Alain Vigneault returning to Vancouver

New Canucks GM Mike Gillis: ”My first priority when taking over the job was to meet with Alain and ensure we shared the same philosophy about building an elite level team for now and for the future. Alain has done a very good job in his two years in Vancouver and I am confident that will continue.”

Here is the full report courtesy of TSN.

My take: This decision does come as somewhat of a surprise. The Canucks fired Vigneault’s assistant coaches yesterday, which is generally a sign that the coach is next. Nonetheless, the Canucks decided to bring back Vigneault for at least the next two seasons. It appears that the new brass believes Vigneault’s coaching style was dictated more by his personnel than by his coaching philosophy; as the new Canucks management is looking to get more offensive come next fall.