Rutherford Interview on July 27

[JamesB]

I just listened to a fairly long interview with Jim Rutherford on the Bob McCown podcast. The interview was on July 27. No significant new information but some interesting tidbits that I thought I note here in case anyone is interested. The order is based on things I thought were interesting, not on the chronological order in the interview. The questions and answers are slightly paraphrased as I cannot remember them exactly. 

 

1. As usual, Rutherford seemed smart and well-spoken -- a refreshing change from the previous guy. (Sooner or later I will stop taking shots at Benning, but not yet as I have a lot of pent-up anger to work off.)

 

2. Question: Klingberg seemed like a natural fit for the Canucks. Do you look at him in free agency?

Answer: We were not in position to go after Klingberg

My take: JR sounded unenthusiastic about Klingberg. I would say there is no chance Klingberg ends up on the team. I like this answer and I disagree with the premise of the question. Klingberg would NOT be a good fit for the Canucks. He is a good offensive D but is nowhere near good enough defensively and is well over the target age range.  

 

3. Question: Which of the Canucks surprised you with the quality of their play after you joined the team?

Answer 1: Hughes. "I knew he was good but he was even better than I thought and he continues to improve."

Answer 2: Podkolzin. He will be a very good player. Also JR mentioned later that Podkolzin really likes Vancouver that he helped recruit Kuzmenko by calling him and encouraging him to come. 

Answer 3: Pettersson and Horvat. 

My take: JR is very high on Hughes, which  is great. He is also very high on Podklozin, who rated the second mention. The comments about Petey and Horvat were positive but more restrained. My reading is that they actually performed pretty close to his expectations. JR said he likes what Horvat does as captain. 

 

4. Question: What about the Defence?

Answer: The defence still needs work. There were a couple of interesting UFAs but nothing was close. Changes will have to come through trades. Would like to be further along at this stage  One big problem is depth. If everyone is healthy the D is good enough to win with but injuries would be a major problem.

JR is very high on Rathbone and expects him to be in the starting top 6, but Rathbone still needs to prove himself at the NHL level.. 

Poolman is a good enough to play top 4 if he is healthy. 

My take: The Canucks are trying to make a trade to add a good RD, but do not hold your breath.

 

5. Question: What role does the Cap play with the difficulty in making trades? 

Answer: The cap has been flat due to Covid and makes trades hard because many teams cannot add salary and it is hard to clear cap space. The Canucks will not trade away picks or prospects to add cap space or facilitate trades at this stage. Trying to acquire picks and prospects, not give them up.  

My take: The Canucks have been trying to trade Myers and some others but won't give up assets to clear cap space. 

 

6. Question: What about Miller?

Answer: The best option would be to re-sign Miller. But the sides are a long way apart. JR did not sound optimistic.

Will make a trade for the right deal but in no rush. But do not want to lose Miller for nothing and probably will make a trade if Miller is unsigned at the deadline. Do not want to lose him for nothing in Free Agency.

My take: No change on previously announced position. Expect Miller to be on the team as the season starts

 

7. Question: What about Boudreau coaching style?

Answer: Expects BB to continue to be an offensive-minded coach and a player's coach who makes the game fun for players. The best defence is playing in the other team's zone. But does want to tighten up play in the defensive zone. The new forwards acquired in free agency should help a lot in that area. 

 

8. Question:  What about the changes to front office and coaching staff?

Very happy with front office changes. But it takes a while for that to affect on-ice performance. BB basically selected Mike Yeo as his senior assistant coach but JR likes him. We will see how things go this year. JR likes the Sedins a lot. They will work with players in Abby and on the big team. Thinks they will do a great job. 

My take: This is a probationary year for both BB and Yeo. 

 

9. JR thinks the Canucks are probably a playoff team as currently structured. He talked about goalie situation but nothing new there. 

 

This is not a complete list, but is what I thought were the highlights. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by JamesB

[awalk]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. 

 

Sounds to me like, they have a plan and aren't deviating from the plan just to make a move. 

I still give them a pretty low grade for this off season so far, but am very willing to hold off on any real judgement for at least a full season. Feels like they've been targeting next year's draft and off season since they got here anyway.

[kanucks25]

7 minutes ago, JamesB said:

(Sooner or later I will stop taking shots at Benning, but not yet as I have a lot of pent-up anger to work off.)

There is never a bad time my man.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

8 minutes ago, JamesB said:

 

6. Question: What about Miller?

Answer: The best option would be to re-sign Miller. But the sides are a long way apart. JR did not sound optimistic.

Will make a trade for the right deal but in no rush. But do not want to lose Miller for nothing and probably will make a trade if Miller is unsigned at the deadline. Do not want to lose him for nothing in Free Agency.

My take: No change on previously announced position. Expect JR to be on the team as the season starts

 

 

So... is JR going to back up Demko then?  

[Coconuts]

So what you're saying is we probably won't be shipping out Horvat or stripping him of the captaincy?

 

[Jaimito]

 

 

[250Integra]

We've got a deep forward group (before the inevitable injuries hit) but the D still needs a lot of work. Think we're over the cap too so somethings got to give. Not sure how Rathbone is going to find a position on the team with OEL, Hughes, and Dermott on the left side. I know some of those guys can play on the right side but are we putting in Rathbone over Myers, Schenn, and Poolman??

 

Kuzmenko-Miller-Podkolzin

Mikheyev-Pettersson-Boeser

Hoglander-Horvat-Garland

Pearson-Lazar-Joshua

Dickinson

 

OEL-Myers

Hughes-Schenn

Dermott-Poolman

Rathbone

 

Demko

Martin

Edited July 28, 2022 by 250Integra

[VegasCanuck]

My guess is, after not even a year in Vancouver, dealing with fans and media here, this is probably pretty much how he approaches requests now...even looks a little like him...

 

[Coconuts]

Defense needs work, changes through trades, hard to clear space, won't trade picks or prospects, trying to acquire picks and prospects..

 

Management and Miller are far apart in negotiations..

 

By Jove, that's JT's music!

 

[VegasCanuck]

15 minutes ago, JamesB said:

I just listened to a fairly long interview with Jim Rutherford on the Bob McCown podcast. The interview was on July 27. No significant new information but some interesting tidbits that I thought I note here in case anyone is interested. The order is based on things I thought were interesting, not on the chronological order in the interview. The questions and answers are slightly paraphrased as I cannot remember them exactly. 

 

1. As usual, Rutherford seemed smart and well-spoken -- a refreshing change from the previous guy. (Sooner or later I will stop taking shots at Benning, but not yet as I have a lot of pent-up anger to work off.)

 

2. Question: Klingberg seemed like a natural fit for the Canucks. Do you look at him in free agency?

Answer: We were not in position to go after Klingberg

My take: JR sounded unenthusiastic about Klingberg. I would say there is no chance Klingberg ends up on the team. I like this answer and I disagree with the premise of the question. Klingberg would NOT be a good fit for the Canucks. He is a good offensive D but is nowhere near good enough defensively and is well over the target age range.  

 

3. Question: Which of the Canucks surprised you with the quality of their play after you joined the team?

Answer 1: Hughes. "I knew he was good but he was even better than I thought and he continues to improve."

Answer 2: Podkolzin. He will be a very good player. Also JR mentioned later that Podkolzin really likes Vancouver that he helped recruit Kuzmenko by calling him and encouraging him to come. 

Answer 3: Pettersson and Horvat. 

My take: JR is very high on Hughes, which  is great. He is also very high on Podklozin, who rated the second mention. The comments about Petey and Horvat were positive but more restrained. My reading is that they actually performed pretty close to his expectations. JR said he likes what Horvat does as captain. 

 

4. Question: What about the Defence?

Answer: The defence still needs work. There were a couple of interesting UFAs but nothing was close. Changes will have to come through trades. Would like to be further along at this stage  One big problem is depth. If everyone is healthy the D is good enough to win with but injuries would be a major problem.

JR is very high on Rathbone and expects him to be in the starting top 6, but Rathbone still needs to prove himself at the NHL level.. 

Poolman is a good enough to play top 4 if he is healthy. 

My take: The Canucks are trying to make a trade to add a good RD, but do not hold your breath.

 

5. Question: What role does the Cap play with the difficulty in making trades? 

Answer: The cap has been flat due to Covid and makes trades hard because many teams cannot add salary and it is hard to clear cap space. The Canucks will not trade away picks or prospects to add cap space or facilitate trades at this stage. Trying to acquire picks and prospects, not give them up.  

