Frank Seravalli rips Vancouver Canucks' Jim Rutherford in fiery rant
Was Patrik Allvin rightfully let go by the Vancouver Canucks, or was he just the scapegoat?
It’s a question many Canucks fans may be pondering in the aftermath of Allvin’s dismissal last week.
Heck, it’s fair to wonder what exactly Allvin was responsible for as GM of the Canucks after the news in December that president Jim Rutherford was the one responsible for the Quinn Hughes trade.
It was a unique situation, to put it mildly, and it’s something that’s caught the attention of NHL insiders outside of Vancouver.
Arguably, no pundit has been as critical of Rutherford as Frank Seravalli, who took the Canucks president to task on Monday during an interview with Satiar Shah and Bik Nizzar on Sportsnet 650.
“The way that the messaging and how Patrik Allvin was handled on the way out was really distasteful and devoid of leadership,” Seravalli said.
“To sit here and present an alternate and distorted reality that Patrik Allvin had run and say of this team is crazy. It’s just not how things have happened over the last four years.”
Seravalli went on to frame Rutherford as the real shadow GM of the Canucks.
“Anytime that the mood seemed to move him, anything that was on Patrik Allvin’s plate was taken off of it and handled by Jim Rutherford directly,” he said. “It was hot and cold.ā
āWhether he started with a trade and had it taken off his plate, or whether he began a negotiation and then had Jim Rutherford take it over, or some things were just handled directly from Jim Rutherford from the start.
To present it as ‘we didn’t like the decision-making that Patrik Allvin had’ is really disappointing. [Rutherford] carved [Allvin’s] reputation, threw some red meat and a body on the tarmac to try and provide an explanation for this season and how it all went wrong.ā
While there are Canucks fans who don’t always agree with Seravalli, he might have won a few fans over with his questioning of Rutherford still having a job in Vancouver.
āWhy is Jim Rutherford still here?” Seravalli said. “If he’s thinking about eventually moving in a different direction, why aren’t the Canucks cleaning house now?
“What on earth could you point to in the last four years of him running this team as a reason for him to stay? I can’t think of one.”
Allvin and Rutherford were largely praised in their early days with the Canucks. (Canucks/YouTube)
Rutherford and Allvin were largely praised, both in Vancouver and outside of it, for presumably building a Canucks team that looked like they were on a path of Stanley Cup contention in 2024.
They made bold moves to get there, including trading Bo Horvat, extending J.T. Miller, acquiring Filip Hronek, and buying out Oliver Ekman-Larsson. They also found some bargain-bin gems in free agency, including Dakota Joshua and Pius Suter.
It was all looking so rosy until it blew up spectacularly.
Now, whether fans like it or not, it looks like Rutherford is the guy to pick up the pieces, which starts with finding a new GM.
However, Seravalli questioned who might actually be interested in the job?
ā[Rutherford] is saying publicly, ‘No, really, the next guy, he’s making all the decisions. I’m just here for counsel,'” Seravalli said.
“I think that’s ludicrous. After the way that this has played out with Patrik Allvin being GM in name only, aside from it being one of 32 jobs in which you get to call yourself general manager, who would want to come in under those uncertain pretenses? Doesn’t make any sense to me.ā
āAnd then to throw in on top of it, the same person who has plunged your organization into further chaos is now choosing the successor. Why?”
While there’s logic in Seravalli questioning who may want the Canucks GM job, the truth is that Rutherford does have a plethora of connections based on his time in the league. On Tuesday, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal linked New York Islanders assistant GM Ryan Bowness to the Canucks position. Bowness previously worked for Rutherford with the Pittsburgh Penguins as director of pro scouting.
However, Seravalli did report that rookie GMs may have an uphill battle for the Canucks’ gig.
“The sense emanating from people around the league is that the Canucks are seeking someone who has prior GM experience,” Seravalli said. “This is unlikely, at least at this point in time, to be someone who hasn’t had the job before.”
On Tuesday, Matthew Fairburn and Thomas Drance of The Athletic reported that former Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has been granted permission to interview with the Canucks. Adams was GM of the Sabres for nearly five years before he was fired on Dec. 15.