Jim Rutherford wasn’t yet in the fold when Francesco Aquilini met media last month to explain the decision to dismiss Jim Benning.
Aquilini was open to the idea of hiring both a president of hockey operations and a general manager instead of just a single GM, but sounded unsure about its practicality. He stressed that it would only work if a president and GM came together as a tandem, that it would need to be “the perfect fit and that’s not easy to find.”
The message in other words: Maybe you’ll see a president-GM combo, but don’t count on it.
Less than two months later, the Canucks have found that fit with Rutherford and Allvin, the latter of whom was officially introduced Wednesday morning as the club’s 12th general manager in team history.
Allvin was the pick after Rutherford interviewed five final candidates for the job, including Mathieu Darche, Scott Mellanby, Sean Burke and Derek Clancey.
Here are 10 thoughts on Allvin’s hiring, how the power dynamic will work between him and Rutherford, insight on what to expect from Allvin from industry contacts that know him best, and what comes next for the Canucks’ new front office.
1. The perfect fit
Allvin was effusive in his praise for his former and now current boss, Rutherford. In fact, it’s a big reason why Allvin joined the organization in the first place.
“I’ve got to be honest, the reason I’m here is excitement to work with Jim Rutherford again,” said Allvin. “I know how he emphasizes hiring good people and surrounding yourself with good people, that’s always something I’ve believed in. As I said about Daniel (Sedin) and Henrik (Sedin), I believe Jim has done a great job of building the staff and I’m looking forward to meeting them.
