It didn’t take long for the Vancouver Canucks to find a replacement for recently deposed general manager Dave Nonis.
Various reports on Tuesday night claim the Canucks will call a news conference on Wednesday where it’s expected they’ll announce the hiring of player agent Mike Gillis as their new general manager.
Team owner Francesco Aquilini declined to comment on Tuesday afternoon when questioned by reporters.
“Gillis, 49, is a former NHL player with the Boston Bruins and former Colorado Rockies. He has never worked in management but has represented players since 1991.
His first client was former Canuck Geoff Courtnall and he currently represents Canuck captain Markus Naslund.”
Hmmmm, represents Naslund, eh? Who’s eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer, eh?
Of course, Gillis cannot represent Naslund once he’s officially hired as Canucks GM, but one has to wonder if retaining his soon-to-be former client might be one of his priorities this summer, perhaps by making some moves to bring in more offensive depth.
You can bet that’ll be among the first questions he’s asked at the press conference.
This could be a very interesting summer in Vancouver.
Is this a joke? They fired a guy who set the team in the right direction for... oooooo the dude who handled Geoff Cournall and Naslund? I'm really shaking in my boots now. Looks like Edmonton has one less team to worry about.
I'm going to appologize for being in a bad mood, this comes after watching the Sharks beat up the flames....I don't see this as a great move for the nucks, but there had to be change. In all honesty, I think too many people give Nonis too much credit. "he built a great team"????? He landed Luongo....a great player, but I'm pretty sure you don't have to be a genius for making that trade, thats like picking up Ovechkin for Cleary!!!! He made one good trade that a deaf mute chimp could have made and lucked out by getting on of the worlds best goalies, and other then that did nothing really. Change had to be made, but I'm not too sure this is going to be the right change. Now does this mean Gillis is going to make a few big trades to make a name for himself...lets hope so!
As much as I was of the opinion that Nonis was fired too early, lets give Gillis a chance. Player agents have the ability to guage talent, Pierre Lacroix in Colorado is a perfect example. No experience prior to landing a GM job yet turned the Nordiques/Avs into a Cup contender/champion.
There was talk about another player-agent, Pat Brisson going the same route. These guys know their hockey! Don't dismiss Gillis too soon, unless ownership interferes of course!
Last edited by Cup_Junkie on April 22nd at 11:05 PM.
I believe Washington GM George McPhee is also a former player agent. I know Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi and Anaheim GM Brian Burke are former player agents as well.
Mike Gillis may turn out to be a good hire. But what does Canucks Assistant GM Steve Tambellini have to do to get a chance to be an NHL GM?
Last edited by upstatedownstate on April 24th at 8:37 PM.
I for one think Nonnis was fired WAY too early, of course by someone that doubtfully has a clue what they are doing. It's easy to say of the Luongo trade that anyone would have made it. Guess what, they didn't, there were 27 other teams (NJ wouldn't have had interest) that didn't pull that trade off.
And Pierre Lacroix, in hindsight I'm not sure he was so great. I mean he was handed a team that had youngsters Sakic, Sundin, Ricci and an even young Forsberg for centermen. Young talented forwards in Owen Nolan, Valeri Kamensky, Martin Rucinsky, Andrei Kovalenko, Scott Young. Defensemen Steve Duchesne, Adam Foote and goalies Ron Hextall, Stephane Fiset and up and coming Jocelyn Thibault.
Sure he made one of the greatest (or worst) trades in history, but that did kind of fall into his lap. How much did it have to do with his personal relationship with Roy (he had been Ron's agent)?
He made some good trades to get defencemen. Blake and Bourque. The Owen Nolan for Sandis Ozolinsh was a good trade, but to this day I absolutely HATE the Sundin trade. 1 injury, lock-out shortened season from Clark, who was then traded in a 3 way trade for Claude Lemieux. (Steve Thomas to the Devils.) Trades like Robyn Regehr for renting Theoren Fleury and even Mark Parrish for Tom Fitzgerald decimated the farm. Bringing in his son and disrupting team chemistry.
I won't blame him for the bonuses he gave Sakic and Blake, which lead to them letting both Foote and Forsberg go.
Not saying he was the worst GM ever, but he inherited a lot, won two Cups, and drafted Kevin Grimes in
Don't hang your head too long. It was probably the most entertaining series of the First Round and your boys made a strong showing against one of the best teams in the Western Conference. If San Jose goes on to win the Cup, the mental toughness they gained from this Flames series will be a huge contributing factor.
Peter Gillis as Vancouver GM
Well, Aquilini said he wanted someone with experience. He never did specify which field...
My advice to Gillis is "Don't just do something: sit there!" There will be a temptation to make a statement, but I don't think Vancouver is in such dire straits that a complete change of direction is necessary.
This will be an important draft for Vancouver. With the 10th overall pick they should be able to find a point producer, one who might even be able to step in immediately, but no doubt a year or two down the road.
