First, Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin must figure out how to deal with the relationship between Miller and Pettersson.
“I felt like for a long time that there was a solution here because everybody has worked on it, including the parties involved,” said Rutherford, who is in his fourth season as Vancouver’s president of hockey operations. “But it only gets resolved for a short period of time and then it festers again, and so it certainly appears like there’s not a good solution that would keep this group together.”
Rutherford said he’d rather not have to trade either player but that it appears whatever issues are between Pettersson and Miller can't be easily resolved.
“We’ve had those conversations, and I think the parties understand that and I think they’ve tried,” Rutherford said. “As you know, sometimes emotions get deep and as much as people try sometimes you can’t get over it. It certainly appears that’s what’s going on here.”
Each of the Canucks’ top two forwards surfaced in trade reports the past 10 days.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported Jan. 18 that Vancouver was close to dealing Miller to the New York Rangers and considered pulling him from the lineup against the Edmonton Oilers, but the trade was never finalized.
Friedman also reported Friday the Canucks were in discussions with the Carolina Hurricanes about separate trades involving Pettersson and Miller before the Hurricanes instead acquired forwards Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall in a blockbuster three-team trade with the Colorado Avalanche and Chicago Blackhawks.
“We’re talking about two of our top players,” Rutherford said. “Certainly, our two best forwards. It can really be tough on a franchise -- not only present but into the future -- when you’re planning on peaking this team into a contending team and then you find out that’s not going to happen. Or at least it’s not going to happen with the group we have now. Then you have to put together a new plan.”
Figuring out what that looks like without Pettersson and Miller, each capable of being a No. 1 center, won’t be easy. But neither has played to that potential this season, which has seen Vancouver go from winning the Pacific Division last season to being one point behind the Calgary Flames for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
The Canucks (22-17-10) are coming off wins against the Washington Capitals on Saturday and St. Louis Blues on Monday, the first time they’ve won consecutive games since Nov. 29 and Dec. 1.
“When you don’t have chemistry, it’s hard to be that consistent team because there’s too much going on in the room for everybody to concentrate on what they’re supposed to do,” Rutherford said.
Miller, 31, is in his sixth season with Vancouver after being traded by the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 22, 2019. He signed a seven-year, $56 million contract ($8 million average annual value) on Sept. 2, 2022, after having an NHL-career high 99 points (32 goals, 67 assists) in 2021-22. He improved on that total with 103 points (37 goals, 66 assists) and was plus-32 last season, but has 34 points (nine goals, 25 assists) and is minus-4 in 39 games this season, which included taking a 10-game personal leave of absence from Nov. 19 to Dec. 12.
Pettersson is in his seventh season with the Canucks after they selected him in the first round (No. 5) of the 2017 NHL Draft. The 26-year-old had an NHL career-high 102 points (39 goals, 63 assists) in 2022-23 and signed an eight-year, $92.8 million contract ($11.6 million AAV) on March 2, 2024, during a season he finished with 89 points (34 goals, 55 assists) and a plus-20 rating in 82 games.
But Pettersson has 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists) and is minus-5 in 43 games this season, and Rutherford is aware trading either player is unlikely to return similar value. He also seemed unsure if trading one of them will fix the problems.
“We don’t know,” Rutherford said. “We’ll just have to wait to find out. We’ll have to take it a step at a time. If we try and do it too fast, that’s really when you can make some mistakes.”
