There were 10 Swedish players on the ice this week at Vancouver Canucks development camp — plus three coaches.
For much of the past six years, the Vancouver Canucks’ development department has been a one- or two-man show. Ryan Johnson was always there. For a long while he did have an assistant, first Scott Walker, then Chris Higgins.
But with the Canucks setting up a fully-staffed player development department this spring, reassigning the Sedin twins to player development, hiring Mikael Samuelsson and Mike Komisarek and putting them all under the leadership of assistant general manager Cammi Granato, another newcomer to the organization, the emphasis is clear that working closely with prospects is a priority again.
The last two years, where most contact with players was only possible through remote connections, over the phone or on Zoom, really highlighted for him what was missing. For Samuelsson, 45, returning to player development is a return home. He served as general manager of Sodertalje in the Swedish Allsvenskan for about two years, but that wasn’t for him.
Returning to Vancouver was exciting because it was a chance to work with people he knew well from his playing days, the Sedins of course, but also Johnson, whose last season playing for Vancouver, 2009-10, was Samuelsson’s first.“It means the way they carry themselves, the way they think the game, I’m right there and I want to work like that. And they are humble enough to actually get everybody’s opinion.
The Canucks’ long-standing connections with Sweden didn’t play a factor for Samuelsson in making his return. He just wanted to be in a place he wanted to work.
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