Mammoth To Hire Adam Foote As An Assistant Coach

After being let go as head coach of the Canucks following their front office shakeup, Adam Foote won’t be out of a job for long.  CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (Twitter link) that Foote has signed on to join the Mammoth’s staff as an assistant coach.

Foote spent parts of four seasons behind the bench in Vancouver.  He originally came onboard as an assistant midway through the 2022-23 season on Rick Tocchet’s staff, then moved up to the head coaching role last offseason when Tocchet and the team couldn’t work out a new deal.

It’s fair to say that Foote’s first stint as an NHL head coach didn’t go very well.  The team was hoping to get back into the playoff mix but instead, the Canucks played to a record of just 25-49-8, finishing dead last.  Quinn Hughes was moved midseason while the team appears to be positioning itself toward entering at least some sort of rebuild but will be doing so with a fresh voice behind the bench with Manny Malhotra taking over as head coach next season.

When he was an assistant in Vancouver, Foote was in charge of Vancouver’s defense and penalty kill with both of those areas improving when he took over.  He’ll likely have a similar role with the Mammoth but will be starting out with a group that allowed the tenth-fewest goals and the fifth-fewest shots on goal this season.  Utah’s shorthanded success rate was a little below average, however, so they’ll be hoping Foote will be able to help that unit improve.

As for who Foote will be replacing, it appears that Blaine Forsythe will be losing his spot on Utah’s bench.  The Fourth Period reports that Forsythe’s contract will expire at the end of the month and will not be renewed.  He spent the last three seasons in that role with the organization after being in that role for 14 years in Washington.