VANCOUVER — Ryan Johnson’s unmistakable aura is decency.

Nobody who speaks to him for 15 minutes about anything leaves the conversation without a sense of the 49-year-old’s thoughtful earnestness and underlying goodness.

“Really good human,” former Vancouver Canucks president Trevor Linden said.

Only here, in this tumultuous and tribal, long-suffering National Hockey League market, could Johnson’s decency possibly be used against him as the Canucks search for a general manager to guide a team being rebuilt around young players and a fresh culture.

An assistant general manager who thrived with the Canucks despite previous regime change, Johnson has been touted by current president Jim Rutherford as the internal candidate to replace Patrik Allvin, who was fired last Thursday at the end of one of the worst and most disappointing seasons in franchise history.

Rutherford and managing owner Francesco Aquilini are expected to interview as many as 15 candidates for the job, several of them with NHL GM experience. Former GMs Kevyn Adams, Marc Bergevin, Brad Treliving and Rob Blake could all be candidates. And Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Wednesday that the Canucks have asked the Toronto Maple Leafs for permission to speak to special advisor Shane Doan, which is interesting because Rutherford has made it clear he could return to retirement soon after hiring a GM.

32 Thoughts: The PodcastHockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.Latest episode

32 Thoughts: The Podcast

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a........

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