9 things Allvin and Rutherford did to transform the Canucks

Start building the statue. Okay, while it might be a little early for that, the Vancouver Canucks are ready to compete for the Stanley Cup earlier than anyone expected.

During All-Star weekend last year, the Canucks sat 27th overall in the NHL standings. Now? They’re first overall in the NHL.

You can thank Allvin and Rutherford for that.

A lot has changed in Vancouver over the last two years, so let’s take a look at the nine main things that Allvin and Rutherford have done to flip the narrative in Vancouver.

And while the Elias Lindholm acquisition was one of Allvin’s biggest moves, it’s a little early to rank his impact, so we’ve left that off of this list.

1. Canucks bought out Ekman-Larsson

When Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford was asked recently about his team going through major surgery, the first thing he did was reference the Oliver Ekman-Larsson buyout.

The Swedish defenceman might be having a nice bounce-back season with the Florida Panthers, but he was horrendous for the Canucks last year. Even if his form was more like this season’s OEL, he was never going to live up to his $7.26 million cap hit with the Canucks.

Buying out Ekman-Larsson was a bold yet calculated move that allowed the team to bring in multiple pieces to help. Not only that, but simply buying Ekman-Larsson out was addition by subtraction.

2. Choosing Tocchet over Bedard

This one is obviously a bit tongue-in-cheek, but last January, Allvin and Rutherford were widely criticized by fans for hiring Rick Tocchet as head coach at a time when the Canucks had the sixth-best odds of potentially drafting a generational, local talent in Connor Bedard.

However, Tocchet made a difference immediately for the Canucks by improving the team’s structure while holding everybody throughout the lineup accountable. He’s clearly the Jack Adams front-runner, and his impact cannot be overstated.

3. Choosing Miller over Horvat 

Much like the decision to fire Boudreau and hire Tocchet, choosing J.T. Miller over Bo Horvat wasn’t the most popular move.

Horvat was the team’s captain, whereas J.T. Miller had been in trade rumours for the better part of two seasons. Even when Miller was extended, the Canucks were criticized for giving him too much term.

Miller has now spent five seasons in Vancouver, and there’s a strong argument that he’s under-appreciated both across the league and even with this fanbase. Since he joined the Canucks prior to the 2019-20 season, Miller is 10th overall in points among NHLers.

4. Trading Horvat and acquiring Hronek

Fans were pretty excited about getting a mid-range first-round pick and the New York Islanders’ best prospect in Aatu Räty in exchange for Horvat, however most were shocked when the Canucks then flipped that pick for defenceman Filip Hronek.

It was a risky move but one that has more than paid off for the Canucks. Even though Hronek is due for a large extension, he’s transformed the look of this blue line.

5. Revamping Canucks defence

Coming out of the All-Star break last year, here’s what the Canucks defence pairs looked like:

Hughes-Bear
Ekman-Larsson-Myers
Stillman-Schenn

In relatively short order, the Canucks overhauled their defence with the Hronek acquisition, along with adding sturdy, defensive-minded blueliners in Ian Cole, Carson Soucy, and Nikita Zadorov.

Those additions, along with better coaching and structure to get the most out of guys like Myers and Noah Juulsen, have transformed this blue line for the better.

6. Bolstering centre depth with value signings 

For most of the 2022-23 season, Sheldon Dries was the Canucks’ third-line centre. He hasn’t played an NHL game this season.

The Teddy Blueger and Pius Suter signings were shrewd, low-cost bets that have paid off big time for the Canucks. Blueger and Suter make a combined $3.5 million. According to The Athletic’s Player Card model, the two have provided the Canucks with $9.9 million of value.

7. Canucks pro scouting has drastically improved

Dakota Joshua, Nils Åman, and Andrei Kuzmenko were all players that the Canucks brought into this organization as free agents who have vastly exceeded expectations.

On the trade market, Sam Lafferty was a massive win considering the Canucks gave up next to nothing when they acquired him.

Allvin also bolstered this team’s AHL depth with smart signings such as Arshdeep Bains, Akito Hirose, and Cole McWard, all of whom have a chance to play a stretch of games in the NHL.

8. Trading for Casey DeSmith 

Speaking of pro scouting wins, the acquisition of Casey DeSmith deserves a spot of its own on this list.

The Canucks’ backup position was looking shaky heading into training camp. Then, Allvin picked up DeSmith in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens. It took a third-round pick to get it done, but it also rid Vancouver of Tanner Pearson’s contract.

DeSmith has been rock solid, suffering only three regulation losses in 14 starts while giving the Canucks their first shutout from a backup goalie in six years.

9. Bringing in a diverse, Hall of Fame staff 

Tocchet was the move that got all of the attention, but Allvin and Rutherford have built one heck of a staff.

It began with bringing in Cammi Granato and Émile Castonguay as assistant general managers. They promoted Henrik and Daniel Sedin to spearhead player development. Then, behind the bench, they brought in legendary defencemen Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar.

Stanley Cup pedigree is awash throughout the organization.