Coulda, woulda, shoulda

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Sep 162008
 

I missed this tidbit from Ed Willes (Vancouver Province) yesterday:

Canucks GM Mike Gillis has said he isn’t finished building his team and, with $10 million in cap space, he has the freedom to move in a couple of different directions. But it will also be interesting to compare what Gillis does with the plan Dave Nonis had laid out before he was fired.

Nonis told Canucks’ ownership he would add three forwards and let Markus Naslund go through free agency. Swedish free agent Fabian Brunnstrom was committed to signing with the Canucks. Nonis was also going to trade the Canucks’ first-round draft pick this summer, which probably would have landed the Kings’ Mike Cammalleri. And he was going to move a defenceman, likely Kevin Bieksa, and/or prospects for another proven scorer. Hello, Olli Jokinen.

As we know, Mike Gillis did this instead:

Gillis, for his part, has improved the Canucks’ fourth line and added Pavol Demitra and Steve Bernier while losing Naslund and Brendan Morrison. As mentioned, he said he isn’t finished but the Canucks with Brunnstrom, Cammalleri and another top-six forward would be causing a lot more excitement in this market than their current lineup.

The funny thing about Willes’ piece is that he compared what Nonis would have done against what Gillis actually did. Gillis also planned to get Mats Sundin so put it this way – a lineup with the Sedins and Bernier on one line and Mats Sundin and Demitra on another would be causing, IMHO, more excitement than Jokinen, Cammalleri and Brunnstom. Plus, the Canucks don’t lose a top-10 pick in a deep draft and still have Cody Hodgson, who by the way was impressive again last night at the rookie tournament, in the system.

The truth is, I’m not completely sold on Mike Gillis just yet, but this sort of comparison isn’t fair. If you want to compare the two GM’s, then starting on October 9th, let’s look at what Gillis’ roster does and compare it to what Nonis’ roster did. (Yeah, I’m looking at you Brad Isbister.)

  • arnoldk

    I agree….I’m not sold on Gillis yet, but I’m not against him either. Ed Willes really hated the firing of Dave Nonis and has tried to spin everything that Mike Gillis has done into a bad thing. Maybe he could also remember why Nonis signed Richard Park, Isbister, and dare i say it, Marc Chouinard….Those moves really turned out well for him, didn’t they?

    Let’s wait and see what happens in the first month of the season before we right off this team and GM.

  • arnoldk

    I agree….I’m not sold on Gillis yet, but I’m not against him either. Ed Willes really hated the firing of Dave Nonis and has tried to spin everything that Mike Gillis has done into a bad thing. Maybe he could also remember why Nonis signed Richard Park, Isbister, and dare i say it, Marc Chouinard….Those moves really turned out well for him, didn’t they?

    Let’s wait and see what happens in the first month of the season before we right off this team and GM.

  • http://www.gzexpat.com GZ Expat

    So, how in the heck does Willes know ‘Nonis told Canuck ownership…?’ Is there a smoking gun white paper somewhere with this evil plan all sorted out and Willes just happened to get a copy of it slid into a garbage can outside GM Place?

    I’m not really a Gillis fan at this stage, but that new article is nothing but a side bar hit piece. Disgusting.

  • http://www.gzexpat.com GZ Expat

    So, how in the heck does Willes know ‘Nonis told Canuck ownership…?’ Is there a smoking gun white paper somewhere with this evil plan all sorted out and Willes just happened to get a copy of it slid into a garbage can outside GM Place?

    I’m not really a Gillis fan at this stage, but that new article is nothing but a side bar hit piece. Disgusting.

  • DaxF

    Ed Willis is a moron. I’m a big fan of Gillis and I was one of the many that were really worried when he was hired. At the time I didn’t like it.

    Now after some of the moves he’s done, all of which I think are great, and the direction he’s taking the team and aiming to be a contender for several years in a row rather than a one or two year stint… I think he’s done a fine job.

  • DaxF

    Ed Willis is a moron. I’m a big fan of Gillis and I was one of the many that were really worried when he was hired. At the time I didn’t like it.

    Now after some of the moves he’s done, all of which I think are great, and the direction he’s taking the team and aiming to be a contender for several years in a row rather than a one or two year stint… I think he’s done a fine job.