In Surprising Update, Momentum Changing for Canucks New Hockey Ops Dept.

From all reports as of late Monday night, the Vancouver Canucks were leaning in the direction of Evan Gold as their new general manager. Now new insider information on Tuesday afternoon is that there's "momentum" behind the Canucks leaning towards their current assistant GM Ryan Johnson—for a "head of hockey operations" role.

We will see where this goes over the next day or so, but hearing momentum is moving in Ryan Johnson’s direction for Vancouver’s head of hockey operations.

Nothing is done until it’s done, but that’s the latest
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 12, 2026

"The one thing I'm hearing is that there's momentum going behind Ryan Johnson in Vancouver. I've been hearing a lot about that... I'm starting to think that Ryan Johnson has a good shot at being the next head of hockey operations there," Friedman told The Fan Hockey Show Tuesday afternoon.

This is starting to make sense all around, as the Canucks had reportedly refused another team permission last month to speak with Johnson for its GM opening.

This has all been a significant turnaround from recent days, when insiders around the sport were certain that Gold was the frontrunner for the Vancouver job.

My gut says Ryan Johnson has been offered a position, either director of hockey ops or GM.

Deal is not done.

Sedin twins will have big say.

Do not get the sense Evan Gold is still in the mix.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) May 12, 2026

Insider Rick Dhaliwal feels that Gold is no longer in the mix. Beat writer Farhan Lalji is hearing that the Bruins AGM "overplayed his hand."

Irf reporting that Ryan Johnson will be the #Canucks next head of hockey operations. I’ve heard Gold may have overplayed his hand over the past 48 hours. Certainly the fit between the Sedin’s and RJ will be a much cleaner one than connecting the twins with someone they’d never…
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) May 12, 2026

Another Vancouver insider, Irfaan Gafar, says that Johnson has indeed "been offered the job to be the next head of hockey ops. Can’t see a situation where Johnson is going to turn it down."

Legendary Canucks, the Sedin Twins, Henrik and Daniel, are reportedly being asked to, and are apparently set to accept, taking on a much larger role in the franchise's hockey operations. They had been serving in player development roles since 2022.

As Lalji notes, their relationship with Johnson is already established, while Gold would have been an outsider.

A lot of changes coming in Vancouver, after the firing of GM Patrik Allvin last month, and the recent news that current head of hockey ops Jim Rutherford is set to step down.