Rebuild coming ahead with MG firing.

[riffraff]

Tell me you did not get entertained this season. Hell I want another season of top notch hockey entertainment.

Torts stays.

The Canucks are 2-3 trades away from being elite again.

Gillis has said anyone not named Sedin is available. Gillis is gone. Now Linden is an old boy with pride and got traded himself and it hurt a lot. So I doubt Henrik and therefore Daniel, get traded anywhere any time. They are here to stay and retire.

Kesler was already rumored to be wanting out and that started at the Olympics so who knows what happened there. I think he does have preferred destinations that would suit him and the Canucks best as trade partners and that avenue ought to be explored. Here's a guy who wants to win now and perhaps too much has occurred in Vancouver with him and would like a fresh start somewhere else. He would have the same effect as Iginla going to Boston because his list would be a list of elite if not Cup winners already.

Elder. What is wrong with this guy. Does he sleep too much? Apparently that's all he does according to a Bieksa sound bit a few years ago. Wake up guy and hit someone. Like you did Gaborik. That's an Edler hit. That's an Edler game. That's what the Canucks should be looking for in trade; a 1D. But Edler gives us flashes here and there of total dominance and then disappears for a few months. His value around the league would be extremely high if he were to be convinced that his services would be better appreciated on another team.

Bieksa. Will make numerous mistakes but has the heart of a lion and from any of this current core, is the only one that still burns bright every night. True warrior. You feel for him when he makes mistakes. He knows it. Everyone knows it. And then he goes on a great stretch were he's the heart and soul of the team. Excellent value on the market although the returns should be substantial to merit a trade. Bieksa seems to have bought into the system Tortorella wants to play.

In any case, I see 1-2 core pieces traded for high value at the draft and hopefully, a major push for either the best defenseman available in the entire draft, or a trade for one. A 1D is necessary.

The returns from a couple of trades and the promoting of some serious gems, along with a signing or two in the Statsny-type ought to be enough for this team to compete next year again.

Some of the most boring hockey in years imo. But in no way am I pinning that entirely on Torts. The decline started before he got here.

We have a deficiency in the scoring dept as our primary issue imo. A result of system, (though flawless in December), mgmt fails, and aging top six players.

[aGENT]

I'm really hoping new GM can swing getting Weber here. Something like one of Edler/Garrison plus Tanev and say Hansen and Schroeder for Weber and go!

Edler, S. Weber

Hamhuis, Bieksa

Stanton, Corrado

Y. Weber

or

Hamhuis, S. Weber

Garrison, Bieksa

Stanton, Corrado

Y. Weber

YES PLEASE!

[Red Light Racicot]

You are delusional if you think Aquaman will tolerate a rebuild. Firing Gillis right now is all about the bottom line and therefore I doubt he will allow a rebuild that will hurt his bottom line. Just hope some of high stature is hired that will make Aquaman think twice before he meddles again.

I suppose that bottom line depends on what he can sell.

Im quite confident that there are more then enough fans who would be better then fine with the idea of a thorough rebuild, even if that takes a few years.

[higgyfan]

I'm really hoping new GM can swing getting Weber here. Something like one of Edler/Garrison plus Tanev and say Hansen and Schroeder for Weber and go!

Edler, S. Weber

Hamhuis, Bieksa

Stanton, Corrado

Y. Weber

or

Hamhuis, S. Weber

Garrison, Bieksa

Stanton, Corrado

Y. Weber

YES PLEASE!

I don' t think you get a franchise player for that trade. They would want Kes (who wouldn't waive NTC) and our 1st and more.

[aGENT]

I don' t think you get a franchise player for that trade. They would want Kes (who wouldn't waive NTC) and our 1st and more.

To me, that's a pretty good package but I concede we may have to throw in "more" (possibly our first for their second, or a conditional pick or the like). IMO something based around that framework could work though.

[Ben Kenobi]

Couldn't agree with OP more. The rebuild is on. I had hoped and expected Gillis to be the one in charge of it, but given his extension of the Sedins, that probably got him fired. Had the Sedins produced, he would have looked brilliant. The Sedins made him look like a complete moron. This core is done. Hank and Dank have to go.

[FlyLow_]

A rebuild is needed, yes, but that's not what is going to happen.

[Ben Kenobi]

"The decline started before he got here." Exactly. Alain was fired for not getting enough offense out of the players. Last year the Sedins were terrible, though not quite as bad as they were this year. The Sedins got him fired by no-showing in the playoffs and generally fading in the stretch.

