Who?
- Retinalz

The guy with the annoying Sister on CBC's hockey panel and who traded Ryan O'Reilly and Signed Jeff Skinner

I'll withhold judgement until a GM is hired or the first trade. As Whiskey mentioned, he won't be taking advice from Aqualini.
- Marwood

The guy with the annoying Sister on CBC's hockey panel and who traded Ryan O'Reilly and Signed Jeff Skinner
- classic321

https://www.hockeydb.com/...tats/pdisplay.php?pid=490

4th line plug.

Should feel right at home as GM here lol

Rutherford is an absolutely excellent hire for president. Great job. For everyone whining about draft picks the dude has what 3 or 4 cups like frick. He knows when to go for it. Canucks fan base is absolutely mind blowing. Zero cups in 50 years why would we ever want someone that have won a bunch of cups. The Kraken or worth more than the Canucks that should be all you need to know about the state of the canucks

The guy with the annoying Sister on CBC's hockey panel and who traded Ryan O'Reilly and Signed Jeff Skinner
- classic321

Drance says based on the rumors he’s hearing, Botterill is more likely the GM #canucks hire.
- VanHockeyGuy

Oof

Rutherford is an absolutely excellent hire for president. Great job. For everyone whining about draft picks the dude has what 3 or 4 cups like frick. He knows when to go for it. Canucks fan base is absolutely mind blowing. Zero cups in 50 years why would we ever want someone that have won a bunch of cups. The Kraken or worth more than the Canucks that should be all you need to know about the state of the canucks
- Jkuzzi

Haven't read back to see if people are complaining or not, but i agree.

People were clamouring for a Pres. We got one with cup winning history.
Plus he apparently accepted the job on the condition of receiving autonomy, effectively eliminating the over blown theme of interference from ownership.

Next we need an experienced GM.
No one that has any experience is going to be blemish free.

Interesting tidbits in here from an Athletic article by two random writers:

Jim Rutherford, the Hall of Fame general manager, is headed to the Pacific Northwest and will be named president and interim general manager of the struggling Vancouver Canucks.

What does it all mean for the Canucks and for Rutherford moving forward? What is Vancouver getting in its new hire?

The Athletic’s Josh Yohe and Sean Gentille discussed it.

Josh Yohe: Good day, Sean. It was a kind of a slow news day and, like he’s done so many times in the past, Jim Rutherford is here to save the day. Jim’s on his way to Vancouver as president and interim GM. Your initial thoughts?

Sean Gentille: “He’s back.” It’s been 10 months, and oh, how we’ve missed him. The NHL is a better place when Jim Rutherford is officially involved … for someone, at least. It might be the team he’s running. It might be the teams he’s trading with. It’s certainly whichever lucky reporters are covering him. We’re going to have plenty of time to debate whether this is or isn’t the right move for Vancouver, but from an entertainment standpoint — hoo baby, welcome back. He’s an all-time character and an endless source of fun, though I’m sure a large segment of the Canucks fan base doesn’t want to hear that.

Yohe: Canucks fans strike me as a new-aged, analytics-driven bunch. Gotta be honest, this might be a very, very interesting marriage. Jim is very much from the old school, and the fact that Bruce Boudreau is now coaching the Canucks makes this setup even better. Bruce actually was in “Slap Shot,” for those of you keeping track at home. Bruce is 66. Jim is 72. That’s 138 years of old-school hockey arriving in the Pacific Northwest. What a relationship it should be between those two.

Boudreau always wins in the regular season but can never win in the postseason. Rutherford’s teams historically aren’t always great in the regular season, but beware if his teams make the tournament, because our guy has three rings. Honestly, I love my hometown, but I may ask for The Athletic to temporarily send me to Vancouver, maybe for a year. Anyway, on to serious business … Rutherford is the new Canucks team president and the “temporary GM” until he locates one that he can mentor. Jim likes being in charge, so I wonder if he may take a while to figure out the right person to mentor.

Gentille: Yeah, I can see it now. “Jim Rutherford’s search for a permanent GM has entered its ninth month. There’s no end in sight.” Are we in for a Richard Cheney situation, where the guy running the search determines that he’s the best fit for the job? Only time will tell.

