Canucks GM Jim Rutherford reveals the one condition under which he’d trade Pettersson, Willander, and other key players

The Vancouver Canucks are once again struggling to win games after missing the playoffs in 2025. They sit at 8-9-2 and hold seventh place in the Pacific Division. Their performance is identical to last season, in which they were 10-6-3 after the first 19 games.

Clearly, the Canucks are having another inconsistent season, but the team is not willing to trade its key young players without a major return. Team president Jim Rutherford explained his position in an interview with Sportsnet on Friday.

Rutherford was asked if he would consider moving Elias N. Pettersson, Tom Willander, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, or Braeden Cootes. Rutherford said it is not part of the plan and that the team wants to keep its young core together.

"That is not in the plan," Rutherford said. "... The fact of the matter is, we're at a point where our amateur scouts and development staff under Patrik have done a good job in building up a good group of young players, and it would take something extreme for us to start cutting into that."

Rutherford said the only situation where a trade could happen is if the return is a player aged 25 or younger.

"Now, I'm not saying we wouldn't trade one of these players," Rutherford said. "But if we did, it would be for somebody that's 25 years or younger. Even our core, older guys are still in their 20s; we're still a relatively young team. It's not like we're an aging team that’s got nowhere to go."

Each of the four players is important to Vancouver’s long-term plans. Willander (11th overall pick in 2023) is 20 and showing good improvement on defense. Pettersson, 21, has grown into a more reliable defender. Lekkerimaki, 21, was the 15th overall pick in 2022 and is developing in the AHL after recovering from injury. Cootes (15th overall pick in 2025), 18, is performing well in the WHL and remains a top forward prospect.

The Canucks have struggled with consistency, scoring 2.84 goals per game but allowing 3.53. Despite these issues, Vancouver believes its young core is the key to improvement.

Canucks lost in overtime to the Hurricanes

The Vancouver Canucks lost 4-3 in overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes in a tight game on Friday. Coach Adam Foote said Carolina was fast and forechecked really hard.

"They’re fast, they forecheck really hard," Foote said, via NHL. "We’re going to learn a lot from a game like that. It’s the closest you’ll see to a playoff game that we’ve had so far.”

Max Sasson, Elias Pettersson, and Conor Garland scored for Vancouver. Kevin Lankinen made 34 saves and kept the team in it. The Canucks pushed hard but could not stop Sebastian Aho’s winner in overtime.