We'll have a pretty good idea of Gillis' marching orders are "Playoffs or Bust" if the Canucks decide to flip that pick for players.
First off, the Flames played a great series, and have nothing to be ashamed of. San Jose had to win period. They have been underachieving and have all of the pressure to prove that they are better team than most give them credit for. At least Ottawa made it to the cup. San Jose has only been to the conference finals once, and who was it who took them out? Oh yeah the team fromt he red mile. LOL
As for Nonis, its a shame the ownership did not stand by him. I think he was heading on the right path, but as we have all diascussed, missing the playoffs is a career killer. And let's see how Gillis will do.
This maybe a good move, since there are many tricky negotiations coming up with a tight cap. Maybe you want someone with experiance from the other side of the table to help move things along. Look what Jeffery Moorad has done in Phoenix with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He is rebuilt thme into a contender and fun organization in a short time. Maybe Gillis can do something similar.
Another GM topic. When I was listening to the XM Hockey stations this morning, the hosts (based in Toronto) seem to think this is a good time for Calgary to re-evaluate their GM situation. Mr. Spector have you hard any garbage talk like that and is Daryl Sutter really the reason for the Flames not getting back to the cup?
AlamoSharkie:
For heaven's sake, don't bring up the possibility that Darryl "The Genius" Sutter might suffer the ax while OntarioFlamesFan remains in such a delicate state. That could push him right over the edge!
In all seriousness, such idle talk on The War Room is utter nonsense. There are few guys in the business more secure than Sutter, and Calgary ownership would be fools to sack him.
That said, I DO think there should be a serious conversation about the continued employment of Mike Keenan. I will admit I wasn't on-board with his hiring at the start and I do have a bias; I am not part of the Keenan cult and I think he's more destructive than constructive. But my personal bias aside, it should be clear to everybody that the Flames weren't firing on all cylinders during the regular season. With their talent, that's a team that SHOULD have done better in the 82-game campaign. Instead, they almost missed the playoffs.
The Flames are a team with the talent to knock off the Sharks (and almost did). Instead of exhibiting a killer instinct and a knock-out punch, though, they had their star player fighting with the coaching staff and the head coach pulling his all-star goalie midway through Game 7 with the outcome still very much in doubt.
I don't think another year of Mike Keenan behind the Calgary bench brings a better result. In fact, I think it will only cause more damage. I assert here today that if Mike Keenan remains coach of the Calgary Flames next season, the dressing room will split apart and the team will miss the playoffs.
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on April 23rd at 2:02 PM.
I have to share Kevin Lowe's reaction to the hiring of Mike Gillis. I didn't remember that amongst the many clients represented by Mr. Gillis was a certain... Michael Nylander! (Recall that heartbreaking tale of last July, Kevin waiting by the fax for a signed contract to be returned on the done deal, only to learn later in the day Nylander had jilted him for the Washington Capitals?)
The TSN article reports:
"The memories of that experience are still very vivid for Lowe, who chose his words carefully when asked to comment on the Canucks new GM. 'We haven't done many deals with Vancouver, although Dave Nonis and I had many conversations,' Lowe noted. 'I suspect we won't be doing any [deals] in the future.'
Lowe says the Nylander debacle could have been avoided by a simple phone call at the time acknowledging the player had changed his mind and the process was out of Gillis's control. According to Lowe, Gillis acted 'unprofessionally' and 'unethically,' adding he likely won't be able to deal with the Canucks new manager because of his lack of trust. 'A lot of deals are done based on honesty and trust. He (Gillis) is going to be in tough earning trust. To orchestrate a trade, you have to have that trust going in.'"
So, Edmonton fans, we can't trade with Buffalo. We can't trade with Anaheim. We can't trade with Vancouver. If it keeps going this way, Calgary will be the Oilers' only trading partner!
My apologies to OntarioFlamesFan. Its all of the years rooting for the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco Giants that have made me inconsiderate of others.
Based on what Matt shared above, isn't it funny how sticking it to one GM may come back to haunt you later?
Yep, it all comes back to bite you on the bum in the end. Moral of the story is treat people right.
And, in the interest of fairness, I should note that Brian Burke's beef with Kevin Lowe is that the Oilers didn't call Burke in advance to let him know they were going to act as pirates plundering Penner.
Hypocracy on the part of Lowe for objecting to the lack of professional courtesy by Gillis, and then arguably neglecting to provide the same to Brian Burke a couple of weeks later?
Given Burke's position last year, I don't know how being told in advance he was going to be violated would provide a greater degree of comfort. There wasn't much he could have done in the period prior to the RFA offer being tendered that he couldn't have done the following week where he had the opportunity to match.
The Ducks put themselves in a tight spot budget last year and SOMEBODY was going to take advantage. The Oilers had the need, the cap room and the moxie. It will be interesting to see if anyone makes a run at Joni Pitkanen.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
