VANCOUVER -- Patrik Allvin signed a three-year contract Wednesday to remain general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.
The announcement came just hours before the Canucks acquired center Elias Lindholm from the Calgary Flames.
"I've got an aggressive boss that is on me every day,” Allvin said Wednesday, referring to Vancouver president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford. “Jim always wants to be ahead and that's one thing I've learned from Jim, to stay ahead of communication with other GMs around the League and see what's available and what the price tag is on certain individuals.
"And if it makes sense for us, as we've shown and Jim has shown in history, we're not going to just sit and wait.”
After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the two years since Allvin was hired Jan. 26, 2022 as the first Sweden-born GM of an NHL team, the Canucks (33-11-5) are tied with the Boston Bruins (.724 points percentage) for the best record in the NHL and are in position to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and the second time in nine seasons.
Rutherford, Allvin's self-described mentor, received a new three-year contract of his own with Vancouver on Jan. 19, and has overseen an active front office since the opening of training camp.
The Canucks traded veteran forward Tanner Pearson to the Montreal Canadiens for backup goalie Casey DeSmith on Sept. 19, acquired forward Sam Lafferty from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 8 and traded forward Anthony Beauvillier to the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 28 in order to free up the NHL salary cap space required to acquire defenseman Nikita Zadorov from the Calgary Flames two days later.
Including Lindholm, Vancouver will have an NHL-high six players in the 2024 Honda (U.S.)/Rogers (Canada) NHL All-Star Game on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, CBC, TVAS). Lindholm will join forwards Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, defenseman Quinn Hughes and goalie Thatcher Demko.
During Allvin's tenure, the Canucks signed Miller (seven years) and Boeser (three years) to contract extensions and acquired top-pair defenseman Filip Hronek in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on March 1, 2023, that included the first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft acquired by trading center Bo Horvat to the New York Islanders on Jan. 30, 2023.
Lindholm can become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Last summer, Vancouver bought out the final four seasons of defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson's eight-year contract and balanced the roster by signing forwards Teddy Blueger and Pius Suter and defensemen Ian Cole and Carson Soucy.
They’ve all come together under Rick Tocchet, who was hired Jan. 22, 2023, and will coach one of the All-Star teams. Since Tocchet's arrival, the Canucks are 53-23-9, and their success this season has surprised even Allvin.
“I didn't anticipate that and I think that's a credit more to Rick Tocchet and the coaching staff,” Allvin said. “What I did anticipate was our younger players and our talented players would be able to take a big step forward with a structure and a system in place that Rick Tocchet would provide.
"Am I surprised that it went so quick? Yeah, but I also think what Jim said when we had our opening day of training camp, that this team has the potential and quality to be a good team if everything goes right for us, but I would get give Rick Tocchet and his coaching staff a lot of credit and the players for buying in and listening to him.”
The Canucks also have to manage raises for pending restricted free agents Pettersson -- Vancouver's second-leading scorer with 64 points (27 goals, 37 assists) in 49 games, three behind Miller (67 points) -- and Hronek, who has 36 points (three goals, 33 assists), two short of his NHL career high, and a plus-33 rating in 49 games.
Vancouver also has eight players besides Lindholm who could become unrestricted free agents July 1, and Allvin said he remains cognizant of what the roster might look at by the end of his contract.
“Hopefully the window of success is just starting for us here,” he said. "You don't want to have a one-year hit."
