Jim Rutherford talks Quinn Hughes, Canucks’ centre depth, and more

With just over a week before the 2025-26 regular season gets underway, one of the Vancouver Canucks’ top executives has addressed a couple of topics surrounding the team heading into the new campaign.

President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford appeared on the latest episode of 100% Hockey with Millard & Shannon, and the trio discussed a number of things, including the status of captain Quinn Hughes’ future with the Canucks.

Rutherford admitted that the team’s focus is to ensure the star defenceman feels comfortable and optimistic, hoping that leads to him wanting to stay in Vancouver.

“We want to have the best team we can,” Rutherford said. “We want to be a playoff team. We want to contend. We do think our team’s improved. We like our coaching staff. We like the direction they’re taking the team. … The question is, do we have enough players to compete and to contend? So, that’s something that all players look at. You look at other players that are talking about signing extensions and staying with their teams. It’s important for any player to know that the organization’s going in the right direction.”

The topic of Hughes and the Canucks has been a hot-button piece of conversation ever since Rutherford brought it up during his end-of-season availability in April. Along with mentioning that Quinn wants to play with his brothers, New Jersey Devils stars Jack and Luke, he noted that the Canucks must ensure they have the cap space to pay Quinn “the kind of contract that he deserves.”

Rutherford hinted at the possibility of trading Hughes at next year’s trade deadline, though that isn’t what the team wants to come to.

“We can run that decision out until the trade deadline, not this trade deadline, but the year after, and still get a great return on him. So, but that’s not what we’re looking for. That’s not what our goal is. Our goal is to have Quinn Hughes be a Vancouver Canuck for a long time.”

Co-host Darren Millard asked Rutherford why he has been so open to discussing Hughes and his future with the team.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to shy away from it,” Rutherford stated. “Everybody’s going to talk about it, rightfully so. It’s a huge story for the Canucks and for their future. I think as much as I can say about it, it’s important, whether people want to agree with me or not. That’s the way things work, but I’m just giving my honest opinion of Quinn Hughes and where he goes forward.”

Hughes has two more seasons left on his current contract, which has a cap hit of $7.85 million. He’s eligible to sign an extension next July. Rutherford acknowledged that, while they can’t officially work a deal out with Hughes’ camp until next summer, the conversations surrounding the team’s top blueliner will be ongoing.

“Our focus and Quinn’s focus is on winning hockey games. That’s where it should be for this season. At the same time, people are going to talk about this. It’s important that Quinn stays focused to the task at hand. When the appropriate time comes, then we’ll deal with it. At the same time, there’s going to be people like yourselves and other media people and fans that are going to be curious as to what the organization feels and what they think. I do the best I can to give them as much as I can.”

The Canucks’ upcoming season was also discussed on the show. One of the things Rutherford mentioned was that he would like to add his depth at centre, something he’s clearly wanted for some time.

“Even though we like our centre ice position…if we could add another centre to give more depth there, we’d feel much more comfortable about our team.”

When it came to expectations for the team, which had missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs just one year after winning the Pacific Division, Rutherford gave a rather blunt response.

“I don’t think anybody knows. We haven’t played any games. I think that’s why we play the games. I don’t know exactly where we fit. I feel that we’re a very competitive team. I like what the coach has done, what Adam Foote’s done to prepare this team, the system he’s put in place. He’s simplified our system for our players. They bought into it. We have strong goaltending. We have strong defence. We have forwards that are capable of having good years. So, I really don’t know. I do feel strong that we have a good enough team to compete for a playoff spot.”