Former Canucks: Players & Management (Willie Desjardins fired by Kings, COO Victor De Bonis to SEA)

[StreetHawk]

Can I just say that if Seattle hires Mike Gillis I’m going to seriously consider jumping off a bridge?

It’s bad enough that we lost him and got saddled with an uneducated dinosaur as GM, but to see our newest rival pick up such an intelligent President/GM would really cut deep.

If that happens I could easily see them surpassing us as an organization within five years of their existence even though they’re an expansion team.

Well, he’s been out of the NHL for 5 seasons now. The likes of Fletcher, Rutherford, Shero all landed new roles within 2 years after they were relieved.

If Gillis doesn’t land in Seattle then I truly don’t see him ever landing another job in the NHL. Look how many gm openings there have been since 2014? Double digits.

 

[Hit the post]

Well, he’s been out of the NHL for 5 seasons now. The likes of Fletcher, Rutherford, Shero all landed new roles within 2 years after they were relieved.

If Gillis doesn’t land in Seattle then I truly don’t see him ever landing another job in the NHL. Look how many gm openings there have been since 2014? Double digits.

Not in a GM capacity anyways,

 

[StreetHawk]

Not in a GM capacity anyways,

Even as a team president. Often those positions are held by the same person if it’s a veteran GM.

 

[me2]

Well, he’s been out of the NHL for 5 seasons now. The likes of Fletcher, Rutherford, Shero all landed new roles within 2 years after they were relieved.

If Gillis doesn’t land in Seattle then I truly don’t see him ever landing another job in the NHL. Look how many gm openings there have been since 2014? Double digits.

Has he been looking for another gig?

 

[SillyRabbit]

Gillis has not actively been looking for a job as a GM for the past five years. His family is here in Vancouver which is why he stuck around and taught at UVIC.

Seattle is close enough that he’d seriously consider it and there’s been chatter that he’s now interested in returning to the hockey world again.

I think he’d be the perfect president for them but I hope they don’t hire him because I’d hate to see them become a better organization than us.

 

[StreetHawk]

Gillis has not actively been looking for a job as a GM for the past five years. His family is here in Vancouver which is why he stuck around and taught at UVIC.

Seattle is close enough that he’d seriously consider it and there’s been chatter that he’s now interested in returning to the hockey world again.

I think he’d be the perfect president for them but I hope they don’t hire him because I’d hate to see them become a better organization than us.

Seems like Seattle will hire their GM sooner rather than later. If they target a current executive that team won’t let him go until after the draft in June, so definitely better to hire the GM this June and give him time to assemble his scouting staff, coaches, etc.

If they hire that role first, then it’s whether Gillis is a fit with that GM.

 

[me2]

Seems like Seattle will hire their GM sooner rather than later. If they target a current executive that team won’t let him go until after the draft in June, so definitely better to hire the GM this June and give him time to assemble his scouting staff, coaches, etc.

If they hire that role first, then it’s whether Gillis is a fit with that GM.

I could see them bringing in president/GM now with the option for the president to hire a GM later. That lets them get rolling, start to put together a scouting staff, management team/office, hiring medical staff and trainers etc. If a great coach/GM comes along you have someone with the authority to make a move. The president/GM can hand the GM role over at a later date. This initial role is a good role for smart manager style of President/GM.

 

[The Optimist]

I don't envy whoever takes that Seattle job. The expectations are going to be sky high given the success of Vegas. Part of me doesn't want to see Gillis go there because it will just give Benning Bros ammunition when Seattle doesn't emulate Vegas' success.

 

[EpochLink]

Well, he’s been out of the NHL for 5 seasons now. The likes of Fletcher, Rutherford, Shero all landed new roles within 2 years after they were relieved.

If Gillis doesn’t land in Seattle then I truly don’t see him ever landing another job in the NHL. Look how many gm openings there have been since 2014? Double digits.

I think Gillis still has a bad rap among the GM's in the league.
He went from player agent to General Manager, while others had to learn from the ranks.

Call it an old boys club if you want but that's the way it is I guess..

 

[me2]

I don't envy whoever takes that Seattle job. The expectations are going to be sky high given the success of Vegas. Part of me doesn't want to see Gillis go there because it will just give Benning Bros ammunition when Seattle doesn't emulate Vegas' success.

I have to agree. Whoever takes over needs to follow Vegas's plan of building for the future, prospects, picks and youth. Vegas caught lightning in bottle, don't try and replicate that.

