Canucks turn to Rutherford to change culture, 'hold people accountable'

Jim Rutherford's first step in reshaping the Vancouver Canucks came before he was hired. He defined his own role as president of hockey operations and overhauled the structure of the front office. It's clear he will do things his way, on his timeline, with the support of ownership.

At Rutherford's introductory press conference Monday in Vancouver, owner Francesco Aquilini said he was looking for a general manager. It was Rutherford who suggested being president of hockey ops who would work with a GM.
"Jim thought that a president role would be something he'd be interested in, and then when he said that to me, that kind of piqued my interest," Aquilini said. "And I thought that could work well."
Rutherford said he declined to join the Canucks at first. He told Aquilini he would give him an answer by the weekend of Dec. 4-5, but he was under the weather.
"I called him, and I said, 'I don't want to hold you up, so I'm just going to say no, and you do what you have to do,' " Rutherford said. "And he said, 'No.' He said], 'I'll be patient, and I'll wait on you.' "
And so Aquilini did, waiting until Thursday to hire Rutherford, trying the president/GM model.
"We're very fortunate that he said yes, and so we just went with it," Aquilini said.
Rutherford comes with experience and gravitas. The 72-year-old was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder in 2019 and has won the Stanley Cup three times as a GM, with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. He's progressive too. He likes analytics and said he would like a more diverse staff, if possible.
He's just what Aquilini wanted for a team that has not won the Stanley Cup since joining the NHL in 1970, missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season and started 9-15-2 this season. Aquilini talked about changing the culture. Asked what that meant, he was blunt.
"I felt that there was no standard, and not [to] point out any particular person but just as an organization," Aquilini said. "The bar wasn't high enough, and you hold people accountable to that bar."
***[RELATED: [Rutherford will take time to hire new Canucks general manager]*
The Canucks cleaned house Dec. 6, firing GM Jim Benning, assistant GM John Weisbrod, coach Travis Green and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner. Bruce Boudreau became coach, Stan Smyl acting GM. Rutherford became acting GM when he was hired.
"At that point we decided as an organization just to clean the slate for Jim, and Jim's going to bring in his people to start over again," Aquilini said. "That was the plan."
The clean slate helps.
"When you're changing the culture, sometimes when you have people that have been here a long time, it's harder to do," Rutherford said. "... I think the more new fresh people we have in there, the easier it's going to be to do."
But starting over is a big task.
The Canucks have foundational pieces. Rutherford called Thatcher Demko a "franchise goalie," and he called center Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes "exceptional talents." They have won their first four games under Boudreau, and Rutherford said they might be better than people think. Still, they have holes and lack space under the NHL salary cap.
Rutherford will take his time, from evaluating the roster to hiring the GM. He said he does not want to part with high draft picks and wants to acquire younger players, because the Canucks are not in the win-now mode part of the cycle.
"I'm not a hurry to make a trade," Rutherford said. "I've already [gotten] calls. I got calls before I got to Vancouver. 'I like this player. I like that player. Don't forget me. Give me a call if you decide to move somebody.' But no, if somebody calls and something pretty good comes along that we think improves our team now and in the long run, yeah, we'll take a look at it. But I'm not going to be making a lot of calls.
"My focus immediately will be to get this restructured and get people in place, because the stronger the hockey department is off the ice will make the team stronger on the ice."
Rutherford said he has compiled a list of 40 potential GMs, categorized by former GMs and by assistant GMs whom he could mentor. He said he wanted to bring in an assistant GM this week, because the front office is thin, and he would start making calls on GM candidates as soon as Monday night. But he's not in a hurry to hire a GM, either.
"I would like to get somebody in place sooner than later, but if it's not in the near future, it's OK," Rutherford said. "We want to get it … try to get it right, OK?"
That's what matters most. From the top, set the bar high.