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.

As per the Vancouver Sun/Canwest News Services:

“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.