 

[Jyrki21]

Seattle won't be Vegas, but even if it isn't Gillis in charge I suspect they will surpass Vancouver very quickly. In addition to more stable ownership and being a desirable destination overall (like Vancouver with lower taxes), you just know that they'll be a paragon of progressive thinking... whereas Vancouver gets caught up in the Canadian media/hockey culture toilet (Tuffness! Don Cherry! Intangibles! Big hitz! Lunchbuckets! Playoffs! Childhood heroes!) that has helped torpedo a number of other Canadian franchises. A new team will be way less susceptible to "hockey religion", I'll bet.

 

[Bubbles]

Gillis has not actively been looking for a job as a GM for the past five years. His family is here in Vancouver which is why he stuck around and taught at UVIC.

Seattle is close enough that he’d seriously consider it and there’s been chatter that he’s now interested in returning to the hockey world again.

I think he’d be the perfect president for them but I hope they don’t hire him because I’d hate to see them become a better organization than us.

Actually, he's been traveling the world, trying to find how to build an elite organizations. There was a recent article by Pierre Lebrun on him on the Athletic, but it's behind a paywall. Maybe someone can summarize the main points if they have access.

Apparently the Senators approached him last summer.

Also keep in mind De Bonis is COO of Seattle (name of the thread, people!) and they have a very close working relationship from the Canucks.

 

[StreetHawk]

I could see them bringing in president/GM now with the option for the president to hire a GM later. That lets them get rolling, start to put together a scouting staff, management team/office, hiring medical staff and trainers etc. If a great coach/GM comes along you have someone with the authority to make a move. The president/GM can hand the GM role over at a later date. This initial role is a good role for smart manager style of President/GM.

I think they’ll hire the GM by July. If they are looking at a McCrimmon in Vegas or Futa in LA they can get them once their duties at the draft are complete for their current team. If you don’t hire them now, then you’re only going to get them July 2020 leaving you 1 year to assemble the scouting staff and everything else.

Hire the GM this year and let him put together his list of guys he wants to bring in.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I think Gillis still has a bad rap among the GM's in the league.
He went from player agent to General Manager, while others had to learn from the ranks.

Call it an old boys club if you want but that's the way it is I guess..

if your hypothesis is right, then you'd think brian burke of all people would cut him a little slack

 

[Peter10]

Actually, he's been traveling the world, trying to find how to build an elite organizations. There was a recent article by Pierre Lebrun on him on the Athletic, but it's behind a paywall. Maybe someone can summarize the main points if they have access.

Apparently the Senators approached him last summer.

Also keep in mind De Bonis is COO of Seattle (name of the thread, people!) and they have a very close working relationship from the Canucks.

Two quotes that probably describe it best:

really just going around and looking at what other people were up to and how they were approaching high-level performance in sports. It didn’t matter what the sport was, it just mattered how they were driving performance, how they were communicating, their daily training environment and talking to a lot of smart people.

I think the one thing that has made probably the biggest impression on me is the emphasis that really high-end, high-functioning organizations have on leadership and culture. Which is a daily part of their training environment. So it isn’t like you decide to focus on that for a short period of time and hope that it’s going to work out. They drive leadership, they drive culture every day that the players are there. It’s totally aligned from the top of the organization to the bottom of the organization that they’re always in a teaching mode, they’re always teaching about how to be proper leaders, and how to maintain the culture and what culture is defined as. It’s clearly one of the biggest differences that I saw. The top organizations are removing hope from the equation.

And here why he likely hasnt taken another job yet

I have talked to some (NHL) people in the past little bit, but for me, there has to be alignment in the vision of what you are and where you’re trying to go. ... So for me, I made up my mind when I left Vancouver that I would only go into a situation where I felt that there was going to be alignment from top to bottom where you could do a lot of interesting things and people weren’t going to criticize you because you weren’t doing it the old way. They would, in fact, embrace the idea that you were finding new ways to be successful. If that kind of environment is there, then I’m absolutely interested. But if it’s not, then I’m not.

 

[tantalum]

I think Gillis still has a bad rap among the GM's in the league.
He went from player agent to General Manager, while others had to learn from the ranks.

Call it an old boys club if you want but that's the way it is I guess..

Those same GMs that gave him GM of the year?

They don't need to like each other to do business. And if a GM avoids doing business with another GM because of personal things that is a GM that needs to be fired.

 

[Fatass]

Two quotes that probably describe it best:





And here why he likely hasnt taken another job yet

Sounds like Gillis will only take a management job where the owner doesn’t meddle in hockey opps.

 

[opendoor]

It's also worth remembering that Gillis had a ton of time left on his contract when he was fired. He was still being paid by the Canucks up until last summer, and if his contract was like most other GMs he'd lose most or all of that money if he took another hockey ops job while still under contract. He'd have essentially been working for free, so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he wasn't actively looking for work in the NHL.

