Jim Rutherford Addresses Bad Contracts, But Stands Behind One of the Worst

Vancouver Canucks president Jim Rutherford held a thorough press conference on Monday in which he - along with two members of the team's medical staff - addressed Tanner Pearson's injury and any potential mishaps therein.

He also admitted the difficulty of his team's position. When asked if Rutherford planned to continue pushing for the playoffs or if he'd opt for the tanking route, Rutherford offered a light-hearted, 'we are tanking, have you looked at the standings?'

Further, he addressed the fact that the team needs to move contracts but will be hard pressed to do so. Vancouver has several albatross contracts to clear out and Rutherford acknowledges that. But when asked about - arguably - the team's worst contract moving forward, he doubled down.

If you have to justify a contract's value with the fact that the salary cap might go up a few million dollars, it's probably a bad deal for your hockey club.

One season ticket holder submitted a scathing review of the state of the team, saying that the team basically has no integrity. Rutherford accepted the fan's opinion but disagreed with them.

Since signing his seven-year, $56 million contract, the almost 30-year old has 38 points in 43 games, but he has also fielded subpar defensive metrics for years now. At times, he and his teammates have verbally clashed on the ice and has one of the worst penalty differentials in the NHL.

Vancouver likely made a mistake signing Miller to that contract and set their club back in the process. Not to say Miller is a bad player; he isn't. That said, the fit was never right, and the Canucks are not in a position to waste money.

Standing behind this contract is, albeit expected, but to most reasonable folks...that's a bad contract.

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