Canucks make numerous changes to coaching staff

The Vancouver Canucks continue to make moves on this year’s Canada Day. After re-signing three players, the club announced they have made numerous changes to their coaching staff.

On Friday morning, it was announced the Canucks have brought in Mike Yeo as assistant coach. They also promoted Trent Cull from the Abbotsford Canucks head coach position to be assistant coach in Vancouver. Jeremy Colliton comes in the head coach in Abbotsford and Brad Shaw has left the Canucks to take an associate coach position with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Shaw will be reunited with John Tortorella as the two were together behind the bench with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

“We’re pleased to have solidified our coaching staff for next season with the promotion of Trent Cull and the additions of Mike Yeo and Jeremy Colliton,” said Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin in the press release. “These individuals bring a lot of hockey experience and knowledge to the group. We would like to thank Brad Shaw for his contributions to the club and wish him the best of luck in Philadelphia.”

“I am so excited to help bring this group of coaches together,” said Head Coach Bruce Boudreau. “When I started the conversations with Mike Yeo, it became clear to me that he would be an excellent addition. Working with Patrik to create a well-rounded staff was very important for us as we look to continue to build upon the momentum we experienced last season.”

“Trent Cull did an excellent job for us at the AHL level, and I am so happy to see him get this much deserved promotion,” said Canucks Director of Player Development and Abbotsford GM Ryan Johnson. “Bringing in Jeremy Colliton to build on the things we have started in Abbotsford is a huge win for the organization. Jeremy has a great head for the game, and I look forward to working with him this coming season.”

Yeo was most recently the interim head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers after they fired Alain Vigneault this past season. Before that, he was an assistant coach in Philadelphia starting in 2020-21. Yeo was the head coach of the Minnesota Wild from 2011-12 to 2015-16 and the St. Louis Blues from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

He has coached 542 NHL games and has a 263-217-62 record. Yeo also won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 as an assistant coach.

Cull has been with the Canucks organization since 2017 when he was named the Utica Comets head coach. This past season was Abbotsford’s inaugural season and led the team to a 39-23-5-1 record but they were were bounced out of the playoffs in round one.

Colliton was most recently the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks from 2018 before getting fired in November of 2021.  In Chicago, he had a 87-92-26 record in 205 games. Before that, Colliton was the head coach of the AHL’s Rockford Ice Hogs posting a 46-31-0-11 record in 2017-18. He coached Mora of Sweden’s Allsvenskan for four years before coaching in Rockford.

Colliton was also an assistant coach with Team Canada at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Due to head coach Claude Julien suffering an injury before the first game, he took over the head coaching duties and lead Canada to a 5-1 win over Germany.

What do you think of the Canucks coaching changes? Let us know in the comments below, in the Facebook comments or on Twitter.