All we can do for now is evaluate the new coach, and Boudreau is one of the best in hockey. Of course, we have to cross those bridges when we get there. If Francisco Aquilini keeps plucking from the 200 Hockey Men barrel, well, there would be no reason to think there'll be a significant change in the way the team is run moving forward. Organizations need to be smart and stable from the top-down in order to achieve sustained success. It is a situation where having a President of Hockey Operations can help, but that just pushes the decision one rung up the ladder if you hire the wrong PHO, they'll hire the wrong GM, and so on the dominoes fall.
If the owner doesn't hire the right general manager, then it doesn't matter who the coach is just ask literally any Edmonton Oilers fan you know. We have to wait and see what the general manager search yields, but these things always start at the top. Hopefully it starts with Tyler Myers not earning the most ice time of anyone on their blue line over any meaningful timeframe. If we operate under the assumption these players are healthy – I'm not, but just for this exercise – there is a lot of talent here for Boudreau to work with. To that end, I have some hope here for the Canucks for the rest of this season. That is complete conjecture, and I don't like speculating on the health of players, but I also don't see any beat writers (from any team) asking questions regarding long-COVID issues so there is nothing we can do but speculate on the health of the players.
Of course, I maintain that at least a few players from this team haven't completely recovered from their brutal bouts with COVID last spring. This team won't undergo a Calgary-like turnaround, but they'll be better. Boudreau is a coach who can step in and right the ship within a month or so. This team has, seemingly, under-performed their ability for a couple years now, and the team doesn't seem to be getting anywhere close to the maximum from guys like Pearson and Pettersson. I do like the Boudreau hire here, personally. As fantasy owners, that's really all we care about. They are as good as cooked as far as playoffs go, but that doesn't mean there can't be a turnaround offensively. He has a really good take on Boudreau here, namely that it's probably a good hire but it won't make a difference for this season the team is last in their division and nine points out of a playoff spot. Ian is a long-time (or long-suffering, depending on your view) Canucks fan. I want to start with Ian Gooding's take on the firing of Travis Green. Regardless, there is a lot of fallout from this. Not that someone losing their job is funny, but the league and its teams generally handle these things in the worst way possible, Vancouver here being no exception. It is pretty funny that a GM that has been there for over seven years and a coach for over four got fired in the middle of the night on a Sunday, but the NHL has always been great at unintentional comedy. The big news out of the NHL on Sunday night was the cleaning house in Vancouver.