The Canucks Are No Longer The Biggest Dumpster Fire in The NHL

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This April The Athletic revealed a poll completed by 22 anonymous NHL agents on the “What Is The Worst Run Franchise In The NHL”. Out of 22 agents, seven voted Canucks, four voted for the Rangers, while eight other teams also received votes.

With the Jim Rutherford era officially in the rearview mirror and management finally embracing a full commitment rebuild, the off-ice circus at Rogers Arena has gone quiet. The drama and distractions that once gave Vancouver the reputation as the biggest dumpster fire has slowly gone, just in time to see the smoke rising over Detroit.

It wasn’t long ago that the Wings held the longest active playoff streak that spanned from 1991-2016. This season, the Wings are expected to miss the playoffs for a league leading eleventh straight season. And while in recent years the team’s poor on-ice play has been the main headache for fans, a toxic summer of off-ice turmoil has fans actively encouraging each other to not purchase tickets, in an attempt to boycott majority owner Chris Ilitch.

When Steve Yzerman took over as general manager seven seasons ago, Hockeytown  bought into the patience required for the so-called “YzerPlan.” However after failing to construct a playoff caliber team, the fanbase weren’t the only ones becoming impatient but captain Dylan Larkin as well. In June, the Michigan native stunned the hockey world by requesting a trade out of his hometown team. Just weeks later, Yzerman abruptly stepped down as GM. Owner Chris Ilitch hired an executive search firm to replace him, yet it’s early October, and Detroit is still operating without a permanent general manager, leaning instead on an interim GM. To add to the mess, the absence of no GM has left RFA blue-liner Simon Edvinsson without a contract. Unable to play, Simon is training at his home town in Sweden, and has made it known to the team that he prefers to be traded. As the dumpster fire continues to grow, Red Wings fans are retaliating directly against Chris Ilitch with a ruthless ticket boycott. The result? Little Caesars Arena, which is home to some of the most passionate fan bases in the NHL, sits at a league worst 90% capacity through its first three home games. It’s gotten so bad that fans struggled to hold up the team’s flag during anthems on before their second home game.

 

When an anonymous agent spoke about the Canucks in April to The Athletic they said,. “It just seems there’s a lot of soap opera stuff going on around there. I just think management needs to do a better job of keeping things in-house.” But as a new season dawns, the noise around the Canucks has hushed under a committed rebuild. Meanwhile, with a captain demanding an exit, an empty GM chair, a star defenceman training in Europe, and fans boycotting home games, Detroit is living out that exact same quote line for line. Congratulations Canucks fans, Hockeytown officially holds the dumpster fire crown.