By The Canadian Press

Vancouver Canucks players already buying into new coach’s system: Rutherford

Sep 17, 2025 | 12:19 PM

VANCOUVER — Jim Rutherford doesn’t want to talk about last season any more.

Between personnel issues and injuries, underperforming stars and underwhelming performances on home ice, the 2024-25 campaign went from bad to worse, and ended with the Canucks missing the playoffs by six points.

Now the club’s focus is firmly set on the future.

“We’ll say the obvious, that we’re happy the book’s been closed on last year,” Rutherford, the Canucks president of hockey operations told reporters Wednesday as training camps opened across the league.

Going into the 2025-26 season the organization’s biggest change comes behind the bench.

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Head coach Rick Tocchet parted ways with the club in April and his assistant, Adam Foote, was later elevated to the role.

Shortly after taking on the new gig, Foote gathered his leadership group in Michigan for an off-season summit.

Captain Quinn Hughes was joined by all-star goalie Thatcher Demko and Swedish centre Elias Pettersson, and Foote said the foursome had extended discussions about the upcoming season over golf and meals.

“I call it working on our contract together, of our leadership group, how we’re going to carry yourself as a group, as a team,” the new coach said.

With a new coaching staff in place, Rutherford likes a lot of things about Vancouver’s team.

“I don’t think our players could be more prepared for training camp at the start of the season, with all the things that Adam and his coaching staff (did this summer),” he said.

“And the players have bought in too. So we are excited that the guys have done what they need to do to have a good start, and now we’ll find out for real. That’s why we have (training) camp, that’s why we play the games.”

Last spring, Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin stressed the need to boost Vancouver’s centre depth, but the roster heading into training camp closely resembles the one that played last season’s final game.

The Canucks added bruising winger Evander Kane to the lineup, and utility forward Pius Suter to free agency over the summer.

The team’s biggest deals, though, were done with existing players, as star sniper Brock Boeser re-signed on a new seven-year, US$50.75-million contract. Demko and feisty winger Conor Garland also inked long-term extensions.

The NHL’s marketplace was quiet over the off-season, Allvin said.

“This summer, with the new (collective bargaining) is taking place here, you see a lot of players extending with their current team,” Allvin said.

“That being said, I think our analytics staff or scouting staff has done a really good job identifying potential players that might come available, talking to Adam how we want to play and what type of players he’s looking for to fit into the system here. So there’s been a lot of conversations, but unfortunately, at this point, not much has transpired into deals.”

Instead of bringing in new faces, the Canucks are looking to get more out of some of the stars who stumbled last season.

Boeser had 50 points, well off his 40-goal output during the 2023-24 season. Pettersson put up 15 goals and 30 assists across 64 games — a fraction of the career-high 102 points he had in 2022-23.

The team is expecting more of Pettersson this year, Rutherford said.

“I have seen him a few times since he’s been back, and I know he put the work in. And I think we also know he didn’t a year ago,” he said. “Success comes with preparation, and I believe all of our players, and especially Petey, have worked very hard this summer.”

The test, Rutherford added, starts Thursday when players hit the ice for training camp in Penticton, B.C.

Foote wants to use the camp to get his players back up to an NHL pace and start implementing the team’s systems and structure.

Asked what his brand of hockey will look like, the former NHL defenceman said that will change game by game.

“We’re going to be a team that adapts to our opponents to make them feel uncomfortable,” Foote said. “So there’s going to be nights where we have to defend maybe a little bit longer, depending, or be above some speed through the neutral zone. But we’re going to play consistent hockey.”

Whether that will lead to regular-season success remains to be seen.

With parity across the league, it’s become more and more difficult for teams to dominate the standings, Rutherford said.

“Everybody is not like Edmonton, where they have two guys that can turn it up and win a game for you,” he said. “There’s some teams like that, but then there’s a lot of teams that are very close.

“But I do believe, if everything goes right, and as we go along, make an improvement here and there, that this team can be in the playoffs.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press