Canucks say Sedins to be more involved with coaching; promote Svejkovsky

The Vancouver Canucks announced Wednesday that Yogi Svejkovsky has been promoted to assistant coach and added Daniel and Henrik Sedin will be more involved in the day-to-day coaching activities in both Vancouver and Abbotsford. 

Svejkovsky had spent the past two seasons with the Canucks as a skills coach, working with players in Vancouver and Abbotsford. He previously was the skills coach for the WHL's Vancouver Giants from 2006-18. 

“After exploring all of our options, it became clear very quickly that the best candidate was already in our organization,” said Canucks GM Allvin. “The ability to promote from within will help us in the transition, as Yogi and has a great understanding of our systems and the way we want to play. Including the Sedins more in our day-to-day coaching duties will be hugely beneficial to our group both on and off the ice. Both Daniel and Henrik bring a very unique perspective and competitive mind set to our staff.”  

As a player, Svejkovsky was drafted in the first round (17th overall) by the Washington Capitals in the 1996 NHL Draft. He appeared in 113 NHL games split between the Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning, scoring 23 goals with 42 points. 

“Since I arrived in Vancouver, I have been very impressed with Yogi’s work ethic and willingness to do anything and everything to help us become a better team,” said head coach Rick Tocchet. “Daniel and Henrik have also had a seat at the table and I have leaned on them more and more as the year went on. Their knowledge and ability to teach the game is a huge plus and they fit in extremely well with our group.”

Canucks also announced that Ian Beckenstein has been promoted from Abbotsford and will join the Canucks as an assistant video coach.