Abbotsford Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra is beginning to turn heads down in the AHL in his first season with the Vancouver Canucks' minor-league affiliates.
The Canucks' former assistant coach returned to the organization after a four-year stint as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs, taking the Abby Canucks' head coaching post and spearheading a professional bench for the first time.
The longtime NHLer has already guided the Canucks to 37 wins in the AHL this season, and is just three shy of the 40-win threshold with nine games remaining.
Prospects like Aatu Raty, Linus Karlsson, Cole McWard, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Danila Klimovich, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, and Nils Aman have all taken steps forward under the 44-year-old's tutelage.
Perhaps even more important is that Malhotra is having this success with limited talent and experience at the goaltender position. Ty Young, Arturs Silovs, Nikita Tolopilo, and Jiri Patera have all started games for Malhotra's Canucks, and none have a save percentage greater than .905 this season.
While promoting Malhotra could be a big risk in the end, his early success in Abbotsford should be something of note to the Canucks.
There are no guarantees that Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet will extend his stay in Vancouver and opt to pass on a reunion with the Philadelphia Flyers, for example.
Plus, Tocchet has failed to deliver on the expectations set by him and this Canucks team last season, which led to him winning the prestigious Jack Adams Award for the first time in his career.
Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson are still fairly young players, and while Hughes might have a strong rapport with Tocchet, Malhotra might have a fresher and more clearly defined vision of offensive hockey in this new day and age.
The Canucks are well entrenched in the bottom half in the NHL in goals per game, and Malhotra's ability to improve young, unheralded prospects will be something to note going forward for a franchise that has dealt a number of veteran players, including J.T. Miller, this season.