Let’s get right at it: everyone has got so tied up in word choice that we’re missing the broad point of what the task in front of Vancouver Canucks management is.

Notionally, the task is trying to create a Stanley Cup contender. Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin did build a team that was on the way to being so. And then, as we know, it all went sideways.

Anyway, when people say “rebuild” what is it they’re really saying they want? ‘A team that can be a Stanley Cup contender’ is what they’re saying.

That’s the result they’re after. The course to get there does vary.

Rebuild also means ‘blow it up and start again with a pile of draft picks.’

Conventionally the idea of a rebuild means stripping it all down to the studs. Being bad for a few seasons. All in on prospects. As I laid out las

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