Canucks officially hire Patrik Allvin as new GM

Hockey operations continues to come together for the Vancouver Canucks, who now have their signature piece.

Patrik Allvin, who has spent the last 16 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, is taking the general manager reins from president Jim Rutherford. It's believed that Allvin was selected over Sean Burke and Scott Mellanby, among other finalists.

Allvin, 47, briefly served as the Penguins' interim GM after Rutherford exited the organization a few years after winning back-to-back Stanley Cups. He was interviewed for the position on a full-time basis, but lost out to Ron Hextall.

Allvin worked under Rutherford for seven seasons in Pittsburgh, preceding his arrival. He started as a scout and worked up to the director of European scouting before being promoted under Rutherford as the club's director of amateur scouting. He most recently served as the Penguins' assistant general manager.

The club won three Stanley Cups over his tenure.

Vancouver has added several pieces to management since Rutherford replaced Jim Benning earlier this season. Derek Clancey and Emilie Castonguay were named assistant general managers, while Rachel Doerrie was added to the analytics staff as part of a complete revamping of the team's hockey operations.

"Leading an NHL team in Canada is an honour and building a championship team in Vancouver is our goal," Allvin said in a team press release. "Jim has assembled a diverse and talented hockey operations group in Vancouver, and I look forward to working closely with all of them as we build a team that fans will be proud of and will ultimately compete again for a Stanley Cup."

Though Allvin has technically held a general manager position before, he officially becomes the first Swedish-born full-time GM in NHL history. With Castonguay, Allvin will collaborate with just the second woman to hold an assistant general manager position in the NHL.

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