The report is that Gillis was terminated in 2014 and it's nearly 7 years and he hasn't landed a front office job in the NHL since. As for reasons why? Depends on what your wish to believe. He took time off which I agree he needed to. Figured by 2016 end of regular season, he would be pressing for another role, but I am still not sure which teams he actually did an interview with.
Never spoke to the media at all until his contract expired in 2018 and when he finally was interested in finding another front office opportunity, nothing has emerged for him.
Says he would rather be the President.
Not sure how most teams setup their operations. But, is the president mostly a business operations person rather than a hockey side guy?
Personally, I don't ever expect Gillis to land a front office NHL job. Probably has been out of it for too long and doesn't have the cozy connections to get him back into the game. Other GMs who get terminated, like Burke, Nonis, Lombardi, Shero, Fletcher, etc. get back into the game within 2 years. Probably why these guys have had multiple opportunities as a GM.