Canucks' Jim Rutherford gets big honour from his former team
Jim Rutherford’s tenure with the Vancouver Canucks clearly didn’t end the way he envisioned.
But of course, there’s a reason why he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder.
And on Thursday, the 77-year-old got another massive honour from one of his former clubs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced that Jim Rutherford would be part of their 2026 Hall of Fame class, alongside goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and defenceman Larry Murphy. Jack McGregor, who helped bring the Penguins to Pittsburgh for their inaugural 1967 season, will be inducted as well.
A well-earned place among the greats.
The Penguins have named Marc-Andre Fleury, Larry Murphy, Jim Rutherford, and Jack McGregor to the Penguins Hall of Fame Class of 2026. pic.twitter.com/q6rqRKDhxl
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) August 20, 2026
Rutherford is immortalized in Penguins history as the man who helped them win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. After inheriting a talented core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Fleury, Rutherford made a flurry of trades to help build around the core.
He was one of the busiest general managers in the league during his Pittsburgh tenure, making more than 50 trades during his seven seasons on the job.
Some of those trades were instrumental in helping Pittsburgh solidify its place as a Cup contender. Trading for secondary pieces like Patric Hornqvist, Ben Lovejoy, Trevor Daley, Ian Cole, Nick Bonino, Carl Hagelin, Justin Schultz, Ron Hainsey, and Marc Streit gave Pittsburgh the necessary depth to compete for a championship.
His most well-known trade, acquiring Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs, also worked out pretty well.
Based on his previous track record, there was hope that he could bring that same success to the Canucks.
But this is the Canucks we’re talking about, after all.
In 2022, Rutherford made a declaration that sounded similar to former Canucks GM Jim Benning.
āI would like to think with the players we have, that this team can be retooled, and that we can get it to a point that we get more comfortable with it over a two-year period to contend again,” Rutherford said back in February 2022.
Turns out, he was right.
Jim Rutherford’s tenure with the Canucks was a roller coaster. (Vancouver Canucks/YouTube)
The Canucks had one of their best seasons in franchise history in 2023-24, winning the Pacific Division and coming within a game of the Western Conference Finals.
Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin made some shrewd moves that seemed to work, like trading for Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. They also made the bold move to buy out Oliver Ekman-Larsson and replaced him with impactful role players such as Carson Soucy, Ian Cole, Teddy Blueger, and Dakota Joshua.
But unfortunately for Rutherford, that’s not how he’ll be remembered in Vancouver.
Instead, his legacy will revolve around the epic fall from grace for the hockey club, with the Canucks torpedoing to the bottom of the NHL standings just two seasons after they had the league’s sixth-best record.
Even though much of that was out of his control, Rutherford will be remembered for his jaw-dropping Quinn Hughes soundbite, along with commenting publicly on the J.T. Miller/Elias Pettersson feud just days before Miller was dealt.
As the years go on, perhaps Rutherford’s legacy will be remembered fondly. After all, Canucks fans had been clamouring for a rebuild. Now, we’re finally in one.
If the Ryan Johnson regime can take the Canucks to the promised land, Rutherford could fondly be remembered as the guy who got us there, even if it wasn’t intentional.
For now, the Hall of Fame executive will have to settle for being honoured by a team he actually led to a championship.