Adam Foote Fired as Canucks HC After 1 Season, Finished With NHL's Worst Record

The Vancouver Canucks are cleaning out their coaching staff after finishing the 2025-26 season with the worst record in the NHL.

The Canucks are dismissing head coach Adam Foote after one season, general manager Ryan Johnson announced Tuesday.

Assistant coaches Scott Young, Kevin Dean and Brett McLean were also dismissed after one season in their respective positions.

"It was a challenging year on several fronts and truthfully, Adam and his staff were dealt a very difficult hand," Johnson said in a statement. "That said, as we head into a rebuild, our group feels new coaching voices are needed to chart the path forward. Establishing the proper environment and culture is a vital first step in creating a solid and authentic connection throughout the entire organization."

The Canucks finished Foote's lone season as head coach with a league-worst 24-49-8 record, then dropped two lottery spots to No. 3 in the upcoming 2026 NHL draft.

Vancouver has since gone through a series of front office changes, including president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford stepping down before the dismissal of former general manager Patrick Allvin.

The franchise recently replaced that former leadership team with a trio of former players including Johnson, who was promoted to GM after serving as assistant general manager since 2024.

Canucks legends Henrik and Daniel Sedin are taking over as co-presidents of hockey operations after previously working in the franchise's player development department.

Johnson and the Sedin brothers will now be tasked with both overhauling the Canucks roster and finding Foote's replacement this offseason.

Foote, a former defenseman and first-time NHL head coach, was originally hired to replace former Canucks coach Rick Tocchet in May 2025 after three seasons as an assistant with the organization.

Foote's tenure as assistant included the Canucks' peak with their previous core, during which Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller led the franchise to within one win of the 2024 Western Conference Finals.

The Canucks saw that success fade over the next two seasons amid injury issues for goaltender Thatcher Demko, a drop in production from forward Elias Pettersson and a reported locker room rift that led to Miller's trade to the New York Rangers in January 2025.

Foote was unable to help the Canucks bounce back in their first full season without Miller. The franchise ultimately signaled plans to tear down the roster on Dec. 13, when Allvin traded Hughes to the Minnesota Wild after a 11-17-3 start to the season.

The Canucks will start out their upcoming rebuild with four picks in the first two rounds of the 2026 draft, per PuckPedia. Finding a new head coach who can develop young talent and improve a locker room culture Rutherford described after the season as "really bad" will be key to helping this franchise rebound from the disappointing end to the Hughes era.