Malhotra adopts ‘great moment’ for South Asian hockey community by Canucks

Roshen Jaswal, who completed his first season as an assistant with the Western Hockey League’s Swift Current, said Malhotra’s hiring shows him there is a path for him to the NHL.

“It’s almost like a little North Star that follows you around and guides you,” said Jaswal, who was a defenseman for NCAA Division III St. Olaf College from 2016 to 2020 and played in 77 games in three minor leagues. “It’s definitely a goal of mine to coach (in the NHL) and it’s pretty cool to see someone who looks like you can do that. So yeah, it’s definitely a big thing.”

Malhotra spent the past two seasons as coach of Abbotsford, the Canucks’ American Hockey League club. He went 44-24-2-2 in 2024-25 and guided the team to its first Calder Cup championship. This season the team was 28-37-4-3 and did not qualify for the play-offs.

Before joining Abbotsford, Malhotra spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2020 to 2024. He was also a development coach with the Canucks (2016-2017) and an assistant with them from 2017-2020.

Selected No. 7 overall in the 1998 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers, Malhotra played 16 NHL seasons from 1998 to 2015, including three seasons with Vancouver from 2010 to 2013. He had 295 points (116 goals, 179 assists) in 991 regular season games with the Rangers, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, San Jose Sharks, Canucks, Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens and two goals in 35 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

He made his NHL debut on October 10, 1998 against the Canadiens, nine seasons after forward Robin Bawa became the first player of South Asian descent in the NHL when he skated with the Washington Capitals against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 6, 1989.

Malhotra’s appointment is the latest example of the growth and influence of people of South Asian descent within hockey. Sunny Mehta became the NHL’s first general manager of South Asian descent when the New Jersey Devils hired the former Florida Panthers assistant GM on April 16.

Michael Nijjar is a minority owner of the Vegas Golden Knights and the Malhotra family – no relation to Manny Malhotra – is part of the Ottawa Senators ownership group.

Sudarshan Maharaj, a 2023 pancreatic cancer survivor, is director of goaltending for the Anaheim Ducks and oversees the organization’s goaltending, coaching development and scouting for the position.

Manny Malhotra’s son, Caleb Malhotra, is a forward for Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League and is ranked sixth in NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings of North American skaters for the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

“In a short period of time, there have been many ‘firsts’ in our South Asian community,” Brar said. “It shows that the NHL is embracing diversity and that the South Asian community is becoming increasingly important in the game of hockey.”

Lali Toor, co-founder of Apna Hockey, an initiative that provides a network and support to players from South Asian backgrounds in Canada, believes the rise of Malhotra and Mehta will reverberate beyond North America and into India, where hockey is growing.

The Ice Hockey Association of India recently announced that it will field men’s, women’s and U20 boys’ teams at the 2027 IIHF World Championships in the Division IV group.

“I think it will definitely generate more interest in hockey knowing that there are people in our community who are actually in prominent positions in the NHL,” Toor said. “All the people that are part of that program and the new kids that are going to be part of that program are hopefully looking west and seeing the noise that we are making as heritage Indians or expats to grow the game in a positive direction.”