from Rory Boylen of Sportsnet,

It’s a term the Canucks have shied away from the past two playoff-less seasons. These days, “rebuild” goes hand-in-hand with “tanking,” which is something the Canucks don’t believe they need to do for their fortunes to turn around. It’s not an option as the Sedin twins come to the end of their careers.

“I don’t know how I walk into the room and tell these guys, ‘Strip it down.’ I’m not sure it’s fair to these guys. There’s different circumstances, be it in Toronto or Carolina or Vancouver, that require different routes. It’s not perfect, but I’m encouraged by the young players we’ve introduced, and we’ve got some young prospects,” Linden told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox in a wide-ranging interview from December 2016.

But after finishing as one of the NHL’s bottom three teams for the second year in a row, leading to the hiring of rookie NHL head coach Travis Green this week, Linden finally admitted this is, indeed, a rebuild.

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