Canucks President Tells the Truth About J.T. Miller-Elias Pettersson Drama

Rutherford, meanwhile, pointed to the fallout as a key factor in Vancouver’s collapse coming off a 50-win season last year.

“I don’t believe the issue was limited to just two people,” Rutherford said. “It filtered through most of the team and affected our overall chemistry.”

The Canucks, ultimately, decided to trade Miller to the New York Rangers in late January after the friction with Pettersson proved unfixable.

Rutherford, surprisingly, indicated that Miller tried his best to defuse the situation before agreeing to waive his no-move clause, unlocking the trade to New York.

“I genuinely think J.T. tried hard to help fix the situation,” Rutherford said. “Many within our organization worked on it. But once we reached a point where the organization collectively felt the situation couldn’t be fixed, we had to explore all possible options.”

Rutherford acknowledged the franchise expected to contend this season, but was thrown off course early, including by the Pettersson–Miller feud.

“We had a very disappointing season that we feel bad about,” Rutherford said. “We started the season as a contending team, we ran into an unfortunate incident early in the season that hurt the chemistry of our team.”

As of July 1, Pettersson will own a full no-movement clause for the remainder of his seven-year contract, and although Pettersson should lead the team going forward, it's unclear if he could also get moved before the NMC kicks in this summer.