Welcome Matt: Grading Jim Rutherford after one year on the job with Canucks
Yesterday this editorial praised Jim Rutherford.
Today we come to, well, not bury him, but point out what hasn’t happened as the Vancouver Canucks president of hockey operations celebrates one year on the job.
For starters, despite talking a big game that Canucks fans lapped up, the direction and goals of this organization still remain unclear. Are you trying to build a champion? Or are you hoping to improve year over year, make the playoffs, and inch your way into contention?
I ask those questions because many fans do, too. That last year’s narrative about clearing cap space and fixing the defence turned into extending J.T. Miller, signing a bunch of wingers and committing more cap dollars than were cleared.
The defence remains a big work in progress, although Ethan Bear has been an excellent addition.
Re-signing Miller over Bo Horvat looks like a big mistake right now. Not only has Miller flunked out of centre, Horvat is amongst the league leaders in goals, and may well have been cheaper. That said, Rutherford can still salvage this file by trading Horvat for a huge haul prior to the trade deadline.
Perhaps Rutherford’s most defining message has been the club’s lack of structure, and while he is right and won over many with honesty, his consistent hammering on this matter is now viewed as piling on embattled head coach Bruce Boudreau.
That feeds into a more recent narrative of organizational dysfunction. That the coach and management aren’t on the same page, that Rachel Doerrie has identified it as a problematic workplace environment, and that despite a beefy front office, they need Brock Boeser’s agent to help broker a trade.
Look, Rome wasn’t built in a day or even a year. Rutherford inherited a mess that will take time to fix.
But one year on the job also means it’s time for this front office to take accountability and wear the result from this point forward.
To give him a letter grade, let’s call it a C.
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