Vancouver's new hire was already a steal but these new details take it to another level
Daren Hermiston hasn't worked a single day for the Canucks yet, and the endorsements are already rolling in.
Prospects analyst Cam Robinson, one of the most plugged-in voices in junior hockey, vouched for the hire Thursday in terms that left no wiggle room.
He went further, calling Hermiston "a rising star in the agency game" who brings real skills from that side of the business.
That matters more than it sounds. When a front office swings on an unconventional hire, the first 48 hours of industry reaction usually tells you whether it's bold or desperate.
Robinson's full post reads like a reference letter, not a polite congratulations, and the "without a moment's hesitation" line carries the weight.
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Nine players under 24 become Hermiston's first project
Now look at what's waiting for him in Vancouver. Nine players aged 23 or younger dressed for the Canucks this season. That's not a youth movement. That's a flood.
Zeev Buium logged 76 games at age 20 and finished minus-33. Brutal number on paper. Also exactly the kind of growing pain a development department exists to manage.
Behind him, Liam Ohgren, Aatu Raty and the 22-year-old defenseman Elias Pettersson all took their lumps on a team that scored just 216 goals, the kind of output that buries young players in losing habits.
Someone has to make sure those habits don't harden. That's the job.
The agent background fits here in a way traditional coaching resumes don't. Agents manage a young player's whole life, the training, the confidence dips, the family noise, the money pressure.
Teams talk about development like it's all video sessions and skating drills. It's mostly people management. Hermiston has done nothing but people management for years.
The praise is nice. Adam Foote needs results. If Buium and this group take a real step next season, nobody will remember this hire was unconventional.
If they stall, Vancouver's whole rebuild timeline slides with them.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 4, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brett Howden | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mark Jankowski | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||