In some regard, this is how it should’ve worked in Pittsburgh, right? Rutherford moves “up” — and the air quotes are deliberate — while finding the right person to serve as his lieutenant and also giving them the right amount of autonomy. Obviously, nothing of the sort occurred with the Penguins; when he resigned, the rest of the front office cupboard was pretty bare. Guys like Bill Guerin, Tom Fitzgerald, Jason Botterill, Jason Karmanos … they were gone. Why, exactly, is a complicated question — but what’s undeniable is that Jim likes being in the mix, at all times. You’re as good a person to ask as any: How do you think this will work out?

Yohe: Jim’s the ultimate home-run hitter. He swings big. Sometimes he leaves the park, sometimes he strikes out. This is a very interesting situation because the Canucks are a major mess. They also have major talent. Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Bo Horvat? That’s a pretty good foundation. Does Jim blow it up or show some patience? Could go either way. But we know this much: Jim will make an enormous amount of moves. He averaged about one trade per month during his seven seasons in Pittsburgh. That’s not a typo. He would make trades when the Penguins were playing well. When they weren’t? Better just put that house on the market now.

You know he’s going to make changes sooner rather than later, and probably a lot. But is it for a rebuild? Or will he be aggressive because this is a team with talent? Either way, it’s fascinating. He’s not the type to enter long rebuilds. So I bet he tries to make them winners ASAP.
(Keith Srakocic / Associated Press)

Gentille: One of the ongoing narratives surrounding the entire Canucks mess is that there was a lack of … consensus, let’s call it, on how good the team actually was. In the preseason, every time I saw them pop up as potential contenders in the Pacific Division, I came away scratching my head. Now, did I think things would go quite this badly? No. But either way, there was a disconnect — between Jim Benning, fans, the media both national and local — over what, exactly, this team is supposed to be. I thought we’d settled on “they’re bad, and not that close,” but adding Boudreau and Rutherford suggests that the Aquilinis, ultimately, don’t agree. You don’t hire 138 years’ worth of old guys to start a rebuild.

Be that as it may, Rutherford can try all he wants to trade his way out of this — and odds are, he will. But I’m skeptical on how it gets past the “try” point. This team isn’t just bad; it’s capped out. And its most-tradable assets — Pettersson, Hughes, Boeser, et al. — aren’t guys you want to trade. The one thing we saw from Rutherford when times got tough: trades for the sake of making trades. I’d expect some of those, but not necessarily anything that’ll make the Canucks materially better. Patric Hornqvist for Mike Matheson comes to mind. He traded one cap issue for another, and the end result was a net-zero.

Yohe: If there are any players perceived as bad apples, they’ll be traded. The first thing Rutherford did in Pittsburgh was trade James Neal for the very same reason. My guess is he’ll clean up the locker room first, if it’s needed, because that’s historically what he does. The Canucks job strikes me as a difficult one. They’re essentially in cap hell. Like you said, Sean, you really don’t want to trade the likes of Pettersson, Hughes and Boeser. But we all know he’s going to make trades.

Oh man, this is going to be entertaining. I literally can’t wait.

Gentille: His early tenure heater was something to behold, eh? Those moves — moving Neal out for Hornqvist, getting Carl Hagelin for David Perron, turning Rob Scuderi into Trevor Daley — are what should make him a franchise icon in Pittsburgh. There is, flat out, no back-to-back Cup run without him. He also did well around the margins, with stuff like adding Ron Hainsey to a decimated blue line in 2017. I forgot about Justin Schultz. I forgot about Nick Bonino. My god, I forgot about Phil Kessel! Yes, that run was unreal.

The problem came at the end, though, right? He frittered away assets and cap space — “Sure, we’ll add $1.2 million worth of Colton Sceviour for no reason. Yes, of course, Juuso Riikola is worth a two-year deal.” — and whiffed on some bigger moves. Respect to him for trying them, down to the end, but the vibes went from chaotic-good to chaotic-evil. The cap situation was death by papercuts — a little overpay here, a Jack Johnson buyout there, some retained salary in the Nick Bjugstad deal way over yonder — and it became untenable.

Also, I just remembered something else. With Carolina, Rutherford traded Brandon Sutter to the Penguins. With the Penguins, he traded Sutter to the Canucks for Bonino. Sutter? Still in Vancouver. Uh-oh.