GMMG decides to go all in on the Sedins. How do they respond? 30 games without a point. GMMG gets fired. The Sedins have toasted one coach and one GM so far.

Torts isn't going to get fired one year in. Now, the Sedins have no one else left to point fingers at. Bobby Lou is gone. Who's left?

[TimberWolf]

I don' t think you get a franchise player for that trade. They would want Kes (who wouldn't waive NTC) and our 1st and more.

The more would be Bo and Hunter/Jensen

Shea is not on the block, so only a gross overpayment would get interest.

[aGENT]

The more would be Bo and Hunter/Jensen

Shea is not on the block, so only a gross overpayment would get interest.

They're not exactly doing well and that's a LOT of $$ for a cash strapped team. They may not WANT to deal Shea but they may have to...

[RWMc1]

We are not as far off as many claim. We were fine until Santo got injured. We started playing well after aquiring Matthias. We started faltering again after Henrik was injured. The obvious common thread here is center depth. Gillis has started addressing our center depth and I believe that next season will be quite different from the past season. The next GM will have a lot of wiggle room and we could be in the hunt once again. Our downfall could be Torts once again over-playing our top players.

[JeremyCuddles]

People say it was a panicky decision by owners. But this teams downfall has been anything but subtle and the return for our two bonafide starters is less then adequate. I think our next GM needs to be on the same page as Torts otherwise they may as well have kept Gillis.

[Ben Kenobi]

"could have a lot of wiggle room"

We'll see the exact same thing next year. League bottom in goal scoring. Top 10 in defense and Goaltending. Things aren't changing unless the Sedins are traded.

[Riviera82]

a retool is only an option when the core is strong and at their prime, sedins are not 1st liners anymore

Too bad that Gillis' parting gift was giving them bloated first line contracts with NMCs. What was he thinking?!

[Riviera82]

The hockey gods did give the Canucks a break recently...it was called the 2010-11 season...

That was our break?!

I thought that was the Bruins break dammit.

[canucklekassian]

now if we could only somehow pull the wool over the rest of the nhl and trade the sedins for some of that youth movement. As i see it the sedins skating these days show lack of .....movement.

[The Stork]

OK so I looked at the MG firing and when I had first heard the decision I didn't like it. The reason for this was I believed that a firing in this situation is a knee jerk reaction to fans not buying tickets.

Lets be real, a bad season can occur to any team and the past 2 years MG hasn't been able to add anything to the team because of cap restraints. Whats more, I think his hand was twisted in the firing of Alain Vigneault and hiring of Torts, the trading of Lu (because of his retarded twitter comments and Torts choosing not to play Lu in the Heritage Classic) and most importantly trading Schneids (Salary cap played a huge role in this trade).

Having said this, how is our situation MGs fault?

Well the team is clearly on the decline, and with the direction were heading (needing younger players in the system). MG has proven that he has the ability to compliment core players to a great extent (Higgins, Lappiere, Santorelli, etc.). If the question is "Is MG the guy that will help our core get to the finals" the answer is yes.

There is a catch though. The core is declining and it is ill equipped for our new coach's style of play and more importantly, the organization wants to go thru a youth movement and attain younger players (IMO euphemism for rebuild) MG has given out numerous NTC's which he said he wouldn't ask anyone to waive under any circumstance. The question here becomes "Is MG the guy who can bring in a new core with all the NTC's he's given out and his inability to make huge trades that can change the teams core? The answer is no

Looking at MGs patterns of management, he is good at building around a core, but he has never shown the ability to make a new core.

Now you may be asking yourself "Well why don't you think MG can make a new core? You haven't given him a chance to draft high yet" The answer is NTCs. If a re build is to happen, your top players typically have to be traded for 1st round draft picks and with NTC's given out to Edler, Kesler, and the Sedins, coupled with MG's "No asking players to waive" policy, a rebuild under MG would be a painstakingly longer process than it should take. I love irony don't you?

If the organizations new direction is to build from youth again (Which has been said time and time again) and the core is declining obviously there was only one correct move to make, fire MG.

I think this move by Aquaman says a few things on what he thinks of the organization.

1. Our window has closed. Why fire a man who does well with complimenting the core if you want to take strides with your current core and win the cup?

2. He wants a re-build. It's over, the window has closed and we have to start fresh. Youth movement + firing manager + hiring new coach = rebuild IMO

I guess thats it, 2014 signifies the start of a new era, Post MG - Luongo - Vigneault.

