VANCOUVER — The most valuable Vancouver Canuck last season was probably their coach, so Adam Foote is trying to replace not only his friend and mentor but the team’s MVP.

It’s not a bad outcome if Foote turns out to be Rick Tocchet 2.0.

He didn’t even plan to coach the Canucks — “I thought I was going with Rick” — until general manager Patrik Allvin and Canucks president Jim Rutherford approached him in May, asked Foote to interview, and then hired him.

But what has become clear as the Vancouver Canucks prepare to open their season of salvation Thursday (7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+) against the Calgary Flames is that Foote, hired partly for organizational continuity, has strong ideas of his own and is his own coach.

He is not trying to be Toc 2.0, although, like

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