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Vancouver Canucks' Jim Rutherford Discusses Team's Plan Forward After Making Veterans Available for Trade
Photo credit: Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford recently discussed the team's plan forward after making veterans available for trade.
After a difficult start to the 2025-26 season and seeing their odds to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue to dwindle, it appears that the Vancouver Canucks are ready to move on from certain players on their NHL roster.
In a report from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on Monday indicated that the Vancouver Canucks are essentially open for business and are listening to offers on veteran players on their roster, including pending unrestricted free agents.
"According to several sources, the Vancouver Canucks have let it be known that - in an effort to get younger - they are willing to listen to offers on 'veteran players.'" Friedman said.
Vancouver Canucks fans have been wondering if this means the organization will finally be undergoing a rebuild and on Tuesday, we got that answer from President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford.
Jim Rutherford discusses team's plan forward after making veterans available for trade
In an interview with Patrick Johnston of The Province this week, Jim Rutherford confirmed that the Vancouver Canucks will not be doing a "full blown rebuild" but rather a retool, which likely won't sit well with fans who believe the organization needs to tear things down completely.
"Use whatever word people like, whether it's somewhat of a rebuild, not a full blown rebuild, but a rebuild-retool, whatever. It's the position we've been in since the J.T. Miller trade." Rutherford said.
Rutherford was asked about the rebuild topic earlier this month in an interview with Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre and he doesn't believe it's something they'll look at doing, adding that they don't want to trade players for draft picks that may never end up playing in the National Hockey League.
"Rebuilds can work. But you have to understand rebuilds take a long time. There has to be a lot of patience, and for the teams that take the biggest jump and ultimately rebuild and win a Cup, they usually have a first-overall pick. And you still have to get lucky on that. I'm not naming teams, but some have tried a rebuild and had a ton of draft picks that didn't turn out. So a rebuild is not something that we're going to look at doing. Like I said, we're in transition. But we're not trading all these players for draft picks that may or may not end up playing someday." Rutherford said.
With a full-on rebuild off the table, it's safe to say that players like Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Filip Hronek, who all have no-movement clauses, among others, are not going to be traded by the club nor will they be asked to waive to facilitate a deal.
What we're likely going to see in the lead up to March 6th is pending unrestricted free agents moved by Patrik Allvin, including Kiefer Sherwood, Teddy Blueger, Evander Kane, Derek Forbort and possibly, David Kampf.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily
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