Canucks

Opinion: On Saturday, we heard boos. We saw sweaters thrown on the ice. We heard an exasperated coach post-game. There are no clear answers.

In negotiations this summer, the Horvat side actually made a compelling case the centre’s AAV should end up north of US$6 million. People sat on the waiting list for years and if seats came up, you didn’t have much choice. Rogers Arena used to not have any flexibility in where your seats were. For years, that suite was going unused. It was a very difficult dilemma, no doubt. It was the same hotel the team was staying at. — but that problem bleeds over to pro scouting, too. We are left with an overall picture of Benning having no idea how to scout amateur defencemen — Guillaume Brisebois, anyone? We still don’t know the official state of play with the Rogers sponsorship future, though you have to imagine that’s a priority. Of course, it was around that time that management started to squeeze Judd Brackett, a relationship that ended with the director of scouting being forced out. Let’s be clear, in the end, this isn’t really about Mike Gillis anymore. Brad Treliving got aggressive and found a path out.

It's not rare for an NHL team to struggle early. But Bruce Boudreau and the Vancouver Canucks are embarrassed after Saturday's loss to Buffalo.

"A lot of the defenseman that were in there were working — the young guys, anyway — doing what they could to help stem the tide. "I don't get how a team that hasn't won a game, and you have a really good second period, aren't excited about coming out in the third and doing the same thing as you did in the second." "We get back on the ice tomorrow, and hope that something clicks," he said. In between, they'll make a quick trip south to face the 2-2-2 Seattle Kraken on Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena. In Hughes' place, 23-year-old Jack Rathbone drew in for his first game of the year. "It's the first time I've ever been involved with that," a frustrated Boudreau told the media after the Canucks fell 5-1 to the Buffalo Sabres in their 2022-23 home opener. They outshot Buffalo 10-7 in the middle frame and pulled within a goal when Conor Garland converted a slick pass from Tanner Pearson while on the man advantage, at 13:27. Alex Tuch extended the lead to 2-0 with his sixth of the year at 15:18, capitalizing on a net-front giveaway by Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Instead of looking at the other guy, look at yourself.' So the players should be doing the same thing — looking at in the mirror and saying this just isn't good enough." There was a slick new opening video, giveaways for the fans and even a live cameo appearance from the new team puppy, Ryp. "We're not getting enough," he said.

For better or for worse, Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford has never been one afraid to speak his mind.

But we will continue to add younger players to this team and bring it together in the next year or so.” We may very well be in a rebuild in the direction that we’re going, but ideally, we’d like to transition this team on the fly.” We have to use the players we’ve got and we have to play within a stronger structure to make that game easier.” “When you have injuries, you’ve got to have next man up and have to be ready to go. Hell, even a major trade isn’t likely to go down — what other trading partner are you likely to find making a shakeup less than two weeks into the season? “I think people have to realize how long rebuilds are,” Rutherford said in a line that could’ve come at any point in the past decade from a Canucks management figure.

Management's plan of "transitioning this team on the fly" is untenable, mainly because of the appetite of fans in hockey-savvy Vancouver.

We may very well be in a rebuild in the direction that we’re going, but ideally, we’d like to transition this team on the fly. But we will continue to add younger players to this team and bring it together in the next year or so.” He said his message to his team after the game was that they should “look in the mirror.” And I mean, they know exactly what they’re supposed to do on a few of the goals, and in our D-zone they’re not doing it at all … There just isn’t enough talent on the back end for this team to compete credibly in the short term. The infrastructure is simply lacking. Why is this team so steadfastly opposed to giving us a rebuild?” Heard that HNIC had the clip of J.T. They booed as the Sabres top line cycled the puck endlessly in the Vancouver end. They booed the Canucks on the power play. “It just looked like they said, ‘Oh, there’s no way we can catch up’ type thing. Before we could wrap our heads around that, the club blew another lead in Columbus.

After the team similarly struggled to start last season, they fired then-Head Coach Travis Green, replacing him with Bruce Boudreau. Post-coaching-change, the ...

[Mika Zibanejad](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/z/zibanmi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-), [Pavel Buchnevich](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/b/buchnpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-) and [Chris Kreider](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/k/kreidch01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-), but deal a majority of their veteran players for young players and draft picks. Instead of taking a drawn out approach, the team went after top free agent talent, primarily [Artemi Panarin](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/p/panarar01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-), counted on the development of prospects they already had or were able to select with their returns, namely [Igor Shesterkin](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/shestig01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-) and [K’Andre Miller](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/milleka01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-), and admittedly got somewhat lucky with players like [Adam Fox](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/f/foxad01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-) choosing them and the draft lottery helping them select [Kaapo Kakko](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/k/kakkoka01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-) and [Alexis Lafreniere](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/l/lafreal01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-). [Bo Horvat](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/horvabo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-), the team’s captain, was up in the air, but an extension seemed forthcoming after Boeser and Miller, however Horvat remains unsigned with free agency looming this coming offseason. Six games into the season, the team is not remotely close to being out of playoff contention. All of this to say, the Canucks are still 0-4-2. But we will continue to try to add younger players to this team and bring it together here in the next year or so.” For the Rangers, the writing was on the wall that the long-term future of the franchise was not J.T. In Dallas, Benn had struggled, Seguin had injury woes, and Klingberg seemed to be a luxury they one-day couldn’t afford, but their young players all seemed to be developing as well as expected – it appeared it was merely a matter of time. The Stars transition was made up of teams that were rarely non-competitive and at its height, included a Stanley Cup Final appearance. [Travis Green](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/greentr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-), replacing him with [Bruce Boudreau](https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/b/boudrbr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-). We may very well be in a rebuild in the direction we’re going. However the 0-4-2 start, which included a record-breaking four straight losses after having a multi-goal lead to start the season, was unexpected and has created plenty of frustration in Vancouver among players, coaches, management, media, and fans alike.