Canucks President of Hockey Operations Sheds Light on Player Feud

The president of hockey operations for the Vancouver Canucks recently shed light on the ongoing locker room drama.
Jan 8, 2023; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Vancouver Canucks left wing Andrei Kuzmenko (96), center J.T. Miller (9) and  center Elias Pettersson (40) discuss a play during break in time in the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
Jan 8, 2023; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Vancouver Canucks left wing Andrei Kuzmenko (96), center J.T. Miller (9) and center Elias Pettersson (40) discuss a play during break in time in the first period against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images / James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
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The drama within the Vancouver Canucks locker room continues to pour out and grow while no solution comes. The rift between top forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson has gone on for months, with players, coaches, and management all commenting on it through the media.

The latest member of the Canucks organization to chime in is team president of hockey operation Jim Rutherford. The veteran executive has developed a reputation for candor and blunt honesty when speaking about goings on with his team. He was again open with The Globe and Mail's Gary Mason in a recent interview, shedding light on how much this situation negatively affects the roster and locker room.

In Rutherford's interview, he confirmed to Mason that this locker room rift continues to be a problem, despite multiple efforts to patch things up. At this point, it seems like he and the rest of the Canucks executive team have exhausted all methods to repair this issue in-house.

“I felt like for a long time that there was a solution here because everybody has worked on it, including the parties involved,” he said. “But it only gets resolved for a short period of time and then it festers again and so it certainly appears like there’s not a good solution that would keep this group together."

With no positive outcome to find, the only possible solution is for the Canucks to move on. Perhaps it's from both of them or perhaps it's just from one of them. Either way, Rutherford revealed the organization is coming up with a new plan of how best to move forward.

"It can really be tough on a franchise – not only present but into the future – when you’re planning on peaking this team into a contending team and then you find out that’s not going to happen," he said. "Or at least it’s not going to happen with the group we have now. Then you have to put together a new plan."

The ever-candid Rutherford may have confirmed the issue, but it's been an understood truth for weeks now. All eyes remain on Vancouver and their management team as they try to find a solution for this rift, which moves closer and closer to another huge trade taking place.

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