THE MOJ: Rebuild officially here for Vancouver Canucks and it\u2019s ugly<\/p>\n
Published 1:15 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026<\/p>\n
It\u2019s officially here.<\/p>\n
The Vancouver Canucks rebuild.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s ugly.<\/p>\n
Really ugly.<\/p>\n
Since the New Year, the Canucks have been a miserable lot with only two wins in 23 games after a 6-4 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
It was a spirited effort coming off a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Dallas Stars Monday at the same venue but it was a loss nonetheless.<\/p>\n
At least there was one bright spot in that Brock Boeser finally scored \u2013 ending a drought of 22 games without a goal. The same couldn\u2019t be said of Conor Garland, whose goalless skid hit 23 games while Elias Pettersson reached 15 contests without a tally.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what\u2019s wrong with this club.<\/p>\n
As we mentioned in a previous column, we would find out a lot about which veteran players you can move forward with and which you can possibly jettison.<\/p>\n
Case in point, Jake DeBrusk.<\/p>\n
The affable 29-year-old told Ben Kuzma of the Province after the 6-1 loss to the Stars \u201cthat [rebuild] is not something I would be okay with or accepting. My game doesn\u2019t fit that,\u201d which led to some backlash from Canuck Nation. DeBrusk did try to backtrack on his comments after Tuesday\u2019s practice but my money is on Kuzma, a seasoned reporter who wouldn\u2019t take comments out of context.<\/p>\n
One can clearly deduce that DeBrusk would be willing to waive his no-movement clause to a team that is in the hunt for the Stanley Cup and it\u2019s entirely possible that he is dealt before Friday\u2019s noon trade deadline.<\/p>\n
The same can\u2019t be said for Pettersson, whose contract runs through 2032 with an AAV of $11.6 million.<\/p>\n
Pettersson\u2019s play has sunk so low that Canucks head coach Adam Foote benched him in the third period during a recent game in Seattle. After a rather testy exchange with the media earlier this week, Pettersson has many wondering if mentally he\u2019s already on a plane back to Sweden.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for the club, the Pettersson situation has to be resolved before this team can start building for the future.<\/p>\n
A few years back, I asked a coach how he turned his team from a laughingstock to one that was competing for championships.<\/p>\n
He stated the first thing that you needed to do was find players with character, establish a culture and then the talent would eventually follow.<\/p>\n
As it stands right now, the Canucks need to find the right mix of veterans with character who will be able to establish a winning culture. That means setting standards when it comes to work ethic and holding one another accountable to those standards. It also means being a mentor to younger players and providing an example to them in terms of how to conduct yourself as a pro \u2013 basically all the boxes that Tyler Myers checked off before he was dealt to Dallas.<\/p>\n
Now ask yourself how many of the above boxes does Pettersson check off given the fact that even the organization itself has questioned his practice habits and off-season conditioning.<\/p>\n
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin alluded to the aforementioned issues yet again during a media availability session after the Myers deal on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to say that you\u2019re going to be better but what are you actually going to do to be better? I think that the action is something we want to see. We want to see the players working with him. For Elias, it all starts by being prepared and pushing himself every day to get better. There is no doubt about his talent level. We\u2019ve seen that but hopefully he finds it and he hopefully continues to work on it,\u201d stated Allvin.<\/p>\n
As TSN\u2019s Craig Button told CHEK TV\u2019s \u2018Donnie and Dhali\u2019 this week, Pettersson\u2019s time in Vancouver \u201cdoesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s tenable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe a fresh start would rejuvenate Pettersson\u2019s career.<\/p>\n
A trade prior to Friday\u2019s deadline is extremely remote given Pettersson\u2019s on-ice performance and most hockey observers believe there is a better chance of a deal being made in the summer but one thing is for certain.<\/p>\n
Something has to change because the current situation can\u2019t continue.<\/p>\n
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob \u2018The Moj\u2019 Marjanovich writes about the B.C. sporting scene for Black Press Media. This column is brought to you in part by:<\/p>\n
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