My take: The Canucks have been trying to trade Myers and some others but won't give up assets to clear cap space. 

 

6. Question: What about Miller?

Answer: The best option would be to re-sign Miller. But the sides are a long way apart. JR did not sound optimistic.

Will make a trade for the right deal but in no rush. But do not want to lose Miller for nothing and probably will make a trade if Miller is unsigned at the deadline. Do not want to lose him for nothing in Free Agency.

My take: No change on previously announced position. Expect JR to be on the team as the season starts

 

7. Question: What about Boudreau coaching style?

Answer: Expects BB to continue to be an offensive-minded coach and a player's coach who makes the game fun for players. The best defence is playing in the other team's zone. But does want to tighten up play in the defensive zone. The new forwards acquired in free agency should help a lot in that area. 

 

8. Question:  What about the changes to front office and coaching staff?

Very happy with front office changes. But it takes a while for that to affect on-ice performance. BB basically selected Mike Yeo as his senior assistant coach but JR likes him. We will see how things go this year. JR likes the Sedins a lot. They will work with players in Abby and on the big team. Thinks they will do a great job. 

My take: This is a probationary year for both BB and Yeo. 

 

9. JR thinks the Canucks are probably a playoff team as currently structured. He talked about goalie situation but nothing new there. 

 

This is not a complete list, but is what I thought were the highlights. 

Vancouver Canucks would like to announce and introduce the NEW Director of Media Communications. He will be handling ALL further media interviews while JT Miller is still a part of the team.

 

 

[Jaimito]

[The Bob McCown Podcast] JIM RUTHERFORD on the Vancouver Canucks #theBobMccownPodcast 

https://podcastaddict.com/episode/143016970 

[Muttley]

More >  https://canucksarmy.com/2022/07/20/dakota-joshua-brings-everything-canucks-looking-fourth-liner/

Edited July 29, 2022 by Muttley

[Drive-By Body Pierce]

23 minutes ago, JamesB said:

6. Question: What about Miller?

Answer: The best option would be to re-sign Miller. But the sides are a long way apart. JR did not sound optimistic.

Will make a trade for the right deal but in no rush. But do not want to lose Miller for nothing and probably will make a trade if Miller is unsigned at the deadline. Do not want to lose him for nothing in Free Agency.

My take: No change on previously announced position. Expect JR to be on the team as the season starts.

 

JR suiting up, that's some dedication at his age! 

[Coconuts]

1 minute ago, Drive-By Body Pierce said:

 

JR suiting up, that's some dedication at his age! 

[Jaimito]

1 minute ago, Drive-By Body Pierce said:

 

JR suiting up, that's some dedication at his age! 

It's nice to have a prez to do these media things. Leave GM focused on his job.  

[Jaimito]

6 minutes ago, Coconuts said:

 

 

 

One more to go in blue and green. 

[Ghostsof1915]

7 minutes ago, Drive-By Body Pierce said:

 

JR suiting up, that's some dedication at his age! 

My Dad joined us in a game of Street hockey at age 70. As a stand up goalie and no mask. I was actually super proud of him. I tried to limit his shots on goal as best as I could. 

We were good at keeping shots low.

[NUCKER67]

When JR speaks, I find I listen. 

 

Just a vibe I'm getting, but it sounds like the Canucks and Miller are really far apart, but he's saying the right things, like how good of a player JT is and how much they'd like to keep him. Doesn't mean they will. Almost seems like a message through the media that the Canucks aren't willing to move the needle to re-sign him here. It's business and there's only so much money to go around.

 

I hope JT does the right thing and lets the Canucks know before training camp, that he'd like a trade, so he can get paid.  

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

1 minute ago, NUCKER67 said:

When JR speaks, I find I listen. 

 

Reminds me of something a buddy of mine told me at a meeting:

"Do you know when someone has power?

When everyone is making noise, and someone starts talking quietly - and then everyone shuts the &^@# up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Without needing to be told to shut the &^@# up.

That's when you know that someone has power."

 

[Coconuts]

16 minutes ago, Jaimito said:

 

 

 

One more to go in blue and green.