Vancouver Canucks president Jim Rutherford knows his club is not in a good spot, and he knows it all comes back to him.
In his latest press conference, Rutherford, now four seasons into the job, acknowledges that the flames are starting to intensify. He's on thin ice.
"I don't think about it a lot, so I guess I'm not thinking about leaving town," Rutherford was quoted as saying by Noah Strang of Vancouver Daily Hive. "I'm still here for the same reasons, and I don't feel comfortable with the job that I've done. . . We have a lot of work to do."
Rutherford, 76, has lost his head coach of choice despite making a contract offer few other NHL teams would dare to match. He's acknowledged that his franchise player and captain, Quinn Hughes, has a burning desire to play with younger brothers Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes and cannot force him to stay beyond 2027.
Playing hardball in contract negotiations has all but forced Brock Boeser away from the Canucks and onto the free agent market, and Rutherford's bid to sign top defence prospect Tom Willander has been going nowhere fast.
Rutherford, a Hockey Hall of Famer and former NHL General Manager of the Year, is going to need to be at his best to have any chance of turning the Canucks, and the sentiment around them, back around.
But does Rutherford, at 76 years old, still have his fastball? That much remains to be seen, and it will be tested over the coming weeks and months with the 2025 offseason looming very large.