Green agrees to two-year contract to remain Canucks coach

Travis Green agreed to a two-year contract to remain coach of the Vancouver Canucks on Friday.

The 50-year-old ended his fourth season and is 125-132-32 in 289 games since replacing Willie Desjardins on April 26, 2017. Green is fifth in Canucks history in games coached and wins.
"I wouldn't have signed back here if I didn't believe in what we're doing and what we're capable of doing and where we're going," Green said. "I want to win, and that's why I signed back here. I didn't sign back here just to get two more years of coaching in the NHL."
Vancouver (23-29-4) was last in the seven-team Scotia North Division this season.
"We own this season," Green said. "It didn't go the way we wanted it to. I can understand how people would be frustrated with the year. Our group needs to evaluate, we need to make changes, but there's only one reason I signed back here is because I believe that we can win with this group, and not just the players or coaches, but the ownership and management."
Canucks general manager Jim Benning said he also was disappointed in how the season turned out but believes bringing Green back is a key to turning things around.
"Having Travis re-signed as head coach was a critical step," Benning said. "Travis and his staff have contributed immensely to the development and the success of our team, and we're grateful they are committed and dedicated."
Benning said the Canucks offered Green the contract at the start of the season and that they had back-and-forth discussions with him throughout the season.
"I guess as it came down to the end of the year here we dived into it a little bit harder, and Travis had a decision to make if he wanted to come back and we got it done here at the end, so I'm grateful for that," Benning said.
Canucks captain Bo Horvat praised Green.
"Travis has been awesome toward not only the team, but toward me, helping me through this process and growing my game and teaching me how to play the right way and trying to be a good leader," Horvat said Thursday.
Green said he appreciated the players supporting his return.
"I think it goes both ways," he said. "I came here four years ago, I talked about wanting to build something here and I'm committed to that, and that was a big part of me staying committed to the organization, committed to the players and committed to winning. I'm grateful that we got something done. I'm thankful and I'm really excited about it."
Vancouver forward Adam Gaudette tested positive for COVID-19 and was pulled from practice March 30, the first sign of an outbreak that extended to 22 players and four staff members, including Green, testing positive. The Canucks had nine games postponed, didn't play again until April 18, and were 3-7-0 in their first 10 games after resuming play.
Center Elias Pettersson, a 22-year-old who won the Calder Trophy in 2019 voted as NHL rookie of the year, did not play after March 2, when he injured his wrist. He said he will be ready for the start of next season.
Benning said he expects the Canucks to have a busy offseason, including re-signing Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes, who each can become a restricted free agent after the season. Benning also said the Canucks would like to sign defenseman Travis Hamonic, who can become an unrestricted free agent. Hamonic played on a defense pair with Hughes for most of the season.
"Among our priorities this offseason is to re-sign [Pettersson] and Quinn," Benning said. "We also will be exploring trade options, free agency and buyouts to help strengthen our group as a means to have more balance going next season.
"We want to add speed and depth to our forward group. I thought maybe this year some of the players that we thought were going to take the next step in their development, some 23-, 24-year-old guys that we thought would be able to kind of keep moving forward and taking more responsibility on, that didn't happen. That's on me.
"Going forward we're going to make sure that we have these good young core pieces in place, that we surround them with some veteran guys and some guys in that age group that can help them keep getting better. We need more scoring depth, so we're going to work on all those things in the offseason."
Green coached the Canucks to Game 7 of the 2020 Western Conference Second Round, a 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, after Vancouver finished seventh in the Western Conference with a .565 points percentage (36-27-6). It was the Canucks' first postseason appearance since 2014-15 and longest run since losing Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final to the Boston Bruins.
"The talks that guys have had in the room the past couple of weeks with everything going on, I know we all think very highly of the coaching staff, from Travis to (assistants) Nolan [Baumgartner] to [Newell Brown] and [Jason] King, all the guys," defenseman Tyler Myers said. "I think we have something good going in the group right now. I think everyone feels like we're moving forward, and we don't know a lot about what goes on behind the scenes with that stuff, but all I can say is, as players we think very highly of them."
NHL.com independent correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report