Two polarizing figures linked to Canucks open GM job.

On Sunday the Vancouver Canucks made some sweeping changes to their front office when they brought in former Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau to replace now former Canucks head coach Travis Green and when they announced the firing of long time general manager Jim Benning.

Unlike in the case of Boudreau however there has seemingly been no immediate replacement to take over Jim Benning's former role, at least not anything more than an interim position, but there have already been a few names linked to that now vacant general manager's chair in the Canucks front office.

The first name that was linked to the position is going to be extremely controversial. According to a report from ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, there has been talk that former Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka could take over hockey operations for the Canucks. Wyshynski does go on to add that after looking into it he doesn't think that's where the Canucks are going, but the mere fact that he felt it was worth mentioning indicates to me that Chayka has been seriously linked to this job.

Chayka of course departed the Coyotes under very unusual circumstances, quitting right before the team entered the bubble for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. On top of that he was general manager when the Coyotes were punished for the scouting combine scandal that cost the organization a number of draft picks, which makes him a curious choice to say the least.

The second name on the list is also a polarizing one, albeit for entirely different reasons. According to a report from Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News, it sounds like there is considerable interest on the part of the Canucks in former Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin. Bergevin was of course just recently fired after a horrible start to the season for the Canadiens, and was a polarizing figure during his tenure in Montreal, which is admittedly a very difficult market to be a general manager in.

Bergevin was often criticized for certain decisions he made, including trading defenseman Mikhail Sergachev for French Canadian forward Jonathan Drouin, signing Karl Alzner to horribly misguided contract, as well as some of his draft decisions which include taking players like Jesperi Kotkaniemi over the likes of Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes, only to mismanage Kotkaniemi and see him sign an offer sheet with the Hurricanes in a deliberate attempt to get away from the Canadiens.