While discussing the Canucks' and Quinn Hughes' fantastic season so far, Boudreau said he was finally going to reveal a request he received from within the Canucks organization. Boudreau said someone wanted Hughes, who is very close to a point-per-game defenceman in his 325 games in the league, to be moved to centre. Besides his offensive abilities, Hughes finished last season at a plus-15, at his currently plus-32 for the 2023-24 season.
So, who within the Canucks' organization last season would have had the pull to give an order to Boudreau that he had to flatout refused to comply with? There's General Manager Patrik Allvin, and President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford who outranked him at the time. Both have been around hockey their entire lives in roles both on and off the ice, and an idea like this seems odd coming from one of them. There is also the current Chair/Owner of the Vancouver Canucks, Francesco Aquilini. It not really clear how involved he is in the day-to-day operations of the team. Either way, it would be tough to disagree with Boudreau's refusal to make the move.
