades of experience to the table.

“Bringing in good people,” Allvin said, “Good, experienced people, with a winning pedigree. And will make our scouting stronger.”

Allvin reached back to his former franchise and plucked Scott Young and Frank Golden from the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, Young to be Director of Player Development and Golden as a college hockey scout.

Young played more than 11-hundred NHL games, won two Stanley Cups, one with Pittsburgh and one in Colorado, and has held the same player development position with the Penguins since 2017.

The video assistant coaching position went to Dylan Crawford, the son of former Vancouver Canucks head coach Marc Crawford.

Finally, Ryan Johnson, General Manager of the Abbotsford Canucks, garnered a promotion and an added title, Assistant to the General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

As for Bruce Boudreau’s assistant coaches, Allvin reiterated that Brad Shaw is under contract for another season. If Shaw were to not earn a promotion opportunity with another club, he’ll be back behind the bench running the penalty kill.

Allvin said he and Boudreau are in conversation about filling another assistant coaching spot but there is no specific timetable.