“The position of the team is that you would be willing to talk about the unrestricted free agents that would be talked about closer to the trade deadline,” he said.“This isn’t about just looking at trading everybody. There are a number of veterans who have played very well, so this isn’t about clumping everybody together. It’s more about accelerating the obvious (moves) that could be made two months down the road.”The return Rutherford and Allvin are looking for: younger players, prospects, or even draft picks.“Whether it’s a younger player or a draft pick, that’s really the direction we need to go in,” he said, before laughing and bringing up the word that he knows many have been discussion — unprompted to be clear.
Rutherford had a lot more to say, so be sure to go read the full exclusive interview with Johnston and Rutherford here!
The Canucks have five players 30 or older who are also pending unrestricted free agents: Evander Kane, Kiefer Sherwood, Teddy Blueger, David Kämpf and Derek Forbort. The player currently drawing the most buzz, according to Donnie & Dhali’s Rick Dhaliwal and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, is Sherwood. The Canucks have not made Quinn Hughes, who is eligible for a contract extension on July 1, available among their list of veteran players.