On Wednesday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by Jeff Paterson to discuss whether the Vancouver Canucks should really consider embracing a rebuild – and why it might not be as far-fetched, or as painful, as some believe.

After another rough stretch to start the season and the rebuild discussion mounting throughout the fanbase, the trio agreed that it’s time for the organization to stop pretending it’s one trade away from fixing things.

“When we talk about a rebuild, they’re already not doing great this season,” Quads said. “So don’t try and trade your way out of these problems – you trade Kiefer Sherwood at the deadline, you see what you can get for Drew O’Connor, and then you re-evaluate. Then you’ll have some picks, your own first-round pick, which should be a high one, and that should be what the conversation is. We’re not talking about tearing it down to the studs, we’re not asking for too much when we’re saying move your expiring assets and see what you can get.”

Quads pointed out that with the Canucks sitting near the bottom of the standings in mid-November, the opportunity is right there to make smart, forward-thinking moves instead of chasing short-term fixes. “If anybody has any ailment that they’ve been playing through, go get that fixed – shut them down for the year,” he said. “You’re waking up 28th in the standings on November 12th, and the team hasn’t looked good. This opportunity is right there – you can sell high on a couple guys and get some high picks.”

JPat agreed that a lack of elite-level, game-breaking talent has left Vancouver stuck in mediocrity. “There’s a lack of elite-level top-end talent, particularly among the forward ranks,” Paterson said. “Yes, they have some pieces, but every team does. It’s not a slight on Lekkerimäki or Willander or D-Petey, but even if those guys reach their ceilings, they’re not gamebreakers. Management continues to avoid the question of where are you going to find these superstar players?”

He didn’t mince words about the team’s stagnation. “At some point, you have to ask some hard questions about to what end? This group clearly hasn’t been good enough,” he said. “I know they got to game seven against the Oilers, but the truth is they won one round that year with home ice advantage. I’m like everyone else – I don’t see a way out right now as it’s currently constructed. For all the things that had to go right for this club – Demko’s out, Pettersson’s scuffling, and who knows if we’ll see Filip Chytil again in a Canuck uniform – those are all at the top of the list for things that need to go right for the team that haven’t.”

For Quads, the rebuild conversation isn’t about blowing everything up – it’s about finally facing reality. “If you get a top-six draft pick, you’ve got a chance to draft a game-breaker, and that’s what this team’s missing,” he said. “The conversation isn’t ‘blow it all up right now,’ it’s that you can’t re-sign Kiefer Sherwood, you have to trade him at the deadline. Sell high on Drew O’Connor. It may sound like a retool, but a retool to me would be trading Quinn Hughes for assets that are going to help you win now. A rebuild is when you’re told Hughes isn’t re-signing, and you go for picks and young prospects in that trade.”

He added that the Canucks aren’t starting from zero – they already have a decent foundation of young players to build around. “When teams declare they’re going to rebuild, usually they don’t have a Braeden Cootes, a Jonathan Lekkerimäki, a Tom Willander – legit prospects – because typically when teams rebuild it’s because they’re coming off a ton of success,” he said. “So they are at least a bit out ahead with those guys in the pipeline and Aleksei Medvedev in the ranks.”

Harm agreed, noting that the most important step is to commit to the process – not chase shortcuts. “If the season continues on the trajectory it is, the point is to have at least a year or two where you’re comfortable finishing near the bottom of the standings,” Harman said. “You’re not trying to trade every decent player because you don’t need to do that; you want to keep a couple veterans who can be culture-carriers for the group moving forward, but you want to position yourself to draft in the top-10 and have a shot at landing some elite talent for the next wave.”

He pointed to past mistakes as examples of what not to do. “When you go back to the Benning days, they did the losing of a rebuilding team, got those top-10 picks, but they weren’t trying to do rebuild and kept missing on everybody they acquired,” Harm said. “If you end up in a situation where the season goes off the rail, you have to avoid the temptation of pitching this idea of a two-year turnaround. That’s not going to do it. You can’t be chasing free agents or trading away draft picks for reclamation projects – it has to be about accumulation. You can call it what you want – rebuild, retool – nobody wants to see this team be bad for another five years before they’re competitive again, but that doesn’t have to be the case,” Harm continued. “Look at the Penguins. Their contention window was firmly closed, but look how quickly they’ve rebuilt their cupboards. Above all, they have hope. That’s what fans want to see. The question the Canucks need to answer is simple: what’s the plan to actually have a window where you can contend?”

Watch the full replay of the show below!