 

[4Twenty]

It's also worth remembering that Gillis had a ton of time left on his contract when he was fired. He was still being paid by the Canucks up until last summer, and if his contract was like most other GMs he'd lose most or all of that money if he took another hockey ops job while still under contract. He'd have essentially been working for free, so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he wasn't actively looking for work in the NHL.

I think that's a pretty safe assumption.

 

[StreetHawk]

It's also worth remembering that Gillis had a ton of time left on his contract when he was fired. He was still being paid by the Canucks up until last summer, and if his contract was like most other GMs he'd lose most or all of that money if he took another hockey ops job while still under contract. He'd have essentially been working for free, so I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he wasn't actively looking for work in the NHL.

The negative is that the longer you are out of the game it could hurt your chances of getting back in when you’re ready. That’s why Torts returned to coaching when he did, as he had time left on his Canucks contract. Even former GMs who are dismissed hook up with another team like Lombardi.

AV is likely to return next season if he gets an offer.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

omg obg...

from botch



This may be the most Edmonton thing ever.

Kevin Lowe was hired to replace Glen Sather in 2000. His fingerprints are all over every single thing that has happened there since.

If you are looking to take out the beating heart of the Oilers’ Old Boys Club, Lowe is the Death Star thermal exhaust port you will have to travel through to shoot your shot.

Lowe was infuriated when Nylander bolted on the Oilers last minute for Washington and accused Gillis of reneging on a deal they had agreed to, and he fumed publicly about it.

But this is way back in 2007, and Nylander didn’t exactly work out in Washington.

Picture being so bitter about it that 12 years later you are willing to allow it impact your position about what is right for the future of the franchise.

 

[Hit the post]

omg obg...

from botch



This may be the most Edmonton thing ever.

Kevin Lowe was hired to replace Glen Sather in 2000. His fingerprints are all over every single thing that has happened there since.

If you are looking to take out the beating heart of the Oilers’ Old Boys Club, Lowe is the Death Star thermal exhaust port you will have to travel through to shoot your shot.

Lowe was infuriated when Nylander bolted on the Oilers last minute for Washington and accused Gillis of reneging on a deal they had agreed to, and he fumed publicly about it.

But this is way back in 2007, and Nylander didn’t exactly work out in Washington.

Picture being so bitter about it that 12 years later you are willing to allow it impact your position about what is right for the future of the franchise.

Heh, former GM holding a grudge is fantasy. Hmmmmmmm, the Luongo rule, I wonder who was in NHL HQ around that time.

 

[me2]

Those same GMs that gave him GM of the year?

They don't need to like each other to do business. And if a GM avoids doing business with another GM because of personal things that is a GM that needs to be fired.

It also does not stand up to fact checking. Gillis had deals with most of the teams in the league, and more that wanted to do deals or discussed deals. Teams GMs will look for what they want want, they don't care where they get it or from who, give or take trading a star in division. I can see a few people not wanting him in their organisation, person stuff like that happens as not everyone gets on and people pick people they get on with, but it won't stop them do deals.

 

[me2]

if your hypothesis is right, then you'd think brian burke of all people would cut him a little slack

From a 2008 article some agents that went on to become GMs Michael Barnett; Brian Burke; Peter Chiarelli; Mike Gillis; Pierre Lacroix; Dean Lombardi; George McPhee; Ray Shero. There are probably more since then.

 

[Bubbles]

omg obg...

from botch



This may be the most Edmonton thing ever.

Kevin Lowe was hired to replace Glen Sather in 2000. His fingerprints are all over every single thing that has happened there since.

If you are looking to take out the beating heart of the Oilers’ Old Boys Club, Lowe is the Death Star thermal exhaust port you will have to travel through to shoot your shot.

Lowe was infuriated when Nylander bolted on the Oilers last minute for Washington and accused Gillis of reneging on a deal they had agreed to, and he fumed publicly about it.

But this is way back in 2007, and Nylander didn’t exactly work out in Washington.

Picture being so bitter about it that 12 years later you are willing to allow it impact your position about what is right for the future of the franchise.

This doesn't surprise me at all. It's the OBC there still, all running through Lowe and his cronies. Still has a massive hate-on for Gillis.

I already mentioned in a previous thread there is still lingering hate for him from some NHL teams. At least Burke is out of the NHL. Davidson from CBJ still hates his guts. But I think enough people have moved on that he will be accepted back.

I hope he goes to Seattle and has total autonomy to do his thing. Hopefully they don't have a meddling owner.