Jim Rutherford didn’t hold back when asked about the current state of the Vancouver Canucks.
There have been many difficult situations to navigate this season, including a rift between two of the Canucks’ best players in Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller. In a bombshell interview with Gary Mason in The Globe and Mail, Rutherford admitted that the situation has spilled over into the rest of the dressing room, impacting the entire team.
The relationship has been severed beyond repair.
“I felt like for a long time that there was a solution here because everybody has worked on it, including the parties involved,” said Rutherford.
“But it only gets resolved for a short period of time, and then it festers again, and so it certainly appears like there’s not a good solution that would keep this group together.”
The Miller-Pettersson drama has been the dominant storyline this season, not just for the Canucks but the NHL as a whole. Both players have been repeatedly involved in trade rumours, with Miller nearly being traded to New York and Pettersson almost ending up in Carolina.
While the Canucks are shopping both Miller and Pettersson, recent reports suggest the offers they’re considering are underwhelming. The other 31 NHL teams understand the Canucks don’t have a ton of leverage and thus aren’t offering up their best players.
“We’ll have to do the best we can in trades,” said Rutherford. “Whatever assets you get in return, you may turn them into something else. And we have to work our way back into being a contending team.”
The Canucks season is far from over. They’re currently just one point outside a playoff spot with plenty of games left to play. However, this feud has spiralled out of control and become a major distraction.
The NHL’s trade deadline is on March 7.