November 25, 2025 | 7:19pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

RUTHERFORD ADMITS TEAM IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford

After a report surfaced Monday evening that the Vancouver Canucks sent a memo to all 31 other NHL clubs that they are willing to trade some of their veteran players, club President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford acknowledged the team needs to go through a retool.

In an interview with Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province, Rutherford admitted his team has to get younger and is open to trading multiple pieces, including their pending unrestricted free agents.

“We have to make this team younger. We have to get this team going in a different direction from where we’ve been,” Rutherford said.

“The position of the team is that you would be willing to talk about the unrestricted free agents (now) that would be talked about closer to the trade deadline.”

Forwards Kiefer Sherwood, Teddy Blueger and Evander Kane and defenceman Derek Forbort are among the team’s pending UFAs.

As reported by TFP’s David Pagnotta earlier, forward Conor Garland’s name is also circulating around the league.

“This isn’t about just looking at trading everybody,” Rutherford reiterated. “There are a number of veterans who have played very well, so this isn’t about clumping everybody together. It’s more about accelerating the obvious (moves) that could be made two months down the road.”

The Canucks are looking to acquire younger players and are also open to draft picks to refill their draft capital. Once player who won’t be moved – not now, anyway – is captain Quinn Hughes, who is aware of the team’s current position.

“I believe Quinn and his agent are aware of the direction we want to go,” Rutherford stated. “And they’re aware of the direction they want to go. Everybody wants to play on a winning team. But there’s different reasons why people make decisions.”

It is unclear which teams have already engaged in trade calls with Rutherford and Canucks GM Patrik Allvin, and while no direct timeline has been put in place on when the first trade may come, it is clear the Canucks are open for business.