The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their season with player media availability as well as Canucks President Jim Rutherford taking questions from the media.
Before answering questions, Rutherford thanked the fans for their loyalty through a tough season.
“A special thank you to them, because in a year like this, the fans kept coming. They were loyal, they were respectful to the players, and they supported the team all the way through, and that does not go unnoticed,” Rutherford said.
He talked about his decision to relieve Patrik Allvin of his duties, feeling it was time to make a change. Rutherford will start looking for a new GM and mentioned Abbotsford Canucks General Manager Ryan Johnson will be considered for the role.
“We're going to look for a guy with good integrity that wants to buy into what the direction of the team is, which is a rebuild. That's going to be very important. No shortcuts on the rebuild, buy into that and have the right to make his own decisions,” Rutherford said.
“It could be a first-year guy, we're going to open the process up to guys that haven't been GMs in this league, and potentially guys that have some experience, and get all the different ideas and try to pick the best guy to take this team forward.”
Rutherford anticipates the new GM would add a few more young players into the lineup and a couple of veteran mentors. Coupled with the pieces they added this season; the team should take a step forward next season.
“Despite the way things look right now, you look at the standings, 58 points, we can’t win a game at home, all the things everybody's frustrated with, I believe this organization is in a very good place to move forward now,” he said.
“Talk about the culture and the chemistry and the young players that are here and the young players in key positions, good young goalies coming, we have good young defence now, and the forwards have to get built up."
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On the player panels, the season fell short by everyone’s account, but the group learned a lot, and they’re hungry to put in the work through the offseason to come back better.
The veterans spoke about how they can help lead the group forward and the positive changes they’ve seen in the locker room over the last couple of months.
The longest-tenured Canuck, Brock Boeser, praised the young players for showing up to the rink with the right mindset, focusing on improving every day. He says that’s the foundation for moving through a tough season, and they need to continue to do things that have given them success over the last few weeks.
“Setting this new culture – we've got to hold each other accountable. We’ve got to make sure that everyone's coming to the rink wanting to get better. And I think we really tried to do that once the trade deadline passed. We really tried to hold each other accountable, make some rules around the rink, and really just get something set in stone and kind of build off of that,” Boeser said.
"We kind of took some steps in the right direction. But I think this summer is really important, not just for the young guys, but it's important for everyone. What happened this year was rough, and no one should be going into summer thinking, ‘Oh, I had a good year’. We all need to get better. We all need to have the right mindset coming back in the fall.”
Jake DeBrusk said the last part of the season, when everyone started clicking, was encouraging. Seeing the young players play physically and produce in games against teams fighting for playoff spots is something they can build on.
“I think there's lots of things that have to go right into a winning team. I've seen it, I got used to it. But there's not one thing. It's a puzzle. You need every guy to be a piece of it, and I think that's where guys going into the summer, myself included, we need to figure out where those puzzle pieces are and how to build and improve as a group.”
“I think those are things that they can take going in the summer for us older guys. It's about getting back to the playoffs or getting to a better place where we're not last, we need to improve.”
Teddy Blueger talked about the consistency the team needs to have in their day-to-day habits. The 31-year-old leads by example and said the only way to turn things around is by continuing to show up and put in the work.
“Professionalism, discipline, not just half the time, but every day. You show up to work, you're diligent, you're on time, you're prepared, all those things, I think at certain parts of the year were lacking,” Blueger said.
“On a good team, you have a clear identity as a team, you have a clear identity as individual players, and each guy is willing to do everything he can to do their job well, because they don't want to let their teammates down. And I think that creates a lot of selflessness and that kind of stuff is contagious, and I think all those positive things that I mentioned, they're contagious, and it creates a really positive environment and a lot of success for everyone.”
As painful as the season was, Kevin Lankinen said it’s important not to forget about the season, they need to learn from it and take that grit into next season to get better moving forward.
“We can’t just wrap this thing and move on. We have to sit down and learn first, older guys younger guys, it doesn't matter, because these are some kind of experiences that, if you turn them the right way, it can bring you fuel for not just next year, but for your whole career, because this is obviously something that we don't want to go through again,” Lankinen said.
“Teddy [Blueger] touched upon a lot of the topics that we need as a team, as a collective group, the day-to-day habits, the high standard of compete, discipline, commitment, I think those are all things that we can elevate. As a leadership group, that's our job to raise the bar. And that's kind of what we've been doing here the past couple months after the trade deadline, trying to start a change.”
Marcus Pettersson said the skills that the young defencemen have come in with this season are exciting, and he and the veteran defencemen are invested in their development.
“The future is very promising for them, you see [that] they have all the assets. They have that enthusiasm and [are] wanting to learn every day. It comes down to [what] we all talked about, the habits every day and how to be a pro. I'm going to help them all we can to become that, Pettersson said.
“The narrative around this team has got to change, and it's up to us to do that, and that starts with the small things, day in and day out that maybe nobody sees, right? So if you do that right, the preparation that builds confidence in yourself and in your teammates, if you prepare well, and if you come into work every day with a good mindset, and like Teddy touched on before, [build] the positivity, it's contagious.”
Forward Elias Pettersson wants to lead by example, acknowledging he’s more of a quiet leader.
“I'm just trying to lead by example, where, like these guys said, it's been a big change with our departures from a lot of leaders in this team, but these guys have been stepping up with that. So, it's a lot of building moving forward, but I'm excited,” Pettersson said.
Thatcher Demko, who played 20 games this season, talked about the frustration of missing time due to injury and not being able to help the team. Demko had surgery midway through the season to address nagging injuries he’s had in the past, and he’s looking forward to starting fresh.
“I feel that passion and that fire building every day and watching to see what these guys have done leadership-wise, and what they've been building the last few weeks and months here,” Demko said. “I've never really felt this excited to play here and be a part of building something next year.”
Seeing the team gel and take ownership in the locker room, the 30-year-old goaltender tips his hat to his teammates this season, and it’s given him something to strive for next year.
“I'm so proud of how guys have stepped up with the departures of other guys, and it's super inspiring for me to see other guys do it, and it makes you want to become better in those areas and become a better leader, become a better man,” Demko said.
