Linden reveals fundamental issue with Canucks' Benning-era 'rebuild'

The Vancouver Canucks are bad right now — really bad — but within that there are reasons for optimism.

This is a Canucks team at the ground level of a rebuild, intent on building the foundations for future success. Their management team, headed up by Ryan Johnson and the Sedin twins, has been very clear about needing to be patient and avoid rushing things.

“To do this as fast as possible, we need to be careful and go slow,” said Henrik Sedin. “I think that’s the fastest way to get to where we want to be.”

Trevor Linden has seen how an attempted rebuild can fail by trying to rush things. He saw it firsthand as president of hockey operations alongside general manager Jim Benning.

“The ship was still sinking”

Linden went on the air with Tanbir Rana on his late-night sports talk show, Off the Rush on Pulse FM, on Thursday night, and he was extremely frank about some of the challenges of the Jim Benning era.

Linden was asked about the differences between when he became president compared to the current era with the Sedins as president, and painted a pessimistic picture of when he began.

“When I think back to 2014, and I said this internally and privately, the ship was still sinking,” said Linden. “We had some incredibly iconic Canucks — Daniel, Henrik, Alex Burrows, Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis — but they were on the downward slide. Their value was diminished. The ship was going down.

“These players were great players, but they were post-apex players.”

Trevor Linden discusses his 4 year tenure as President and explains why the Sedins are in a much different situation. #Canucks

Full Interview is available on Apple, Spotify and any other podcasting platforms https://t.co/5lAp7LRNoa pic.twitter.com/K1vNk4PDEi

— 107.7 Pulse FM (@pulse1077) October 23, 2026

Linden also noted the lack of prospects in the pipeline at the time, noting Bo Horvat as the “only young player that had any real promise.”

Compared to then, the current Canucks have a cupboard practically overflowing with prospects, though they still need to add a lot more.

“Rebuild…was a four-letter word”

The bigger issue for the Canucks back then was a lack of cohesion in the front office. Linden and Benning simply were not on the same page.

“Jim had a certain mandate he was working from, and I had my own ideas, and those were different, and that ultimately wasn’t a good situation,” said Linden. “One thing here that they have in their favour…is there’s a clear word of ‘rebuild’ being used. That’s positive; it’s understood.

“That was a four-letter word back in 2014, 2015. That was not to be talked about.”

Then Linden revealed what seemed obvious from the outside: there was a complete lack of trust within the Canucks’ front office in his time.

“When you think about Daniel, Henrik, Ryan Johnson, Manny Malhotra: these are the finest four gentlemen you will ever find in hockey,” said Linden. “I love all four of these guys, and they’re gonna have the ultimate trust between them, and that is the most important part.

“I didn’t have that, unfortunately, and it was a difficult spot to be in.”

What fans saw during the Benning era was that anyone who disagreed with Benning, or his right-hand man John Weisbrod, was kicked out the door. There was very little collaboration or willingness to allow for disagreement and debate.

“Danny, Hank, Ryan Johnson, Manny Malhotra are as good as it gets,” said Linden. “I think the fans of the Vancouver Canucks can trust that these are good people and will do the right thing, and will stick to the plan, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Linden weighs in on Miller-Pettersson feud

Since he was speaking to a former Canucks captain, it was only natural for Rana to ask Linden about the locker room divide that derailed the team during the previous regime, and what he might have done differently as a captain.

“I don’t know if I have all the facts, but I think I do, and I don’t have any insider information,” said Linden. “I just have never seen that before.”

“From what I understand, and it would appear to be true with J.T. getting suspended — leaving the team, was he suspended, was he asked to leave? — it’s just uncharted territory,” he continued. “I was a captain for a lot of my career, certainly the first 10 years here in Vancouver, and a leader with most of the teams I played on, and I just never encountered anything like that, so that’s a tough question.”

Linden suggested that there wasn’t much Quinn Hughes could have done as a captain in that situation.

“I know J.T. was a very vocal, say-what’s-on-his-mind kind of guy, and I think crossed the line many a time,” said Linden. “And I’d heard that before he was traded — even before they traded Bo — so it made for a very difficult atmosphere in that locker room, and that’s gonna be toxic.

“Sometimes as a leader, there’s nothing you can do because unless management puts the right people in the locker room, you don’t have any control over that. If you’ve got a toxic locker room with a dynamic that is just unficable, there’s not a lot you can do.”

With Hughes returning on Saturday, Linden says he personally would applaud a fellow former Canucks captain, but thinks that fans can do what they like.”

“He has every right to say, ‘I don’t want to play here anymore. I want to go play in the United States, or I want to go play with my brother’ — he has every right for that, absolutely,” said Linden. “And you know what? Fans have every right to say, ‘I don’t like that.'”

“At the end of the day, Canucks fans can be thankful that we got to watch a hell of a player work his magic on the ice,” he continued. “His ability to move was just incredible. So, as a fan, you can be thankful for that. You also respect the fact that a player has the right to say, ‘I don’t want to extend here.’ If you want to boo, that’s fine. If you want to cheer and say, ‘Thank you for your time, we loved watching you,’ that’s part of the game.”