Canucks' timeline as struggles reach season’s midway point

It appeared the Vancouver Canucks were on the upswing again as a franchise after they won their first postseason series in nine years during the 2020 Qualifying Round by defeating the Minnesota Wild. They then beat the defending Stanley Cup champions St. Louis Blues in six games in the first round, before a second-round exit in seven games at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Canucks missed the postseason in 2021 after a disastrous season in the all-Canadian North Division that included suffering the worst COVID outbreak of any North American pro sports team at the time.

Looking to start anew for the 2021-22 campaign, the Canucks stumbled out to an 8-15-2 record that led to a slew of changes on the management side on Dec. 5, 2021, including the firings of general manager Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green.

Fast forward more than a year later and the Canucks are still struggling mightily. As of Jan. 13, they are sixth in the Pacific Division with 37 points, 10 points behind the Edmonton Oilers for fifth as the team sits 26th in the NHL.

Here is a timeline of how the franchise has fared since the Benning era ended.

Dec. 5, 2021 - General manager Jim Benning, head coach Travis Green, assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner, and assistant general manager John Weisbrod are all fired. The Canucks qualified for the playoffs two out of eight seasons Benning was in charge.

That same day, Bruce Boudreau was hired as the 20th head coach in franchise history. Under Boudreau, the team went 32-15-10 the rest of the season, finishing five points out of a playoff spot.

Dec 9, 2021 - Jim Rutherford was named president of hockey operations and interim general manager. The 73-year-old has won three Stanley Cups as GM, once with the Carolina Hurricanes (2006) and twice with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016, 2017). He resigned as Penguins GM for personal reasons in January 2021.

Jan. 26, 2022 – Patrik Allvin is hired as the 12th general manager in Canucks history. He worked for the Penguins for 16 years in a variety of roles, including European scout, director of amateur scouting, as well as assistant general manager and interim GM after Rutherford’s departure. He won three Stanley Cups (2009, 2016 and 2017) in his time in Pittsburgh. He is the first Swedish GM in the NHL.

Oct. 12 -24, 2022 – The team opens the 2022-23 season with a franchise-record seven-game losing streak. They are the first team in NHL history to lose four straight games after holding a multi-goal lead in each contest.

Nov. 7-8, 2022 - Rutherford criticizes the team's poor play, system and the players' work ethic in an interview, saying  “I didn’t like our training camp. And we continued into the early part of the season the same way as our training camp was.”

Boudreau responded the next day by defending the players.

“We play as hard as we can, we play as well as we can and lay it all out on the line every night,” he said. “It is what it is. I try to keep the noise out of the room as much as I can.

“I’m not in the players’ minds, but if we take the positive effect, it angers them to show that everybody is wrong. This is my 47th year in the business and I’ve seen a lot of things. It’s another thing added to the book that I will never write.

“I think every person wants to prove people wrong when they say things. I’m a pretty competitive guy at heart and maybe that’s the message — prove that it’s not a true statement.”

Dec. 7, 2022 – Ben Hankinson, Brock Boeser’s agent, said he has spoken to more than six teams as he explores a trade for the winger. Boeser’s contract has two more years on it after this with a $6.65 million average annual value. A Calder Trophy finalist in 2018, the possibility of a trade comes just months after the Canucks inked him to a three-year extension.

Dec. 13, 2022 – Captain Bo Horvat, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, says he will not discuss his future until after the conclusion of the season. Drafted ninth overall by the Canucks at the 2013 NHL Draft, he leads the team in goals this season with 29 and his 46 points are second only to Elias Pettersson’s 50.

Jan. 12, 2023 – Forward Tanner Pearson is ruled for the rest of the season after undergoing a third hand surgery. He has been sidelined with the injury since Nov. 9 and experienced a setback in his recovery. Defenceman Quinn Hughes said the injury “wasn’t handled properly.”

“I feel bad for him. I mean, it wasn’t handled properly, and you know, it’s not really a good situation he’s got there and hopefully he’s going to be alright,” Hughes said.