The Canucks President flirts with a tampering charge from the NHL!

The Vancouver Canucks held their season ending media availability today where team President Jim Rutherford dropped an absolute bomb on the team’s fanbase.

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When asked about captain Quinn Hughes and his future with the team, Rutherford made it clear that Hughes has informed the team that he’d like to play with his brothers, whether that’s in Vancouver with the Canucks or in New Jersey with the Devils… or potentially elsewhere.

Rutherford tip toed awfully close to the line of tampering by even mentioning Jack and Luke Hughes, but his said that ultimately Quinn’s future is up to Quinn himself and that the Canucks only have so much control over the situation.

Rutherford’s comments:

“He (Quinn) has said before that he’d like to play with his brothers. That would be partly out of our control, but in our control if we bring his brothers here. This franchise cannot afford to lose a guy like Quinn Hughes, and we will do everything we can to keep him here but at the end of the day it’ll be his decision.”

Devils fans have dreamed of a situation where the team could acquire the elder Hughes, but it’s always been sort of a pipe dream. Now you have Quinn’s boss saying that maybe it’s not a pipe dream and that, ultimately, it’s up to Quinn himself.

If that doesn’t get the rumor mill fired up, I don’t know what will!

I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Canucks slapped with a tampering charge from the NHL here.

After a season full of Canucks trade rumors are we about to enter an offseason of speculation surrounding their captain?

If I’m being completely honest, the entire Jim Rutherford and Patrick Allvin Era for the Canucks has been a bit exhausting. Brought in to give the team some stability after the Jim Benning regime, the Canucks have multiple high profile, off-ice developments under the new management team. Bruce Boudreau, Bo Horvat, JT Miller, Elias Pettersson… and now Quinn Hughes? Yeesh… that’s a lot of talent that the team has appeared to mishandle or at least misread.

As a hockey fan though… you’ve got to love stuff like this. Rutherford is an old school, gun slinging GM who’s not afraid to make a few headlines. It makes for a fascinating offseason if nothing else.