*Holds breath for McDavid*

This team is not rebuilding watch us be top of the Pacific division next season

The team's number 1 goal is to win the Cup and we will win it next season

Go Canucks! Believe in Blue

[JamesB]

Couldn't agree with OP more. The rebuild is on. I had hoped and expected Gillis to be the one in charge of it, but given his extension of the Sedins, that probably got him fired. Had the Sedins produced, he would have looked brilliant. The Sedins made him look like a complete moron. This core is done. Hank and Dank have to go.

I agree that the Sedins are overpaid at 7 mill per year. That means they would not be easy to trade even if they waive their NTCs.

But, even though they are getting older, they will be better next year than they were this year. Just like players sometimes have career years, they sometimes have bad years and then bounce back. It's called regression to the mean. Also look for bounce-back years for Edler and Burrows. Turn Edler from a -30 player to + 10 and the Canucks go from out of the playoffs to making the playoffs comfortably.

I think the owner and Linden expect to make the playoffs next year and have an outside chance of making a Cup run. But they will need a coach who is better suited to the players. Torts is a good coach with the right kind of team -- big, young, high energy. But his system is a terrible fit for the Canucks, and the Canuck's travel schedule makes it worse.

Let's face it, one reason they have been poor in the second half of the season is fatigue, combined with injuries, and both of those things are due in part to the Torts system.

With the right system the current line-up could have decent year. And one or two summer moves could of course help. The big question is what happens with Kesler.

[bluesman60]

there are a couple guys that I'm excited for but that really is not impressive

In all fairness, the majority of these players have just been drafted and have not played enough games (if any) to decide if you can be excited about them or not. At the last camp, Shinkaruk looked great as did Cassels. Jensen has come in and exceeded expectations ( remember many on CDC called him a bust). Horvat is looking like the bigger skilled player that everyone is saying that we need in a rebuild. Eddie Lack ....well you can't expect anything more than he has shown so far....the kid has been great.

MG was a victim of a drastically reduced cap that forced him to trade some players that he did not want to let go....sure he didn't do everything right but no GM does. The man had his strong points and added something to this organization and for that I commend him. I don't think any other GM could have done things much differently when every GM out there knows that you don't have a trump card and have to move players. As far as drafting, everyone expects superstars from the draft but Gillis didn't have the luxury of drafting the 2nd and 3rd pick overall either. The picks he did make are looking promising and are doing well with their respective teams. Some may take a while but players taken very late in the rounds usually do.

I also think he did really well getting Mattias and Markstrom for Luo. Gillis always treated his players with respect and did well in giving Luongo the destination that he wanted and at the same time getting a reasonable return.

[bluesman60]

I agree that the Sedins are overpaid at 7 mill per year. That means they would not be easy to trade even if they waive their NTCs.

But, even though they are getting older, they will be better next year than they were this year. Just like players sometimes have career years, they sometimes have bad years and then bounce back. It's called regression to the mean. Also look for bounce-back years for Edler and Burrows. Turn Edler from a -30 player to + 10 and the Canucks go from out of the playoffs to making the playoffs comfortably.

I think the owner and Linden expect to make the playoffs next year and have an outside chance of making a Cup run. But they will need a coach who is better suited to the players. Torts is a good coach with the right kind of team -- big, young, high energy. But his system is a terrible fit for the Canucks, and the Canuck's travel schedule makes it worse.

Let's face it, one reason they have been poor in the second half of the season is fatigue, combined with injuries, and both of those things are due in part to the Torts system.

With the right system the current line-up could have decent year. And one or two summer moves could of course help. The big question is what happens with Kesler.

Then again, maybe the coach isn't really the problem.....Vigneaut couldn't win a Cup with this current core either and he did adjust to the type of team we have. No one can dispute that AV's record was a solid one. If Torts does have a flaw, it is that he expects the stars to go on the PK(where they end up injured from blocking shots)....we have enough 3rd and 4th line players for the PK. I can see him putting the stars out there on the PK once in a while to keep them in the game if there is a penalty filled game but having them out with injury doesn't work when you have a lack of skilled players to move up the lineup.

There needs to be a retool of the 1st line with the Sedin's moving to the 2nd line.....they are great players but do not have enough grit or size to battle every night with bigger teams. This team needs to add some firepower....big players like Jagr, Hossa or Selanne (but younger versions of them).