"We're pleased to welcome new personnel to our Hockey Operations staff and acknowledge those who will take on greater roles and responsibilities," said Benning. "As part of this process, we've reconfigured scouting assignments to improve the reporting structure of our Amateur department. We believe these moves complement our Hockey Operations group and will contribute to the overall success of our team."
Vancouver Canucks alumni, Chris Higgins, re-joins the team as Assistant Director, Player Development. Higgins will support Ryan Johnson in his role as Senior Director, Player Development & Utica Comets General Manager.
Todd Harvey and Derek Richard originally joined Vancouver's staff in 2017 and take on new roles and additional responsibilities as Amateur Scouts.
Troy Ward, Phil Golding and Martin Bakula join the club as Amateur Scouts. Ward recently held Head Coaching roles with the WHL Vancouver Giants and Abbotsford Heat. Golding served the past two seasons as Assistant General Manager of the Guelph Storm (OHL). Bakula joins from the Arizona Coyotes, where he spent the past two seasons as a European Scout.
Patrik Jonsson, Vincent Montalbano and Brandon Benning take on new assignments among the Amateur Scouting staff. Pat Conacher moves to the Amateur staff after five seasons as Director, Hockey Operations with Utica.
Ryan Biech joins as Video Analyst, Hockey Analytics and will report to Senior Director, Hockey Operations and Analytics, Jonathan Wall.
Dan Cloutier resigns after eight seasons as Goaltending Coach and Director of Goaltending. The organization is grateful for Cloutier's service and wishes him success in future.
