Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Nucks Fan Rebuild & Retool Center - Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Jim Rutherford is staying in place as the Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations. He just won't say for how long, possibly because he doesn't know. Welcome to a New Era of Stability!(tm)
It's unsurprising that the Canucks removed their general manager when the disastrous 2025-26 season concluded. It is something of a surprise that they kept Adam Foote on as coach and Rutherford as the administration's top dog. What's that say about the future?
Nobody does anything that doesn't make sense to them. There is a logic to every person's actions, even if it's incomprehensible to most of us. Rutherford's explanation for Foote's continued employment is that the new general manager will be free to make that decision as they please. On one hand, it shows a willingness to give whoever that is enough responsibility to guide the direction of the team. On the other, it's the strained logic of someone searching for an excuse for their employer's behaviour.
The person with the real power is the owner, Francesco Aquilini, we all know this. But that power is absolutist, something Rutherford made clear when he was first hired: Let me do my thing, or I'm out. It's not decision-making, it's a kill switch. And, by all appearances, the owner is scared to use it.
The Aquilini does NOT want to deal with the public, that's obvious. But he knows it's there. The big decisions do have to go through him, which is the same as any other sports team. Trading Quinn Hughes, for instance, affected the value of the team in multi-dimensional ways. It's not just the money involved, but the infrastructure changed. The owner's going to want to know what's happening and why.
That being said, they took a lot of heat for backing the last guy too long. There's no way he wants to go through that again. If the GM, president, and coach were all fired on the same day, he would be the only one available to face the microphones. So Rutherford stays in place. For now.
One of the more confusing things about this week is that Ryan Johnson hasn't already been named the Canucks' new general manager. He's done a very good job with Abbotsford, bringing the organization their first national championship of any kind. He signed a four-year deal, apparently at very good money, with the understanding he was the heir apparent. His familiarity with the younger players on the team should be obvious.
Initial reports of the Nashville Predators being denied permission to speak to Johnson for their general manager job were dismissed by Rutherford, saying the reporting was a misunderstanding of some kind. That seems an open-and-shut case that the search wouldn't be performative, quickly handing the job to the obvious frontrunner.
Then local reporter Cam Robinson said that he was told the denial was exactly that - a denial of permission. The team does not want to lose Johnson, and will hold him to his contract. Rumours abound that Johnson is Rutherford's pick, but the owners still need to be convinced. To me, it sounds like they are afraid of more anger from the public about not casting a wide enough net in their search.
Right now, any interviews seem like window dressing, but the conversation of who the team might want is interesting.
We know former NHL player Kevyn Adams has been interviewed and can be considered a front-runner. He spent several years trying to piece the Buffalo Sabres together with pipe cleaners and dreams after the COVID-19 pandemic. He managed a few major deals, had a good enough draft record, and was lousy at being the public face of the team.
It was also his first real job as a white-collar in the NHL, and on Day One he fired pretty much everyone he came into eye contact with. So he has a history of doing unpleasant work as needed, and presumably he's also learned from that first job. For a team looking to do a rebuild, bringing someone in without any ties might be a top priority.
Then again, a smart employer might add someone else to stand between him and anyone in the public eye. Or on the ice, for that matter. A team getting a "new coach bump" is a common enough occurrence that is has a name. The "new GM bump" is unique to Adams' dismissal.
Tom Fitzgerald has a history with Rutherford, working in Pittsburgh as an assistant general manager. His time in the top job with the New Jersey Devils has been relatively successful, but he wedged himself and the team into a corner with high-priced signings. Vancouver fans are familiar with the hazards of a skilled but thin team, and the results show in both cities this season.
Ron Francis was recently let go from the Seattle Kraken. Seattle is feeling a lot more pressure to perform than the Canucks are, especially with the NBA planning their return. Francis guided the expansion club through years of slow, steady growth, but they seem to have hit their ceiling under him. They couldn't take advantage of a weak division this season, and an inability to get real top-end talent to join the club counts against his tenure.
There is an odd bump when he came into conflict with Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon. The new majority owner named Francis President of Hockey Operations on March 7, 2018, then terminated his contract less than two months later. Anyone interested in a general manager who can "manage upwards" might want to skip him.
There are more than a few interesting "first-timer" names out there, including Johnson's.
Want a numbers guy? Sam Ventura is a numbers guy. A major part of one the earliest public stats-driven NHL fan sites, WAR-on-Ice, he was hired by the Pittsburgh Penguins for exactly that specialty. He went from consulting with them to a vice-president role with Buffalo, and was a big reason why they have finally broken their playoff-less string. Breaking down analytical data is a vital component for proper talent evaluation, so why not have that skill at the very top?
Like Johnson, Jason Spezza is both an assistant general manager at the NHL level and the general manager of an AHL farm club. While he's only done that job for a few years, he's also been tapped as an assistant with Canada's 2026 World Championship team. He is highly thought of as a future talent, but it's hard to know if that's because of his location or not. His previous job was in Toronto, after all.
Does Spezza bring more than Johnson? The AHL Penguins have been relatively successful in their regular seasons under him. But Johnson has been guiding Abbotsford for longer and has a championship to his name. That's tough to beat.
There are a few interesting names that have cropped up, but it's hard to judge how seriously to take them. Roberto Luongo would absolutely catch some eyes, given his history in Vancouver. It wouldn't entirely be a stunt hire, either, with Luongo working closely with Bill Zito in Florida. Another former player, Shane Doan, is interested in the white collar side of the league, and is currently in Toronto as a special advisor.
Ryan Bowness was the general manager of the Belleville Senators when he was with Ottawa, but last season joined the New York Islanders full time as their director of player personnel. He's only 42, but hardly a newcomer, joining the Atlanta Thrashers as a "team manager" (I don't know, either) in 2009-10. He stayed with the team when they moved to Winnipeg, moving to their pro scouting department. Bowness later became the director of pro scouting with Pittsburgh, then assistant general manager with Ottawa. He's definitely more than Rick Bowness' son.
The most likely hire is still Ryan Johnson, I think. He knows the team, the fans, the media, and the owner, with all the hiccups and foibles that entails. Not moving him into place now would be a massive insult, and it's hard to picture him staying on once his current contract ends. Maybe the team is looking for a fall guy, knowing they have a few hard years ahead. Something to go with another season of Adam Foote, saving the hires they want to make until the worst has passed.
Yes, that's a cynical take. But given the history of this team, with this ownership, it's not something to put past them.
