Day 30 of imminently about to trade one of them.
www.theglobeandmail.com
Woah. That's so much more forthcoming than I'd expect him to be. I appreciate his frankness but I can't imagine it's strategically helpful.No good solution in rift between Canucks teammates Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, Rutherford says
The Vancouver Canucks are in a bind that could impact the franchise for years as the team has two star players who apparently can’t stand one another
In the past, he has always felt like he could find a solution to any tricky situation, Rutherford told The Globe and Mail during an interview on Monday, “and I felt like for a long time that there was a solution here because everybody has worked on it, including the parties involved.”
“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.”
Of course, personality differences exist in every NHL dressing room. For as long as the league has existed, there have been situations where players haven’t liked one another. You would think that in this case, an alpha male who likes to push his weight around like Miller, 31, and a more sensitive and soft-spoken player like Pettersson, 26, could put their differences aside for the good of the team. But apparently not.
“We’ve had those conversations and I think the parties understand that and I think they’ve tried,” Rutherford told me. “As you know, sometimes emotions get deep and as much as people try sometimes you can’t get over it. It certainly appears that’s what’s going on here.”
“We’re talking about two of our top players,” Rutherford said. “Certainly, our two best forwards. 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. Or at least it’s not going to happen with the group we have now. Then you have to put together a new plan.”
“When you don’t have chemistry, it’s hard to be that consistent team because there’s too much going on in the room for everybody to concentrate on what they’re supposed to do,” Rutherford said.
I asked Rutherford if he means the Miller-Pettersson drama has impacted the entire team.
“Yes, yup,” he said.
“If we were going to completely start over that means [Hughes] goes,” Rutherford told the Globe. “And we’d like to figure out a way that he’s here forever.”
“We’ll have to do the best we can in trades,” Rutherford said. “Whatever assets you get in return, you may turn them into something else. And we have to work our way back into being a contending team.”
“So yeah, if a centre goes out of here we have to get some kind of centre back but it’s not going to be the same as the centre going out. It might not even be a No. 2 centre, but you’d have to do the best with what we have until we figure out how to fill that spot back in.
“And then, of course, you have to get extra things [in any trade] that you can either use in the future to flip for NHL players now or for other positions or things like that.”
Yep, well said — this was my first thought. Seems like JR is telling us the offers are not good and we will have to mentally prepare ourselves for the inevitable Miller for Kotkaniemi tier trade or something along those lines. Very telling words in this article.
No good solution in rift between Canucks teammates Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, Rutherford says
The Vancouver Canucks are in a bind that could impact the franchise for years as the team has two star players who apparently can’t stand one another
In the past, he has always felt like he could find a solution to any tricky situation, Rutherford told The Globe and Mail during an interview on Monday, “and I felt like for a long time that there was a solution here because everybody has worked on it, including the parties involved.”
“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.”
Of course, personality differences exist in every NHL dressing room. For as long as the league has existed, there have been situations where players haven’t liked one another. You would think that in this case, an alpha male who likes to push his weight around like Miller, 31, and a more sensitive and soft-spoken player like Pettersson, 26, could put their differences aside for the good of the team. But apparently not.
“We’ve had those conversations and I think the parties understand that and I think they’ve tried,” Rutherford told me. “As you know, sometimes emotions get deep and as much as people try sometimes you can’t get over it. It certainly appears that’s what’s going on here.”
“We’re talking about two of our top players,” Rutherford said. “Certainly, our two best forwards. 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. Or at least it’s not going to happen with the group we have now. Then you have to put together a new plan.”
“When you don’t have chemistry, it’s hard to be that consistent team because there’s too much going on in the room for everybody to concentrate on what they’re supposed to do,” Rutherford said.
I asked Rutherford if he means the Miller-Pettersson drama has impacted the entire team.
“Yes, yup,” he said.
“If we were going to completely start over that means [Hughes] goes,” Rutherford told the Globe. “And we’d like to figure out a way that he’s here forever.”
“We’ll have to do the best we can in trades,” Rutherford said. “Whatever assets you get in return, you may turn them into something else. And we have to work our way back into being a contending team.”
“So yeah, if a centre goes out of here we have to get some kind of centre back but it’s not going to be the same as the centre going out. It might not even be a No. 2 centre, but you’d have to do the best with what we have until we figure out how to fill that spot back in.
“And then, of course, you have to get extra things [in any trade] that you can either use in the future to flip for NHL players now or for other positions or things like that.”
I think our only leverage will be if multiple teams are bidding, that can erase a lot of the negatives surrounding these guys. If its just the Rangers for Miller then we're kind of hooped.
Uhhh
