After a season that fell short of expectations, Vancouver Canucks President Jim Rutherford and General Manager Patrik Allvin met with media Monday morning at Rogers Arena to reflect on what lies ahead.
While the organization entered the year with aspirations of being a contender, a mid-season trade sparked a shift toward transition. Now, with a focus on retooling the forward group—particularly at centre—management is determined to push the Canucks back into the postseason.
Rutherford started with opening remarks, sharing his thoughts on the unforeseen circumstances and positive takeaways from a season with many ebbs and flows.
“We had a very disappointing season that we feel bad about,” Rutherford said. We ran into an unfortunate incident in the first half of the season that hurt the chemistry of our team, that we eventually had to make a trade that we didn't expect to make and didn't want to make. We went from a contending team to a team in transition, and we've continued to transition the team since the JT Miller trade.”
“We feel that our goaltending is in a good place, our defence is in a good place, and now there's work to be done on the forwards to get back to where we would like to be and should be.”
Last offseason, the coaching staff put together a plan to help take the team to the next level and when the team struggled to execute early in the season, Allvin said they had to make adjustments. Allvin talked about the advantage of having a first-class player development staff who can relate to players and teach them how to turn things around.
“I think the intention from our coaching staff was right. Last summer, they wanted to take the team to another level pretty quickly. I would say after six games [this season] I felt that this group was not ready for it. It was back to basics. From games 10 to 21, we played a pocket of really good hockey, but again, that's where we went back to basics, staples, pillars or identity,” Allvin said.
“I think I saw a lot of growth in all the younger individuals here [and] tremendous leadership by Quinn [Hughes]. Same thing for him during his time here, he’s only played 12 postseason games, I think that's how you grow. I think Elias [Pettersson] as well facing those adversities, understanding how hard it's going to be to get in consistently to the postseasons. This is something that the coaches need more resources, in my opinion, in order to work with the individuals. I think great resources [like] having Daniel and Henrik and the work they've done with individuals up here, but mostly down in Abbotsford, and hopefully that's going to pay out down the road.”
To get back to being a contending team in the offseason, Rutherford said it is a priority for the management group to bolster their centre depth. Management is keeping their options open and says a top-line centre would most likely come via a trade.
“Getting that centre ice strengthened, then you can do a lot of different things with your wingers. So that that will be Patrik's priority, and if we can do that, it's going to make it easier to make our forwards better,” Rutherford said.
“I give our players credit; they gave all they had in most of the games in the second half and got eliminated from the playoffs and that was without our top two centres.”
Looking down the middle, Allvin feels there’s an elevated level that Filip Chytil brings to the lineup and believes Elias Pettersson can be a first-line centre.
“I think that's what Petey is capable of. He's shown that again in the last three years, except for this year, that he's more than capable of being a first-line centre. He's talented enough to do it [and] I think then it's all about how you match up,” Allvin said.
“It's about playing the right way in order to win, and I think that's where again, our team during the year, chemistry, consistency, moments in the season where we had chances to gain headway in the standings, we didn’t - part of it is maturity.”
A bright spot this season was the development management saw on the Abbotsford Canucks’ roster. With 16 players playing for both Abbotsford and Vancouver, the organization’s ability to develop young talent will be beneficial as they are looking at different options in the offseason.
“Patrik and his group have done a good job of building up young players. You can see the young players in the pipeline that came up here and played this year. You can see what Abbotsford is doing with one of the youngest teams in the American Hockey League. So that's an advantage we have,” Rutherford said.
“We have to have some good, hard work by Patrik and his staff this offseason, have some good luck, maybe we get a good free agent to come here. I think it's more likely that we're going to have to trade for the players that we're going to need, and if we have a good off season, we can jump back up pretty good again.”
Rutherford liked that Elias Pettersson was trending in the right direction before he got injured during the last road trip of the season and is encouraged by what he’s seen from the centreman so far this offseason. Rutherford and Allvin are confident Pettersson can continue to put up points and believe that if he puts in the work and plays the right way, he can be a player who can help his team to a cup.
"It's a small step, but he's been in here working every day now for the last few days, and that's what we like to see. We know that he's working hard, he's not just stopping in for a cup of coffee, so that's a good sign, but he's going to have to do that all summer. He’s going to have to buy into what the coach wants him to do, and part of buying in is being a complete player if you want to have a contending team,” Rutherford said.
With a busy offseason ahead, Canucks’ management is optimistic that the development pipeline and potential roster moves can help reignite their playoff ambitions.
The emergence of young talent from Abbotsford, combined with the Vancouver Canucks continuing to take steps forward, has laid a foundation for next season. Turning potential into progress will require hard work, accountability, and a complete buy-in to the team’s identity moving forward.
