Become a DIEHARD! alldlls.com/join

The Other 31: Vancouver Canucks

Our guest today is Thomas Drance, Canucks beat writer for The Athletic. In the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Vancouver Canucks beat the Nashville Predators in the first round and were one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Final, but lost to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the second round (after holding a 3-2 series lead). The next year they took a step back, missing out on the playoffs by six points, but they were still in the mix. Then last season, the Canucks fell off the cliff, finishing with the worst record in the NHL, 19 points below the second-worst team (Chicago). Oh yeah, and in January, they traded away all-world defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild. That has led to a major overhaul of the hockey operations department, with president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford stepping away from day-to-day operations and the firings of general manager Patrik Allvin and head coach Adam Foote (after just one season in charge behind the bench). Canucks legends Henrik and Daniel Sedin have been hired as co-presidents of hockey operations, Ryan Johnson has been elevated to general manager and Manny Malhotra hired as head coach. The rebuild has begun in Vancouver, the big question is, how long will it take?

An ALLCITY Network Production