Vancouver Canucks' Jim Rutherford Provides His Honest Take of the Current Roster and the Need for an Upgrade
Photo credit: NHL.
Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford gave his thoughts this week on the team's second line center situation entering the 2025-26 season.
The Vancouver Canucks had a goal this summer to acquire some help down the middle, but in particular, a second line centerman, which something the club has been without since trading J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers.
Due to various reasons, including cost and not very many quality players being available on the trade and free agent markets, the Vancouver Canucks never got close to adding a centerman, according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
"I wish I had some sexy names to throw at you. I don't. Nothing that was overly impactful or anything that felt like it was getting close. I'm sure like every team, you do your due diligence, that's part of your job, you go out there, you poke around, you start to...like around that time of year you hear names that team's are necessarily shopping, but teams are poking around on and they kind of let that name kind of get out there a little bit and it leads to nothing, because there's nothing there." Pagnotta said earlier this month.
He added, "I think the Canucks certainly tried to, you know, comb the market and see what was out there in terms of the center position. I just don't think they got close on anything."
He added, "I think the Canucks certainly tried to, you know, comb the market and see what was out there in terms of the center position. I just don't think they got close on anything."
Jim Rutherford shares his thoughts on second line center situation entering new season
Yesterday, Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford was a guest on 100% Canucks with Ferraro & Shannon where he discussed a number of topics from Quinn Hughes' future with the club, Braeden Cootes' chances of making the opening night roster, as well as the team's second line center situation.
Rutherford told Landon Ferraro and John Shannon that the organization is okay with where they're at in terms of their center depth and are more than comfortable having Filip Chytil in the 2C hole to start the season.
He went on to add that the club would still like to add another centerman to the fold to give them even more depth and opening up the possibility of moving one of their current centers to the wing, but admitted that prices are always going to be high, leaving them to wonder who they should step up pay that significant cost for, if and when someone becomes available.
The most likely scenario here is that the Vancouver Canucks will continue with their current group to start the season, having Filip Chytil, Aatu Raty and Teddy Blueger as their second, third and fourth line centers, respectively, but as we get deeper into the 2025-26 campaign, perhaps closer to the Olympic break, don't be surprised if Patrik Allvin is able to swing a deal for more depth.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 30 | 1430 ANSWERS Vancouver Canucks' Jim Rutherford Provides His Honest Take of the Current Roster and the Need for an Upgrade Do you think the Vancouver Canucks will make a trade during the 2025-26 season for a second line centerman? | ||
| Yes | 1092 | 76.4 % |
| No | 338 | 23.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
TRENDING NOW
