Vancouver Canucks fire head coach Adam Foote

The Vancouver Canucks have fired head coach Adam Foote.

In a social media announcement attributed to rookie general manager Ryan Johnson, the team also stated that assistant coaches Scott Young, Kevin Dean and Brett McLean have been relieved of their duties.

The moves continue the Canucks makeover which started in earnest last week with the hiring of Johnson and of Daniel and Henrik Sedin as new co-presidents of the club.

Manny Malhotra, coach of the farm team Abbotsford Canucks, is expected to be in the running to replace Foote.

Johnson confirmed he will be speaking with Malhotra "about the future."

"It's hard to be ignorant of an internal candidate that we obviously have," Johnson said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

"Manny has shown his ability to develop young players, to build connection and obviously win a championship with a very young group."

Johnson told reporters he's looking for a coach who has patience and who can connect with a young group.

“It was a challenging year on several fronts and truthfully, Adam and his staff were dealt a very difficult hand," he said in a statement earlier Tuesday. "That said, as we head into a rebuild, our group feels new coaching voices are needed to chart the path forward."

Foote served one season as head coach, during which the team traded away star captain Quinn Hughes and finished last in the NHL by a wide margin.

Before that he was an assistant coach under predecessor Rick Tocchet for three seasons.