VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks have not made Jim Rutherford’s job easy.
The team languished at the bottom of the Pacific Division standings when Rutherford was appointed president of hockey operations in early December. Now the Canucks (30-25-7) sit three points out of a playoff spot, complicating whether Vancouver will be buyers or sellers ahead of Monday’s NHL trade deadline.
Head coach Bruce Boudreau said he’s offered to help the front office in any way he can, but hasn’t been talking to management much.
“I think Jim and (general manager Patrik Allvin) have a really good nose for what this team needs,” he said. “I think they like the way things are going. We know we go through a gauntlet after this weekend of teams. But I’ve come to the conclusion that you can beat anybody on any given night.”
J.T. Miller was expected to be Vancouver’s biggest trade asset heading into the deadline.
The versatile 29-year-old forward not only produces, putting up 73 points (24 goals, 49 assists) in 59 games this year, but he comes with a tantalizing deal — a US$5.25 cap hit for this season and next.
Vancouver’s unlikely to move Miller before Monday, though. As the team’s top scorer and a locker-room leader, he’s too crucial to the team’s post-season push.
Several Canucks players are still rumoured to be on the trade block, though, including Brock Boeser.
The 25-year-old right-winger has amassed 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 55 games this year and carries a cap hit of $5.875 million. While he’s been a fairly consistent contributor in Vancouver, Boeser has yet to crack the 30-goal mark in five NHL seasons.
He’s also set to become a restricted free agent this summer and his $7.5-million qualifying offer could scare away potential takers.
Another forward who could draw interest is Conor Garland.
The 26-year-old winger came to Vancouver from Arizona with defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in a massive deal ahead of the entry draft last summer, then inked a five-year deal with an average annual value of $4.95 million.
A slippery player who’s known to spin his way into open ice, Garland has 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) in 56 games for the Canucks and is on pace to top the career-high 39 points he tallied with the Coyotes in each of the last two seasons.
Teams in search of a more defensive forward could be looking to pick up centre Tyler Motte.
The Canucks have found big value in a shutdown line headlined by the 27-year-old centre this season but the speedy skater has left his mark on the score sheet, too, notching 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 46 games.
At a cap hit of $1.225 million, Motte is a value add. He’s also likely to demand a pay raise when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
One defenceman Vancouver may get calls about is Luke Schenn.
The 32-year-old two-time Stanley Cup winner returned to the Canucks from Tampa Bay as a free agent this season, signing a two-year deal with a very reasonable $850,000 AAV. In 46 games, he’s proved to be reliable on the blue line, tallying nine points (three goals, six assists) with 36 penalty minutes and a plus-minus rating of plus-13.
In any potential deal, Rutherford and his team will be looking further ahead than this season, regardless of whether playoffs are in the picture.
The Canucks are right up against the cap and both Rutherford and Allvin have said the club needs to shed salary in order to be competitive moving forward.
Vancouver also possesses a shallow prospect pool and the team is likely eager to collect young talent and draft picks.
The need for a younger, deeper blue line now won’t escape management’s attention, either.
In Rutherford and Allvin’s first trade deadline with the Canucks, the wish list is long and the prospect of playoffs looms large.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2022.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
