Canucks’ Jim Rutherford says he knew Quinn Hughes wouldn’t re-sign in Vancouver
Taking to the podium following one of the worst seasons in Vancouver Canucks franchise history, president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford was ruthless in admitting the truths about his team and the work of now-dismissed general manager Patrik Allvin.
While he insisted that Allvin has the autonomy to make his own decisions, he also revealed that the club became aware that star defenseman Quinn Hughes was unlikely to remain with the organization, prompting the hunt to eventually work out a deal with the Minnesota Wild.
“I’d known for some time that Quinn [Hughes] was not staying in Vancouver, and I’ve known before this season started,” Rutherford said, adding that it pushed the team to sign players including Conor Garland, Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko before October’s puck drop.
“[We were] hoping for a little bit of a chance right down to the end, that he would decide to stay here, but I don’t think that was ever in the cards… instead of waiting until this off-season and probably getting a first round pick from the New Jersey Devils, we accelerated where the Canucks had the leverage.”
In that trade, the Canucks acquired forwards Marco Rossi and Liam Öhgren, defenseman Zeev Buium, and a 2026 first-round draft pick, restocking some of the prospect pool for a potential future run and the start of a rebuild.
Yet, despite the return, it wasn’t enough for Rutherford to keep faith in Allvin’s general manager skills, removing the Swedish 51-year-old from the post before meeting the media on Friday. However, he is keeping the door open to Allvin’s involvement within the Canuckls organization, potentially in player development or another area outside the general manager’s suite.
Now, with Hughes long gone and the draining regular season over, the team looks to bring in a new general manager before taking on the 2026 NHL Draft, with hopes of selecting first overall for the first time in franchise history.
“I would think that a new general manager would add a couple of veteran players, hopefully good character and mentors,” added Rutherford. “If you blend those in together, you get healthy, and Demko gets back to where he was, then this team should take a big step forward [in 2026-27].”