With the Vancouver Canucks looking like a transformed team after swapping head coaches this season, it seemed unfathomable that the team wouldn’t be eager to extend Bruce Boudreau to a new contract. Yet, team general manager Jim Rutherford said today that the team isn’t willing to bring back Boudreau for longer than next season at this time. After a horrific start, the Canucks missed the playoffs by just five points and even recovered to post a positive goal differential on the season. However, it appears Rutherford wants to ensure this wasn’t a “flash in the pan” effect from Boudreau, as he did mention there were still areas of concern he had when watching the team this year. He’d like to see a full season under Boudreau before committing to him long-term with this core.
More out of the Canucks organization today:
- Brian Bartlett, the agent of Canucks forward J.T. Miller, told The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal today that Miller is interested in signing an extension with Vancouver this summer. Bartlett told Dhaliwal that Miller wants to see the Canucks through going forward and wants to help the team. Miller, 29, had a career-high 99 points this season and has one season remaining on a bargain contract, paying him $5.25MM per season.
- The team announced today that the much-loved Young Stars Classic will return this offseason prior to training camp, which will occur on September 23 and 24. The Young Stars Classic is an invitational rookie camp, with other teams bringing their crews of rookies to compete against each other in a mini-tournament prior to training camp. This year’s edition will take place in Penticton from September 14 through September 18.
Would bet lots of teams have Boudreau on speed dial in case his Canucks gig falls apart.
32-15-10 — “That was just the ultimate Dead Cat Bounce. Anybody could fluke into that record.”
Signed,
GMJR & P. Allvin
(Is Randy Carlyle somewhere in the vicinity, making this a bigger mess than it should be?)
I suppose one consideration is that Boudreau’s not a young man — is there an older coach in the NHL? — but c’mon. If Vancouver won’t give him term, while handing All-Star money to the mediocre OEL for five more years (bwahahahahaa!!), some other team will.
They never handed OEL that money
That was zona
How people forget there was Jim 1 and it’s Jim 2 now
Yes, and they traded for OEL anyway, knowing he was due that money. Therefore paying him is their decision.