Yohe: Rutherford trades often come full circle. Jamie Oleksiak for the win. His second and third seasons in Pittsburgh — the Cup years — were extraordinary. The Daley trade was theft. So was the Schultz trade. His last great heist was getting John Marino for a sixth-rounder. He had a way of stealing players. It was unsettling and magnificent.

He made his mistakes, too, some of which the Penguins are still paying for. Jack Johnson? Mistakes. Derick Brassard? His biggest mistakes. And there were a few others. But he certainly wasn’t the type to stand pat, and that’s what Vancouver fans can expect. He’s going to make mistakes, sure. He’s human. And he’s well, well beyond aggressive. Oh, does Jim love a trade. But he is in the Hall of Fame for a reason.

Personally, I don’t like the look of this Vancouver team and I think it’s a really difficult job for anyone, even someone with Jim’s credentials. But he’s renowned for surprising us, for better or worse. And he’s still got the itch to work, clearly. He and his family just moved back to Raleigh in August. Now, they’re on the move to Vancouver. The guy still wants to win. And more than anything, you know he’ll make things interesting.

Gentille: Yep. Whether “interesting” translates to “good” is another question entirely.

If I’m an optimistic Canucks fan, I’m saying, “This team needs change, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make it.”

Also, if I’m a pessimistic Canucks fan, I’m saying, “This team needs change, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make it.”

Either way, it’ll be fun to watch from across the continent.

This may be true if we had Malkin & Crosby in their prime

I might have flagged that by accident, if I did I’m not sorry.
- LeftCoaster

I flagged it just in case you didn't.

Haven't read back to see if people are complaining or not, but i agree.

People were clamouring for a Pres. We got one with cup winning history.
Plus he apparently accepted the job on the condition of receiving autonomy, effectively eliminating the over blown theme of interference from ownership.

Next we need an experienced GM.
No one that has any experience is going to be blemish free.

- dbot

Ex Goalie to boot. So you know he's intelligent.

Ex Goalie to boot. So you know he's intelligent.
- Load Management

At least Gillis is drifting further away.

Sedins as co GMs is as smart as Luongo for captain

At least Gillis is drifting further away.

Sedins as co GMs is as smart as Luongo for captain
- VANTEL

Henrik for Pres
Daniel as GM

I'll give Rutherford the benefit of the doubt, but with that being said, he is pretty old..

I'll give Rutherford the benefit of the doubt, but with that being said, he is pretty old..
- pker2theend

And was part of the cover up of the sex assault scandal in Pitt. But now that’s over he can come back…

Ex Goalie to boot. So you know he's intelligent.
- Load Management

lol

- Shuswap Wap

👍The Union. 👊

Jim Rutherford is a proven winner and a good hockey man
- Nucker101

Getting a head start I see...

Ex Goalie to boot. So you know he's intelligent.
- Load Management

- boonerbuck

- Nucker101

Corey Hirsch is a good hockey man.

Corey Hirsch is a good hockey man.
- Load Management

Indeed he is, indeed he is

Corey Hirsch is a good hockey man.
- Load Management

Corey Hirsch is the reason I can't even listen to the games.
No one at work can stand listening to him.
He is a complete idiot.

Much rather the team has Rutherford than the earlier rumour of Nucker's boy Chayka.

Much rather the team has Rutherford than the earlier rumour of Nucker's boy Chayka.
- Reubenkincade

Chayka was into some voodo sports science poop, not analytics. He tested player's ability to handle stress with his bizarre testing and measuring tools and poop like that. I'd be in shambles if they hired him here. He should be a sports psychologist, not a NHL GM.

Also, when Gillis was fired, I'm on record saying that they should've hired a complementary duo for the front office, a guy with a proven scouting background paired with a guy like Tulsky/Gilman for analytics/contracts just for a good balance and to make sure they don't target the wrong players in trades/free agency/drafts.

Either as a GM/AGM duo or Prez/GM duo.

I don't think I've ever stated that I want the team to be run purely on numbers alone.

Tulsky is the one analytics guy I'd be giddy over, but he's not leaving Carolina. He's what Toronto thinks Dubas is, the guy is one of the smartest people working in the league