Canucks not ready to give Boudreau contract extension despite turnaround

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Canucks would like to see Bruce Boudreau coach them a full season before discussing a contract extension, Jim Rutherford said Tuesday.

Although, the Canucks (40-30-12) missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons, they went 32-15-10 under Boudreau after Travis Green was fired on Dec. 5 following an 8-15-2 start. Boudreau's contract includes a team option for next season, as well as an option for the coach to walk away, according to Sportsnet.
Rutherford, the Canucks president of hockey operations, said each has until June 1 to decide.
"He knows we want him back. He was told that before the season was over, and knows our position," Rutherford said Tuesday. "He did a terrific job, but he didn't coach a whole season and we would like to see him back and work with him on a few things.
"He can take whatever time he wants. The longer you leave things, these type of things start to fester a bit because then they become more emotional. But we have to make sure in our job that we don't let it become emotional, and for the wrong reasons it gets off the tracks."
Rutherford was hired four days after Green and general manager Jim Benning were fired, serving as GM until Patrik Allvin was hired on Jan. 26. Neither Rutherford nor Allvin was in place when Boudreau was hired by owner Francesco Aquilini, but Boudreau expressed his desire to return Monday.
"I told Patrick and Jim I wanted to coach here next year," Boudreau said. "We're just talking right now and I'm sure hopefully things get done, but I think they want me back and I know I want to be back, so I think it should work out."
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Under Boudreau, the Canucks power play improved from 22nd in the NHL (17.4 percent) prior to the coaching change to second in the League (26.7 percent), and the penalty kill went from last (64.6 percent) to 11th (80.5 percent). Their goals per game also went from 27th (2.36) to 12th (3.28), and their goals against improved from 23rd (3.16 goals per game) to fifth (2.67).
Rutherford said Vancouver needs to become less reliant on goalie Thatcher Demko, singling out defensive-zone breakouts as one key area for improvement. Demko went 33-22-7 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage in 64 games (61 starts) this season.
"Probably one of the worst in the League," Rutherford said. "If you want to really break it down and look at the future, we'd like to see our team play a more structured game and not depend on our goalie as much. But we certainly feel there's enough good players here to continue to build in the next year or two towards getting to be a consistent playoff team and a contender."
Boudreau said he was excited about Vancouver's young core, including center Elias Pettersson, who had 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his first 25 games under Green but 56 points (28 goals, 28 assists) in 55 games after Boudreau took over. Pettersson was also added to the penalty kill.
"The excitement is you look at most of the guys are really young and their future is brighter," Boudreau said. "If you look at all the great teams, look at (the Tampa Bay Lightning) for instance; they got the best goalie (Andrei Vasilevskiy), they had the best defenseman (Victor Hedman) and they had some of the best forwards (Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov).
"You look at the Vancouver Canucks, they've got a great goalie, they've got one of the best defenseman (Quinn Hughes), they've got three great centermen (Pettersson, Bo Horvat, J.T. Miller). Not many teams have that and with a couple little tweaks here and there, I think this team can be very, very dangerous next year."
Despite Boudreau's performance, Rutherford pointed to his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2014-21) and his decision to not extend the contract of coach Mike Sullivan immediately after they won the Stanley Cup in consecutive seasons (2016, 2017) as evidence this was the prudent way to proceed.
"I firmly believe that this is the right thing to do," Rutherford said. "In our business, you have to be cautious with your decisions and you have to do them for the right reasons, and if you don't you're going to get yourself in a position someday where you are paying three and four coaches in the same year. "Our talks with [Boudreau] have been very positive.
"He's well aware that we appreciate and respect the job he's done. I explained to him why we're doing it the way we're doing it and why we want him back, but also with the understanding that, you know, continue to do the job you're doing, it doesn't mean this is your last year in Vancouver."