Canucks President Jim Rutherford talks about going "different directions" with captain Quinn Hughes

UPDATE: Canucks President Jim Rutherford has provided The Province reporter Patrick Johnson with some context following last night's trade report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman.

Some quotes from Rutherford:

“We have to make this team younger. We have to get this team going in a different direction from where we’ve been."

“The position of the team is that you would be willing to talk about the unrestricted free agents that would be talked about closer to the trade deadline.”

“This isn’t about just looking at trading everybody. There are a number of veterans who have played very well, so this isn’t about clumping everybody together. It’s more about accelerating the obvious (moves) that could be made two months down the road.”

“Use whatever word people like, whether it’s somewhat of a rebuild, not a full blown rebuild, but a rebuild-retool, whatever. It’s the position we’ve been in since the J.T. Miller trade.”

And here's the shocker concerning captain Quinn Hughes and his future with the team:

“I believe Quinn and his agent are aware of the direction we want to go. And they’re aware of the direction they want to go. Everybody wants to play on a winning team. But there’s different reasons why people make decisions."

How's that make you feel, Canucks fans?

Read below for our earlier report on last night's news.

According to a report last night from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Vancouver Canucks are willing to trade their veteran players in an effort to get younger.

Friedman reports, however, that this does not include captain Quinn Hughes "at this time".

“They’ve made it clear (trading him) is not their priority right now,” one executive reportedly told Friedman. (Filip Hronek is another player teams feel is unlikely to go anywhere.)

From Friedman:

What it does appear to mean is potential UFAs and potentially a player or two with term, but the Canucks have also indicated they do not desire to tear it right down to the studs.

This action is noteworthy because of Jim Rutherford’s track record. Historically, once he decides to act, he does not wait. His resume is full of moves consummated well before the trade deadline.

Friedman stops short of naming names... but I won't.

Here are the Canucks' pending UFAs:

Evander Kane

Teddy Blueger

Kiefer Sherwood

David Kampf

Linus Karlsson

Max Sasson

Derek Forbort

1 more year left after this year:

Filip Chytil

Drew O’Connor

Quinn Hughes

Tyler Myers

Their veteran players over 30:

Kane

Blueger

Kampf

Myers

Forbort

Kevin Lankinen

If I were to guess, I'd guess that Conor Garland and Jake DeBrusk are also on the trade block, despite being on the younger side of 30 and being signed long-term. You have to imagine that Thatcher Demko could be dangled via trade also.

I think the likes of Kiefer Sherwood, Evander Kane and Teddy Blueger are as good as gone by the trade deadline.

Thoughts, Canucks fans?

If the team does in fact pull the trigger on a Hughes trade it will be a franchise-altering move that will be talked about for generations to come. Hughes is not only the greatest defenseman in Canucks history, he might be the best, most skilled player to ever wear a Canucks jersey. He's that good and this team has mostly squandered his career to date. If/when the day comes that he's sent packing, it'll be a dark day in this team's history.