Although the rift between Vancouver Canucks stars Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller is well in the rearview mirror - the latter was traded nearly a month ago on Jan. 31 - the impact of it has not gone unnoticed, especially amongst Canucks alumni.
Pavel Bure, a Hockey Hall of Famer and owner of the Canucks' single-season goal record, among other things, was not particularly pleased with his old club's handling of the differences between the two players.
“If you’ve got a talented player who doesn’t fit into the team, that’s a failure of management,” Bure told RG in a recent interview. “If it gets to the point where you have to trade him, something has already gone wrong.”
Bure's comments align with some of our sentiments on the ordeal, which were published only days and weeks after the issue went viral in the public scope. If the Canucks knew about this issue, how could they have taken so long to address it, to the point where they were nearly out of the playoff picture?
Or, on the other hand, if they did not know about the issue until the start of this season, how could it have taken so long? Even former Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau knew of some kind of problem, so if the Canucks want to use the latter as an excuse, it won't fly. Not for Bure, anyway.
This instance of Bure calling out the Canucks is not the first time a former Canucks player has come forth publicly to preach accountability, either. Former Canucks forward Brad Richardson, a 17-year NHL vet, advised Miller of a potential issue with Pettersson four seasons ago back in 2021-22. Miller did not heed Richardson's warnings, evidently, and the Canucks either did not act on it or did not know about it at the time.
Now, Canucks management is losing the benefit of the doubt amongst former players and franchise legends, too.