Following the Vancouver Canucks’ decision to make a change to their front office last week, there have been mixed opinions about what to make of it. Former Canucks player and president of hockey operations Trevor Linden, 56, shared his thoughts in a recent interview on Sportsnet 650 radio.

He said that new Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson and co-presidents of hockey operations Daniel and Henrik Sedin are a “united front,” which he noted will be “critical” in dealing with ownership. However, his radio comments rubbed NHL agent Allan Walsh the wrong way, prompting Walsh to call him out on X over those remarks and his role in the 2005 NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Walsh, who manages more than 25 NHL players including Filip Hronek, wrote, “Trevor Linden and 'presenting a united front' should never be uttered in the same sentence. One of the persons most responsible for going behind the back of NHLPA leadership to strike a deal with Gary on a triple hard salary cap with escrow. Cost players billions of dollars.”

More than 20 years ago, Linden was president of the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) when the 2004–05 season was canceled during negotiations for a new NHL CBA. He played a key role in negotiating the new collective bargaining agreement on behalf of the players’ association with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman during a lockout that lasted more than 300 days.

In addition to praising the new Canucks front office, Linden said that during his own tenure as president of hockey operations from 2014 to 2018, he did not have that same sense of a united front with ownership. He also appeared to suggest the same was true during the tenure of previous Canucks GM Patrik Allvin, who served the franchise for more than four years.

Trevor Linden remarks that the new Canucks front office will be able to “trust each other”

Trevor Linden sounded very pleased with the appointment of Ryan Johnson alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin in their expanded roles with the Vancouver Canucks. In his recent interview on Sportsnet 650 radio, he said, “You won’t find three better people in the game than Ryan Johnson, and Daniel and Henrik.”

“These guys are going to be able to look one another in the eye and trust each other,” he added.

During his four seasons as president of hockey operations from 2014 to 2018, Linden oversaw his best finish with the Canucks in his first season. In 2014–15, Vancouver lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Calgary Flames after finishing second in the Pacific Division with 101 points.

After that, Linden’s tenure included three disappointing seasons, with the Canucks finishing sixth (75 points), seventh (69 points), and seventh (73 points) in the Pacific Division in 2015–16, 2016–17, and 2017–18, respectively. That led to his departure from the front office before the franchise slowly began to improve its results.

Will the Canucks’ new front office deliver the goods in the 2026-27 NHL season? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Sahil Prashar