Forget a retool, the Canucks need a proper rebuild

Retool. It’s a word some franchises use to avoid signalling to their fans that years of missed playoffs and losses are on the way as part of a formal rebuild. In the Vancouver Canucks’ scenario, they stand firm to the idea that the organization is retooling not rebuilding, although their opportunities to retool will be drastically inhibited by a lack of cap and contract flexibility.

“We don’t want to be here for a rebuild and have to wait and all that stuff.” Those were the words of star defender Quinn Hughes following his team’s recent acquisition of Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for draft picks.

Leading up to the deadline, the Canucks jettisoned captain Bo Horvat, defenders Luke Schenn and Riley Stillman, and forward Curtis Lazar in exchange for young players and picks. They then acquired Hronek from the Red Wings using a first- and second-round pick.

On paper, the moves look fine until you examine the structural issues within the Canucks organization and how they’ll be limited in any “retool” effort moving forward.

Trade talk will continue for Miller and Boeser

After trading their leading goal scorer in Horvat, primarily because the organization did not have financial space to re-sign its star, the ongoing trade chatter surrounding J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser should signal that this will become a rebuild, not a retool. Miller’s massive contract extension doesn’t even kick in until next season, so the discussion of trading a player the franchise only recently tied itself to for seven years before that term even kicks in should show how dire this situation is.

At the moment, the Canucks will not be cap-compliant next season, so the trade of Miller, Boeser, Tyler Myers or a buyout for Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be necessary — with the buyout being a last course of action due to the long-term…