Speaking with reporters following tonight’s Draft Lottery (video link), Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford indicated that he will be leaving his role after the draft and will transition into more of an advisory role while remaining an alternate governor. The 77-year-old, who has been working in an NHL front office since 1994-95, has held his current title for the better part of the last five seasons and is currently leading the search for a new GM. On that front, he noted that the team is down to five candidates for the position. Rutherford added that at this time, they’re not sure if they will just be hiring a GM or if they’ll also be bringing someone in to take his spot as well.
More from out West:
- Prior to tonight’s game against Colorado, the Wild announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Zach Bogosian is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He was dealing with a lower-body issue down the stretch in the regular season but it’s unclear if this is a recurrence of that or something different. The 35-year-old had six points in 41 games during the season and had been averaging just over 13 minutes per night in the playoffs. Jeff Petry took Bogosian’s place in the lineup.
- Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas skated today but has already been ruled out of Wednesday’s game against Vegas, notes Derek Lee of The Hockey News (Twitter link). The veteran has only played once in the postseason as he deals with a lower-body injury. However, head coach Joel Quenneville indicated that he expects that his captain should be able to return at some point in this series. Gudas had 13 points, 87 blocks, and 164 hits in 56 games this season.
- The Blackhawks anticipate speaking with Roman Kantserov’s agent in the coming weeks to discuss the possibility of him signing for next season, relays Scott Powers of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 21-year-old was a second-round pick back in 2023, going 44th overall. Since then, his stock has certainly been on the rise. Last year, he more than doubled his post-draft output, notching 13 goals and 25 assists in 47 games. This season, he was even more productive, tallying 36 goals and 28 helpers in 63 games with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, good for ninth in KHL scoring.
It’s time for Jimmy to go home!
I suppose signing Kantserov and trading the #4 pick for a D Man would take some of the disappointment out of the crappy lottery. Unless they can somehow move from 4 to 2 but I doubt the Sharks are going to deal with the Hawks or Vice Versa.
Or using the #4 to draft one of the fantastic dmen available in this draft. Why would they trade it for a defenseman who won’t be nearly as good. Chase Reid, Carson Carrels, Keaton Verhoeff to name the top few. The hawks aren’t going anywhere next season anyways build the future.
Yeah well the Hawks are looking for a D MAN Right now not 4 years from now. And the Hawks are just fine and will be good next year. They already have a bunch of great young D Men what they need is a good leader on the back line. McKenna or Stenberg would have fit fine, with Frondell. 4 is not needed. Hawks will be in the Playoff hunt next year. Remember where you heard it first. One day you’ll wake up and go how did that happen. 1A Goalie, D Man and get out of the way.
Hawks can have Hronek for the 4th overall this year
– signed a Canucks Fan
JR taking losing this draft lottery a bit hard. 😄
Wouldnt you want Rutherford to leave before the draft?
They probably need him to run the draft. I’ve read a few places saying that the Vancouver scouting staff’s contracts are up at the end of this season, so everyone there could be checked out looking for a new jobs already rather than worrying about the Canucks
It’s crazy how simple it seems for Vancouver to restore some goodwill with their fans by naming Johnson GM, getting Sedins further involved, replacing Foote with Manny Malhotra, and then drafting his son at #3, yet they will hire the Ottawa dude who accomplished nothing