I'm not a big fan of MG but I don't think we can blame all the woes of the Nucks on him. Trying to keep the core (who did get the SCF) together when the salary cap went down, along with the continuously low 1st round draft picks (due to having a winning team) has made it hard to improve.
Right from the beginning of the season I considered this year a wash and that things would pick up in the next year or two. MG has some decent prospects coming along and with the cap going up, he will have more opportunities to improve the team.
I am very interested in seeing what he does about Lu, as well as the possibility of trading a core player. I do believe the team is 2 or 3 players shy of being a contender again (and that's not counting prospects that may prove themselves next season).
Unfortunatly, it appears that there are a growing number of players that do not want to play on a Canadian team, so it may be difficlult to make the changes needed. This of course will lead to gathering picks and prospect when making trades, so filling those holes will become more difficult.