What does this organization want to be? A decade and a half ago, they were leading the way. Now the Canucks bring up the rear.<\/p>\n
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Published Apr 21, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Jim Rutherford knows hockey, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. 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Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account.The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n It makes sense that he would be involved in a search for a new general manager for the Vancouver Canucks<\/a>, not just because this is someone who will work for him, but also because he has a depth of knowledge that should be leaned upon.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n But the fact he alone has been tasked with finding someone to lead the Canucks into a dreamed-of glorious future is concerning.<\/p>\n The Toronto Maple Leafs have engaged with PBI Sports\u2019 Neil Glasberg to do a search for candidates to be their new hockey boss. Glasberg represents hockey executives, so the conflict of interest potential there is high, but publicly the claim from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley has been that PBI is tasked with seeking out a broad list of options for the company to consider as its new president of the Leafs.<\/p>\n The fact Canucks ownership didn\u2019t ask for an outside firm to help in Rutherford\u2019s search leads me to wonder if they are even considering the big picture.<\/p>\n What questions are ownership asking? Is there any consideration for what this organization should look like in 2035? When do they imagine they will be not just contending, but winning the Stanley Cup?<\/p>\n Canucks Report<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n In setting out a future vision, there are things they do not know. This is why you bring in an outsider, to give you a perspective on what you need to know, and what you simply don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n So hearing that the Canucks are interviewing candidates such as Kevyn Adams is pretty much the point<\/a>. (So is any speculation, founded or otherwise, about Marc Bergevin.) What this team needs is not just a general manager, but an organizational vision.<\/p>\n Rutherford has projected one, but obviously all this faltered. He wouldn\u2019t be searching for a new GM if the last one had worked out.<\/p>\n And if he\u2019s doing this search on his own, unguided, he will find an answer to the straightforward hockey question of finding someone to sit in the chair \u2014 which is fine, but it\u2019s the stuff around the edges that forever matters with this team.<\/p>\n I go back to a comment made to The Athletic in their recent agents\u2019 poll, that the belief on the other side of the aisle is that the organization lacks the full infrastructure you need to succeed in the modern NHL. It\u2019s not just that they are a solitary standout in the training facility wars \u2014 it\u2019s that it is even an issue.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The Canucks have talked about getting their own facility for 16 years. There have been four different hockey operations bosses in that time, but only one owner. If you didn\u2019t catch Rutherford\u2019s meaning on Friday about a getting a deal finally done at the Britannia Rink in east Vancouver to build an extension to the existing facilities there, let\u2019s be clear: His message was if the deal doesn\u2019t get done, it\u2019s not his fault.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s vision remains tied to the willingness of ownership to spend. That\u2019s it. And until the team\u2019s vision is decoupled from those thrifty instincts \u2014 and let\u2019s be clear, that\u2019s how the Aquilini family has made its money \u2014 and shifted toward simply what an ambitious, trophy-winning organization needs, whomever is put forward by Rutherford as the next GM will continue to have one hand tied behind their back.<\/p>\n The Canucks sit at a big inflection point in their history, one way or another. It would behoove ownership to sit back and understand that a proper plan just isn\u2019t something they have thought of before. Don\u2019t think just hockey here. Ditch your hospitality or property development instincts.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Once upon a time, Mike Gillis and Laurence Gilman learned a bunch from the San Antonio Spurs on how to be great. There were lessons there. There were also lessons in sports science \u2014 that era of Canucks was before the curve in deploying data in guiding decisions around things such as rest and scheduling. What was done then by just the Canucks has become standard practice around the league. The Canucks are no longer leaders in this regard. It\u2019s not an accident that on the ice they now bring up the rear.<\/p>\n Today, the Canucks\u2019 leadership should go find out how the L.A. Dodgers became who they are now.<\/p>\n Or how Bayern Munich continues to be a great football club.<\/p>\n The vision needs to be clear. It needs to be ambitious. It needs to be supported. And it needs discipline in its execution.<\/p>\n pjohnston@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n Read More<\/p>\n![\"rutherford\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0422-col-canucks-1.jpg\")
Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford. Photo by Arlen Redekop \/PNGArticle content<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/21.0.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-vp.svg\"){kind=logo}
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