Canucks' trade deadline was competent. What comes next matters more

Breadcrumb Trail Links

Patrick Johnston: Canucks management must be patient — and creative — in climbing out of a mess they created themselves.

Get the latest from Patrick Johnston straight to your inbox Sign Up

Published Mar 06, 2026 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 4 minute read

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

allvin Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin. Photo by ETHAN CAIRNS /THE CANADIAN PRESSArticle content

At the beginning of this season, we said in this space that this was a make-or-break season for the management team of the Vancouver Canucks.

Advertisement 2

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events.Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account.The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.

SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.

THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account

Article content

They had to be headed for the playoffs, or heads were sure to roll.

Article content

They are no longer headed for the playoffs, and heads, as of yet, haven’t rolled. Instead, GM Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations, Jim Rutherford, have convinced ownership to rebuild, something that most of us long though impossible.

The rebuild, we can confirm, is very much underway. After years of reluctance to even utter the word, it’s not a direction that Allvin and Rutherford have shied away from. The work Allvin and Rutherford did this week was fine. They moved veteran players who would serve no role in a rebuilt future. They added draft picks, not just for this year’s draft, but for years to come.

We have long understood the importance of having as many picks as you can because most prospects don’t make it. The more prospects you have in the system is the smart way to hedge against those expected failures. Some of those players will make it. Having those extra picks are also useful in years to come if you find your rebuild going even better than you had hoped and the first-round picks you land in 2026 and 2027 prove to be well before the curve in your development.

Canucks Report

Thanks for signing up!

Article content

Advertisement 3

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

In other words, the Canucks have set the table well, but now they have to cook the meal. And in assessing their ability to handle that challenge we must look at a few things.

First, the mess is of management’s own making. Elias Pettersson’s struggles may be unprecedented, but his inability to rise to true No. 1 centre status was a question mark more than a few people had on him. Should they have traded him two years ago rather than extend a contract that has become a curse rather than a compliment to his play? There’s a case for that.

Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

Maybe Quinn Hughes was always going to leave, but it’s pretty clear his departure was hastened because of the downward spiral the team took last year, one driven by J.T. Miller blowing up on them, plus a number of poor choices to extend depth players rather than find similarly capable but cheaper alternatives.

They also re-signed both their veteran goalies to contracts that remain head-scratchers. Kevin Lankinen bailed them out when they were in crisis, but his contract looks like an overpayment compared to the deal signed by comparable goalies elsewhere, like Charlie Lindgren.

Advertisement 4

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

And while they executed their rebuild plan at the deadline pretty well — shipping off Tyler Myers and Conor Garland earlier in the week, also moving out David Kampf and Lukas Reichel on Friday for picks — and we mustn’t forget the Kiefer Sherwood deal last month or the Hughes deal before Christmas — they also haven’t done a great job of picking up items along the trail.

Jake Oettinger and Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars defend against Evander Kane of the Vancouver Canucks March 2, 2026. Photo by Derek Cain /Getty Images

Using the pick they got for Vasily Podkolzin to get Evander Kane and then being stuck with Kane isn’t exactly a positive play. Podkolzin surely could still be playing a role here rather than in Edmonton. Kane proved to be valueless at the trade deadline. The Oilers were in a bind with Kane already, so how did they not extract a pick out of Edmonton for the trouble?

As a simple counter example of what can be done even when you’re in a tough spot, consider Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh. When he arrived as GM of the Penguins in 2023, the team was in a very tough spot. They had struggled over the previous two seasons — ironically since Rutherford left the organization as GM — had few, if any, prospects in the pipeline, and didn’t even have a first-round pick in the hopper in 2024.

Advertisement 5

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Article content

Two years later, his team is headed for the playoffs. They hit a home run with Ben Kindel in the 2025 first round — and had 13 picks in all in last year’s draft — and have extra second-round picks in each of the next three drafts. Those could become prospects or could help acquire players from other teams who would improve the roster as they go along.

Two of those second-round picks were acquired just this year in two trades that saw the Penguins strike when other teams were in a pickle. They flipped oft-injured Tristan Jarry to Edmonton for a goalie the Oilers didn’t want in Stuart Skinner, and a defenceman in Brett Kulak who they figured they would be able to probably move along again, and picked up a second-round pick for their trouble. They then say that Colorado was in a cap pinch and traded Kulak to Colorado for Sam Girard because they had the cap space, and got a second-round pick in that move because the trade got the Avs out of a bind.

For the Canucks to effectively rebuild, they need to do more things like that. They need to hit home runs in the draft, but they also need to be smart in how they manage their roster along the way. They need to keep making incremental gains. They need to avoid sideshows from which there is no off-ramp.

And they need to be patient. Will management get the chance to show they can? Will ownership have the same patience?

Onward we go.

pjohnston@postmedia.com

Canucks: Conor Garland traded to Columbus Blue Jackets

Canucks Live: Jett Woo traded | A big yawn, who’s left to trade and the leadership void left in Vancouver

Article content

Share this article in your social network

Canucks’ trade deadline was competent. What comes next matters more

Tags: