More details emerge about why the Vancouver Canucks fired Patrik Allvin
After the worst Vancouver Canucks season in recent memory, he became the fall guy.
On Friday, the Canucks officially relieved Patrik Allvin from his duties as Vancouver Canucks general manager, after the report initially surfaced from a Swedish publication on Thursday night.
For now, both president Jim Rutherford and head coach Adam Foote remain at the helm.
Rutherford himself didn’t reveal much of a reason behind Allvin’s dismissal, other than the fact that he “felt it was time to make a change.”
However, The Athletic’s Thomas Drance dug up two reasons why the first Swedish general manager in NHL history no longer works for the Canucks.
While Allvin largely gave Foote the benefit of the doubt when speaking to the media this season, behind the scenes, things reportedly weren’t as rosy.
Drance reported that a league source told him the relationship between Foote and Allvin eroded as the season progressed. Allvin apparently wanted more playing time for young players in the Canucks lineup, but Foote was slow to adapt.
While Foote did eventually listen, Allvin’s handling of the situation was viewed as a mark against him, according to Drance’s reporting.
By season’s end, the Canucks leaders at forward in five-on-five ice time were Evander Kane and Teddy Blueger, two players who may not even be back with the Canucks next season. From the Olympic break onward, Blueger led all Canucks forwards in five-on-five ice time.
With defenceman Tom Willander, he didn’t see a noticeable bump in his minutes until after Tyler Myers was traded.
The other strike against Allvin was the more well-known Quinn Hughes trade, something that Rutherford ended up handling.
The Athletic’s Michael Russo reshared the story following Allvin’s firing on Friday. Russo reported that Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin called Allvin to inquire about Hughes, and Allvin informed him to call Rutherford instead.
You’d have to listen carefully, but there were subtle differences in the way Rutherford described Allvin’s role versus how he wants the new Canucks GM to operate.
“He was in charge of most of the things,” Rutherford said when asked about Allvin’s role. “Making the trades, deciding who’s getting called up and down, working with the coach and all those things.”
The keyword is that Allvin handled “most” things.
Except arguably the most important trade in franchise history.
Rutherford’s answer changed slightly when talking about the new GM of the Canucks.
Based on Rutherford’s path to retirement, that’s probably a prudent choice.
“I look at where I’m at in my life now, I can do whatever I want,” Rutherford said.
“If I feel comfortable that we have a good, strong person in place and maybe even potentially add two people over time, I would feel comfortable making a decision to leave at some point in time.”
So, the GM is gone. The head coach is left twisting in the wind while a president contemplating retirement leads the search for a new general manager.
You could argue that life as a Canucks fan has never been more confounding.