Canucks: Jim Rutherford ready to get aggressive

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To fix the problem, the first thing you need to do is admit that there is one.

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And when it comes to the health of his team, Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford seems keenly aware of his team’s condition.

Going into Saturday’s game in Seattle, the team was still undefeated in regulation time since replacing Jim Benning on Dec. 9.

But the veteran hockey executive is not getting ahead of himself. There is still a lot to learn about this team.

Thursday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings, which ended a seven-game winning streak, was the first time he had seen his team face real adversity, he said. They played badly, especially in the second period. They were rescued by a stellar performance by goalkeeper Jaroslav Halák.

Thursday’s fights underscored their first impressions, the team lacking scoring depth.

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“We need to get some offensive production out of our bottom six forwards,” Rutherford told Postmedia on Friday morning. “I think those guys are playing well. I’m not going to say they’re not working on it. But we cannot rely on four or five players every night to score the score. “

For an executive who is known as an aggressive trader, it seems likely that his first approach is to change the mix of his futures lines.

“These guys may be able to pick it up and start contributing. And if they can’t, then we have to think about changing it. And changing it won’t be easy, ”Rutherford said. “It will not be easy in the middle of the season. Especially what all the teams are dealing with, with COVID and their active roster and moving the players. I suspect that trading at this point will probably get a bit more difficult. “

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That said, Rutherford indicated that he is not likely to move quickly on exchanges, not before he consulted more with his current group of advisers: Vice President Stan Smyl, the Sedin twins and Ryan Johnson.

They have really impressed him, he said. He knew about Smyl and the Sedins, of course, but Johnson didn’t know at all. The former checking center has clearly proven itself to be an asset in Rutherford’s eyes.

Johnson is still listed as the team’s senior director of player development and general manager for Abbotsford Canucks, but Rutherford has added salary cap management to his portfolio.

“We have added (assistant general manager) Derek Clancey, who I have worked with for a long time. He’s a very good hockey player, he won three Stanley Cups. And now we have people who are providing information, but ideally before I make any kind of move, I’d at least like to have the GM on board and possibly another assistant GM, just so we have more views and feel. more comfortable with what we have to do and what we will do. “

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Clancey is working with the team’s scouting leadership, Amateur Scouting Director Todd Harvey and Professional Scouting Director Brett Henning, to assess what that department needs.

“We have to strengthen many areas,” Rutherford said. It’s not just about finding top executives, there are many gaps to fill in the organization.

“We need to add more people to our analytics department. I like the people we have there now, but there is a lot of work to do and add a couple more there. We have to strengthen our player development department. “

He also wants to strengthen the team’s collegiate and European scouting.

“We have to try to be in a position to get university and European free agents. When you have a player in that area, who comes out of college or comes from Europe, he can play on your team, even if he is a fourth-row player or a fifth or sixth defender. It is a big advantage “.

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Adding players to the Pittsburgh roster like John Marino, Zach Aston-Reese and Drew O’Connor were great additions to college hockey. Marino was technically a trade with Edmonton, but Rutherford decided to be aggressive in adding him after it became clear he would not be signing with the Oilers.

“In Pittsburgh, we were hiring almost a college free agent a year, a European free agent here and there. And that’s where I’d like to get here with the Canucks. I don’t mean to say it’s a total overhaul of the hockey department because there are so many good people in it. But we have to try to strengthen it. “

Before Pittsburgh, Rutherford managed the Hartford Whalers / Carolina Hurricanes for 20 years. For much of that time he was in charge of business operations and hockey operations. That was too much to deal with, in hindsight.

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In Pittsburgh, he was looking to refresh a contender and managed to win two Stanley Cups. But that also meant doing a lot of aggressive exchanges to listen to and now, which means the future was largely sacrificed.

“A different model in every place and you have to approach it differently,” Rutherford said. “Like I couldn’t just sit there and say, ‘Well, that’s how Jim Rutherford works.’

Rutherford doesn’t think the Canucks need a complete rebuild, but he does believe there is a lot of work to be done.

“I don’t think it has to be a reconstruction. But certainly the team has to be transformed into a stronger team to be a regular playoff team, ”he said.

“What we will see in the future is that we will not trade high selections. Every time we make a deal it’s for the younger players and we will try to bring this team, really make it stronger in the years to come, where it can start to be a regular playoff team. “

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Rutherford’s days are busy for hours on the phone, talking to Johnson and head coach Bruce Boudreau about the team’s roster situation. And for the past two weeks, you’ve been chatting with people you’re interested in hiring. He’s still hopeful of finding a new general manager before the season is out, as well as another assistant general manager.

“I’m working now to narrow my (GM) roster down to five guys,” he said. Then, when it is safe to do so again, you would like to meet with your candidates in person.

“They are people who have worked very hard to put themselves in a position to be ready to be the general manager of the NHL. They would be entry level. What I would consider an entry-level general manager, ”Rutherford said. “What I hope is a boy who can enter, grow with work and be here for a long time.

“I’ve mentored a group of guys that I really enjoyed working with, some guys who became general managers in the league.”

Mentoring a new GM is something he really enjoys doing and is something that owner Francesco Aquilini said was in favor when they discussed what Rutherford’s role would be in Vancouver.

“Hopefully we can put someone in his place sooner rather than later,” he said.

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