Elliotte Friedman puts Ryan Johnson firmly in the Canucks GM picture as Vancouver faces a major test

Johnson makes sense on paper. Jim Rutherford said Friday that the next GM will make all hockey decisions, and he called Abbotsford boss Ryan Johnson a strong candidate.

Vancouver just fired Patrik Allvin after a 25-49-8 season, good for 58 points and last place in the NHL. This is not a cosmetic search.

Johnson's case is easy to sell. He built Abbotsford into a Calder Cup champion and already sits inside the building's power structure.

Fans are right to see Sam Ventura as the eyebrow-raiser here.

Ventura is Buffalo's vice president of hockey strategy and research, and he came out of the Pittsburgh model Rutherford knows well. If Friedman is tossing that name around, Vancouver may be weighing structure, not just familiarity.

Johnson would give the Canucks a development-first voice, which fits a roster now built around younger pieces like Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren and Zeev Buium after the Quinn Hughes deal.

Ventura would point the other way, toward process, data and harder roster calls.

Rutherford also said there will be no shortcuts, and that line should drive every interview. Vancouver does not need the smoothest talker. It needs the clearest builder.

That is why Johnson being a serious contender lands, but Ventura being mentioned hits harder.

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