from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

Vancouver Canucks coach Travis Green, marooned on an expiring contract without an extension for next season, broke his silence Tuesday on his employment status but only to explain that he is a better coach now than when he came to the National Hockey League team four years ago.

“I think every year has its own challenges,” Green told reporters before the Canucks, freshly eliminated from the playoff race, crashed 5-0 to the Winnipeg Jets. “We came into the season and you're always hoping for good things. It hasn't gone the way we wanted. But you learn from everything. I think every year you coach you have an opportunity to improve as a coach, and I know over the years in Vancouver, I've improved every year and become a better coach every season. And this year is no different.

“When you go through challenges and you go through adversity, sometimes you grow even more in those situations than when you're having success. And when I look back at the season ... I know I'll be able to look back and say, 'You know, I'm a much better coach today than I was coming into this season.'”

And, yet, here we are.

After inheriting a 29th-place, 69-point team in 2017 and taking it three years later into the playoff bubble last summer where the Canucks had their first post-season success since 2011, Green and his entire staff of assistants are about to become coaching free agents.

There are a lot of ways to judge a coach besides wins and losses, and Green’s teams have opened him to criticism even as they improved until this season.

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