New Canucks GM Challenges Players To Be The Best Quality Teammate Possible

The Vancouver Canucks' new GM said one thing must be the focus for the rebuilding club right now before discussing wins and losses.

Ryan Johnson, who was named the 13th GM in Canucks history, spoke to reporters Thursday alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin, the club's new co-presidents of hockey operations. Johnson said building the environment will be the top priority, and they won't race through it to rush a rebuild.

That focus comes after a couple of seasons that included a dressing room rift between J.T. Miller and center Elias Pettersson, Miller and captain Quinn Hughes being traded away and a fall from first in the Pacific Division to last in the NHL.

"I think anybody that has worked with me, alongside me, players that have played with me, they understand there's some real non-negotiables," Johnson said.

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Henrik and Daniel Sedin are the top two scorers in Canucks history, with 1,070 and 1,041 points, respectively. They made the Stanley Cup final with Vancouver in 2011 and helped the team win the Presidents' Trophy twice.

Johnson also played for the Canucks for two seasons between 2008 and 2010 as a depth forward. During those seasons, no Canucks forward blocked more shots than Johnson's 169. No regular forward in the entire NHL averaged more blocked shots per 60 minutes than Johnson during that time, either. He then became a development coach with the Canucks in 2013-14 and had spent the past nine seasons as the GM of their AHL affiliate, winning the Calder Cup in 2024-25.

As players, Daniel Sedin said they've been through really good seasons and some tougher ones. Their best campaigns were when they were well prepared, he said.

That is one message he wants to make clear to Pettersson, who had a career-high 102 points in 80 games in 2022-23 but hasn't gotten back to that level of production. The 27-year-old had 51 points in 74 games this season and was a topic of trade speculation at times.

Johnson said he also wants to wipe away all expectations Pettersson may have for himself and just focus, along with the rest of the players and staff, on being the most physically and mentally ready they can be in the fall.

"I'll reiterate again, I'm going to challenge these guys to be as good as the teammates that they can for each other," Johnson said. "If we commit to those little things, everybody's going to better, for him included."

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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 2:53 PM.