Elliott Friedman

I think this whole thing about the Predators is weird, but I think the Canucks look at it like we made a deal that he was staying.

That's it.

And it's like when Kyle Dubas, when Colorado offered the job to Dubas and the Leafs said no, Mike Babcock found out after that story came out and he said to Brandon Shanahan, he said, you have to make him the next GM.

That's the way this works.

And I don't necessarily think they did it because Babcock said that, but Babcock made the position perfectly clear and a lot of people agree with that.

So I think if it was up to Rutherford, he would promote Ryan Johnson.

And, you know, I mentioned the name Sam Ventura.

That's another guy that Rutherford knows is young and has been through a rebuild.

And I have heard that the Canucks are going to value people who've kind of been through there because they want to know what to expect and how long it takes.

I just don't know that ownership is going to be ready for this.

I think ownership likes familiarity.

And if you take a look at a lot of these searches, it's a lot of new.

And it's leading to a lot of grumbling out there, but it's a lot of new.

I just want to see, like, I'm sure ownership knows Ryan Johnson a bit, but they don't know Ventura.

From outside...

The biggest question about Vancouver is, is ownership ready to take that kind of leap?

Or will they want a more familiar person?