The NHL Smacks Vancouver Canucks Owner Francesco Aquilini with Some Brutal News

The Athletic released their annual NHL team owner rankings on Tuesday and for Vancouver's Francesco Aquilini, it's not looking good.

Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini has been part of the team's ownership since 2004 when he bought a 50% stake, before buying the remaining 50% two years later.

Aquilini isn't very active on social media, nor does he give interviews often, so sometimes it's unclear what his thoughts are on the current state of the Vancouver Canucks organization, but in a recent article on The Athletic, the owner has been given a very low ranking.

The Athletic released NHL team owner rankings for 2025

On Thursday, James Mirtle of The Athletic shared NHL team owner rankings for 2025, which included some feedback from fans of each of the league's 32 franchises.

In Mirtle's article, Vancouver Canucks owner Francesco Acquilini comes in at 31st with a D+ grade and an overall rating of 2.95 by fans and 2.9 by The Athletic, 0.1 lower than Murray Edwards of the Calgary Flames, who landed in 30th.

Two categories that stand out the most are the treatment of the fan base, which comes in at 31st and organization stability, which has been ranked 30th of the 32 teams.

One fan believes that Aquilini is a good owner for the Vancouver Canucks, when the team is winning, however they believe he needs to stop meddling in hockey operations when the team is retooling and allow whoever the GM is, Patrik Allvin currently, to do their job.

'He's a fine owner when the team is winning but needs to stop meddling and let his GMs work when the team is rebuilding. Or at least let them rebuild instead of retool.' the fan said to James Mirtle.

Another fan said that his perspective on Francesco Aquilini would be a lot different if he didn't bring in Jim Benning and keep him around for eight seasons, of which the Canucks made the playoffs twice and won just two rounds.

'If I could erase the eight years of Benning hell that Aquilini directly caused, this would be a very different survey, as (former GM) Mike Gillis took us to the finals and (new president) Jim Rutherford is killing it. But alas, those scars run too deep.' another fan said to Mirtle.

The only team ranked lower than the Vancouver Canucks was the Buffalo Sabres, who haven't made the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011 and their fan base isn't too pleased with owner Terry Pegula, some going as far as calling his tenure 'a disaster.'

Source: James Mirtle/The Athletic
NHL owner rankings: Grading every team, from Tampa Bay to Buffalo