The Vancouver Canucks, mired in a troubled season that reached a low point of a fan throwing a team jersey onto the ice, decided they needed to make changes.
How those changes will look in practice remains an open-ended question, though — even after Francesco Aquilini, the team’s owner, addressed the front-office revamp on Monday.
Asked about the team’s approach to the hiring process to fill out its front-office roles, Aquilini said “everything is on the table,” leaving the door open to not just a wide-ranging general manager search, but the possibility of installing a team president, too.
Aquilini adopted a more decisive tone when weighing in on what the club’s next general manager will be tasked with, emphasizing that whoever assumed the responsibility would not only be tasked with decision-making, but have autonomy in doing so, too.
“The general manager is really, ultimately responsible for the direction of this team,” Aquilini said. “He picks the players, he picks the coaches, he sets the tone. Whether there should be more people? That’s a decision the general manager makes.
“…I’m there to support them. Whatever they need, I give them the support. This question about influence, this has been going on a number of years, and I’d just like to put it to rest. Owners, own. Managers, manage. Coaches, coach. Players, play.”
Stan Smyl, who is currently serving as the team’s interim general manger, echoed the sentiment that each person within the organization had an obligation to control what they could control to improve the team’s trajectory.
“What happens when you get to this point is your start finger pointing,” Smyl said. “The only people that are going to make any difference are the players in the dressing room and the direction set by the organization.”
The Canucks are 8-15-2 on the season, last in the Pacific Division.
