
‘Patrik’s priority’: Canucks look to strengthen centre position this off-season
VANCOUVER — The result of the rift between former Canucks centre J.T. Miller and current Vancouver star Elias Pettersson was the main talking point when team president Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin addressed the media on Monday.
It’s been almost three months since the issue between the two players led to the Canucks trading Miller to the New York Rangers. Vancouver went on to finish six points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“We went from a contending team to a team in transition, and we’ve continued to transition the team since the J.T. Miller trade,” Rutherford said. “We feel that our goaltending is in a good place, our defence is in a good place, and now there’s work to be done on the forwards to get back to where we would like to be and should be.”
After finishing first in the Pacific Division, reaching the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and collecting numerous league awards in 2023-24, the Canucks fell by 19 points in the standings and will now spend the summer looking to shore up their depth down the middle.