Linden: Canucks' management has 'complete autonomy' from ownership

Rather than waiting on the question, Trevor Linden prefaced his discourse Friday at the Vancouver Canucks' ill-timed Town Hall, reiterating that the decisions made by Jim Benning and his staff are not being influenced by higher-ups.

"We had complete autonomy from ownership to make the decisions we needed to make," Linden said, via the team's official Twitter account.

They delved further into the topic of failing to yield a return for pending unrestricted free agents still on the Canucks' roster. Benning claimed defenseman Dan Hamhuis had just one team he would be willing to waive his no-movement clause to join, and they didn't receive a single offer on former 30-goal man Radim Vrbata.

Of course, effort isn't enough to appease the club's frustrated fan base or media members who spin the narrative in Vancouver and have suspected - or continue to suspect - that owner Francesco Aquilini is preventing hockey operations from committing to a firm direction.