The Vancouver Canucks sit second last in the NHL and will miss the playoffs for a third time in the last four years this season.

Tiger Williams, who played with the Canucks for five seasons in the early 1980s, joined TSN Radio 1040 Vancouver on Friday and didn't pull any punches when it came to his views on current President of Hockey Operations Trevor Linden.

"You know, Linden was loved by all the fans in the Lower Mainland and in British Columbia, but he’s the worst guy you could have running the Vancouver Canucks,” Williams told TSN Radio. “He’s had no experience, and to throw him into that job that was a bad decision by the ownership group and it’s still a bad decision. If the ownership group, if they don’t know what they’re doing either, they’re hiring the wrong people, then you’ve really got an issue. And I think they’ve really got an issue.

"They've got a great coach, they've got great assistant coaches, they got good scouts, but their leadership at the top is zero."

Linden played 16 seasons with the Canucks and was named the President of Hockey Operations in April of 2014. Williams said the only thing that matters is winning and that means making tough decisions on a daily basis.

"The most important thing is you have to make tough decisions every friggen day. And this is not about being a nice guy and worrying about your season ticket holders and signing guys for stupid reasons other than winning. The sport is about winning and that's all it's about," Williams said.

Despite his lack of support for Linden, Williams has full faith in head coach Willie Desjardins and doesn't think they should make a change behind the bench.

"Willie has been a winner. Look at his resume. He's been a winner his whole life no matter where he is, but you only have so many horses in the barn...they just don't have the horses," said Williams. "I think they've waited too long for some players they could've moved earlier in their careers."

Williams also gave his opinion on the team's ownership over the years.

"And another thing about Vancouver. How many owners have we had in Vancouver? We've had more owners over the years in Vancouver than most teams have pucks," Williams said.

As of Friday afternoon, the Canucks have a 12.1 per cent chance of winning the 2017 Draft Lottery and picking first in this summer's draft.

Williams, 63, scored 83 goals and added 82 assists over 312 career games with the Canucks.