Canucks voted worst-run franchise in The Athletic’s NHL agent poll

A new poll of more than 20 NHL player agents was released by The Athletic on Monday, and fans of the Vancouver Canucks may want to avert their eyes.

According to the poll, the Canucks were voted as the worst-run franchise in the NHL, receiving seven of a 22 total votes. The New York Rangers received four votes, with the Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets receiving two votes each. Six other teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks, received one vote apiece.

Speaking anonymously, several of the participating agents commented on why they believe Vancouver is poorly run. The most interesting criticism came when one agent said “They really don’t have the infrastructure that the players need to remove excuses. It just seems there’s a lot of soap opera stuff going on around there. I just think management needs to do a better job of keeping things in-house.”

While Canucks fans may want to channel The Dude from The Big Lebowski and brush off the poll with a “That’s just, like, your opinion, man,” fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning should want to lend it as much credence as possible. According to the poll, the Lightning were voted as the best-run franchise in the NHL, capturing 11 of the 27 total votes. The Minnesota Wild came in second with four votes, while the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Florida Panthers each received three votes.

Tampa Bay was praised for their organization and structure, with one agent saying “Everyone just knows what to do; they know their roles, and they get it done.”

The Wild were voted as the easiest front office to deal with, while the Anaheim Ducks were voted as the hardest front office to deal with.

The tightest vote came in regards to the question of whether the players got enough in the latest collective bargaining agreement (CBA), with those saying they did edging out those saying they didn’t by a margin of 12 to 10.