Sedins Named Co-Presidents, Ryan Johnson Named General Manager: Nucko’s Thoughts

They played junior hockey together. They got drafted to the same NHL team together. They played every year of their 17 season NHL careers together. They retired together. They took coaching roles with that same team together. Now, they’re the presidents of the Vancouver Canucks, together.

On Thursday, it was reported that the Canucks have officially promoted Henrik and Daniel Sedin to co-presidents of hockey operations, while Ryan Johnson was named general manager. A press conference is set for 1pm PDT, where the announcements will be made by the team and introductions will be underway.

After retiring in 2018, the Sedins took a couple years off to spend time with their family before re-entering the Canucks world in 2021 as special assistants to the general manager. The next season, they were promoted to development coaches, working closely with the team (and especially prospects) for the ensuing 4 years. 

After the Canucks lost the draft lottery, Jim Rutherford announced that he would be taking on a more muted role in the Canucks’ organization. This led to a week of speculation about who would be assuming the role of president. It seemed like nobody in the Canucks’ media had any clue what was going on, until Rick Dhaliwal eventually confidently reported the Sedins’ promotions a couple days ago.

It’s hard to find any way to be mad at this move. The Sedins have dedicated a huge portion of their lives to the Canucks, always doing whatever it takes to succeed with this team. Though they were never quite able to reach Lord Stanley as players, they now have the opportunity to lead the team to the promised land from the front office. They’ve spent the past 5 seasons working with the organization. In that time, they’ve undoubtedly picked up some tricks, and the Canucks deemed them worthy of this role.

The role of president is normally a one person role. This is certainly a situation where we can see past that. In their playing days, it seemed as though the Sedins’ brains were one with each other. Everyone knows about “Sedinery,” their magical powers that allowed them to perfectly understand what the other one was thinking out there. The twin telepathy is also a factor in their personal lives. They seem to always be harmonious, making the idea of co-presidents a comfortable one. I really just cannot imagine a world where they will disagree on anything ever. I’m sure their visions are symmetrical.

I have a lot of faith in this move, because I know the Sedins care. Obviously it takes a lot more than just caring, but it’s a good start. The fact that it’s two of them filling this role will also take some pressure off, which is going to be a big help as they find their footing. When Jim Rutherford was hired as president in 2021, I had my doubts. His tenure in Pittsburgh did not exactly end on a high, and I felt the Canucks were making a mistake by going with someone… nearing retirement from the job, for lack of better terms. Rutherford wasn’t completely awful in the role, but he dug the Canucks into some holes that will still be felt for years to come. I’m happy the Canucks have opted to replace him with younger, fresher faces. I want new ideas to flood the front office.

The Sedins weren’t the only ones who earned a promotion within the Canucks’ organization, though. Ryan Johnson has worked for the Canucks since 2013, shortly after his retirement from playing. He has acted as their AHL general manager for the past 9 seasons, while also working his way from director of player development to assistant general manager of the big club. Now, he's their NHL general manager.

If the Sedins are the two people in the world who care most about the Vancouver Canucks, Ryan Johnson is probably a close third. The biggest mark on his resume comes from 2025, where his Abbotsford Canucks took down the Charlotte Checkers to become Calder Cup champions. Johnson built a championship winning team in Abbotsford, with Sammy Blais and Jujhar Khaira particularly being big AHL signings that were crucial in claiming the trophy.

The Canucks conducted a thorough general manager search just for the answer to be under their nose the whole time. After a visceral reaction from the fanbase toward the idea of hiring Pierre Dorion, Peter Chiarelli, Tom Fitzgerald, and others, it eventually came down to two contestants: Ryan Johnson and Evan Gold.

Reports for a while portrayed Gold as the clear frontrunner. Some members of the media even said, with confidence, that Gold would likely be the next general manager. Something changed, though. It may have had to do with negotiations between the Canucks and Gold, but he was ruled out for the job, leaving Johnson as the last one standing. I would have had a lot of confidence in Gold. He’s an intelligent man with a lengthy background in front offices, and I would have really liked for him to find a spot in the Canucks’ organization. I would assume some other team is going to scoop him up now, which is a little disappointing.

The good news is that I also believe in Ryan Johnson. Once again, I was uninterested in hiring an older guy with outdated methods of thinking. Johnson is 49 years old, slotting him into the proper age range that should be considered for this job. Some people have been hesitant about the hiring because of Johnson’s role through two failed front offices in Vancouver, but I think it’s a stretch to believe he had much of a say. That especially goes for this more recent front office, where I’m not even sure Patrik Allvin had much of a say. Allvin was the general manager.

His success with Abbotsford last year has also been discredited by many who pointed to their failure this year. I’m not sure what he was supposed to do this year, though. Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson, Aatu Räty, Elias Pettersson (defenseman), and Nikita Tolopilo all graduated to the NHL. Artūrs Šilovs, Abbotsford’s playoff MVP, was traded by the Vancouver front office for an underwhelming return. Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored 13 goals in 21 AHL games, but spent some time in the NHL and spent a lot of time injured. Phil Di Giuseppe and Sammy Blais left in free agency. That is almost every important player from the Calder Cup win, gone in a season, not to the fault of Ryan Johnson. I believe 2025 is a better representation of what happened when Johnson was given the reins, and 2026 was the fault of Vancouver and injuries.

I do hope the Canucks bring in some new assistant general managers. One of the reasons Gold was so enticing was that he would offer an outside look at the organization, which is often important when you're trying to completely revamp the franchise. I think it's essential that the Canucks hire some new faces to ensure that we get fresh perspectives on where the team sits right now and what path they should take moving forward.

I know I’ve been a bit negative this season, but I’m not ready to let that leak into these announcements. I have a lot of faith in the Sedins and Ryan Johnson. I am excited to see how they will do in these roles. The big hope from me is that Francesco Aquilini will let the hockey people do their hockey business without interfering, but I think we all know that’s a long shot. Aquilini is expected to be present at the introductory press conference today, which really has me curious. Hopefully this doesn’t end up being another Linden situation. 

The moves made by Vancouver here were solid ones. You can maybe argue that other people could have filled these roles better, but you definitely cannot argue that this was anywhere near the worst case scenario. Ryan Johnson was one of my top 3 options for the general manager job (along with Gold and Brett Peterson), and you’re not going to catch me thinking anyone was better for the role of president(s) than Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

A new age of Canucks hockey is upon us. Who better to lead it than the old age of Canucks hockey?