Former Colorado Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote out as Canucks head coach

After retiring from a 19-season NHL playing career, former Colorado Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote transitioned into coaching.

In January 2023, Foote was hired as an assistant coach for the Vancouver Canucks under head coach Rick Tocchet. When Tocchet stepped down on April 29, 2025, and later took the head coaching job with the Philadelphia Flyers, GM Patrik Allvin promoted Foote to the top job on May 14, 2025.

Foote inherited a 90-point team that had gone 38-30-14 in the regular season but finished fifth in the Pacific Division.

His tenure did not go well. Under Foote, the Canucks finished with just 58 points and the NHL’s worst record at 25-49-8, landing last in the Pacific Division.

New GM Ryan Johnson, hired May 14, wasted little time reshaping the organization. Five days after taking the job, Johnson fired Foote along with assistant coaches Scott Young, Kevin Dean, and Brett McLean, the team announced Tuesday.

“It was a challenging year on several fronts and truthfully, Adam and his staff were dealt a very difficult hand,” Johnson said in a statement. “That said, as we head into a rebuild, our group feels new coaching voices are needed to chart the path forward. Establishing the proper environment and culture is a vital first step in creating a solid and authentic connection throughout the entire organization. At the start of next season, our coaches will need to do a lot of work with our players, to instill in them the traits and habits they will rely on moving forward. The process to bring in a new staff begins immediately.”

Foote played 1,154 regular-season games across 19 NHL seasons, winning two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche. He began his career with the Quebec Nordiques before the franchise relocated to Colorado in 1995. After the 2004-05 lockout, Foote signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he spent three seasons before being traded back to the Avalanche in February 2008.

Over his career, Foote scored 66 goals and added 242 assists for 308 points, 259 of which came with the Avalanche. In 170 career playoff games, he tallied 42 points on seven goals and 35 assists.

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