“There is trade to gain age, and if it takes a couple of years, then we have the right age group.” – Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford.
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Jim Rutherford threw bouquets on Monday.
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Worthy winners were the hard-working Vancouver Canucks, who have found a way to rack up a four-game winning streak with new head coach Bruce Boudreau. The effort did not go unnoticed by the new president of hockey operations, who later tempered the applause.
“They’ve destroyed a few games here,” Rutherford admired. “This group is obviously better than the first 20 games and may be even better than people think. There are holes in the alignment and areas that need to be worked on.
“One of the real advantages is that we have a franchise goalkeeper (Thatcher Demko). When you try to build a championship team, and you already have that piece in place, you can start getting things done.
“What I would like to see, and the team has done for the last three or four games, is to start playing faster. We don’t have a fast team and that’s what I really prefer.
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“But if you don’t have that, you have to be smart and play fast: front pressure, back pressure and support. Play the game the right way to make it easier to play and win. “
Rutherford acknowledged that Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson are exceptional talents and he needs them to power the offense.
“The way Hughes sees the ice and passes the puck, it’s just getting better and better,” Rutherford said. “With Pettersson, we are starting to see some good things and we need him to take the next step. He is a great talent ”.
NOT YET TRADING JIM
Rutherford has already looked forward to a five-game road trip in January as a barometer to gauge where the Canucks are positioned in their improvement.
“We will have a better idea of where we are after going through the challenge of Florida, Carolina and Washington (and Tampa Bay),” he said. “We will have a better reading at that time.”
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It won’t mean that Rutherford, who made 59 trades in seven years to host the Stanley Cup championships in Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017, will jump to the hurdles here. The Canucks are limited and their young core must be supported by players of the same age group.
“With parity in the league, it seems like if you lose the two wrong guys, you fall drastically and if you add the right two you can advance drastically,” Rutherford reasoned. “I don’t want to trade draft picks unless they’re later-round picks because it’s not the cycle we’re in.
“There is trade to gain age, and if it takes a couple of years, then we have the right age group.”
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