What is a Hybrid Retool and How will it Affect the Vancouver Canucks?

Photo credit: New York Times

When Patrick Allvin and Jim Rutherford sent Quinn Hughes packing to the Minnesota Wild, everyone thought that was it and the Vancouver Canucks will go through a rebuild, but Allvin recently stated it’s not a rebuild, but a hybrid retool, which just sparked more questions rather than answers.

“The Quinn Hughes trade was pretty much the nail in the coffin for the Vancouver Canucks, even though they do not want to call it a rebuild, rather GM Patrick Allvin calls it a hybrid retool, it’s a rebuild simply put, they are just avoiding the accountability that they have failed.”-Stinson

Is a hybrid retool different from a rebuild?

Yardbarker recently posted their view of the retool and what it means for the Canucks. In reality it’s just a bunch of reframed words that really mean a rebuild, and fans and analysts are frustrated with the lack of accountability. Hybrid retool is just a way to circle around the fact that the Canucks head office failed.

“Don Taylor and Rick Dhaliwal got into a heated discussion about the direction of the Canucks, with Taylor blasting the organization for saying the Canucks are afraid to use the word «rebuild.» Dhaliwal argued the Canucks have no appetite for one. The GM has seemingly found a go-between.”-Yardbarker

What the Canucks are going to try do now is get the young players they brought in developed as fast as possible to compete again, but just because they are two years older than a draft pick would be, means it’s retool instead of a rebuild according to them. But nobody is buying that, the fans nor the analysts.

“Given the team’s surprising wins after they traded Quinn Hughes, Allvin probably doesn’t yet know what’s next for his team. Had they lost all their games, it would be a clear rebuild. But, they won. Now what? The Canucks are balancing kids learning the ropes with veterans keeping things steady. Allvin’s hybrid rebuild isn’t jargon-it’s a recognition that sometimes you have to compete now, even while building for the future.”-Yardbarker

The Canucks seem to have no direction and no identity, and there is no one else to blame but Rutherford and Allvin, and even ownership for that matter. They have stripped all the culture from the team in such a short period of time, and nobody wants to take the blame.