Gillis teaches a lesson. G.M 101.

[the toucan kid]

Having said that, he should be largely sitting on his hands during this trade deadline day. Hockey trades or cap trades, yes, selling our future, no.

I too am an advocate for keeping our first round pick, Hodgson and Schneider (aka our "future"), but would have no problem moving any of Raymond, Bernier, Grabner, Hansen or our 2nd rounder. That doesn't mean we can make a huge splash, but I think we might be able to tempt a reasonably winger or center out of somewhere to help up front.

I'm also in agreement, the winning streak is nice, but in my eyes all they have done is evened out the losing streak. Now it's time to take it up a notch and that means more from Luongo, Sundin, and frankly Daniel Sedin (goals please - 4 in January? 3 in February?).

[Island Nucklehead]

It really depends on the deal. I don't think we can say absolutely (given our position) that we're NOT trading our first round pick, Hodgson, Grabner or Schneider. With all the FA's we have next season, we have to keep all the options open to make a run this season.

I'm not advocating trading the pick (I don't like rental players), I'm saying we can't rule it out completely. It really is deal dependent. Landing a guy like Kaberle might be worth the pick now, and moving forward.

[ClamRussel]

Hodgson is OFF limits as far as I'd be concerned. Just imagine how far Detroit would have gotten if they'd have traded a young Steve Yzerman....now I'm not saying Hodgson will pan out that well but you never know. Any other prospect and pick is fair game but there's something special about that kid that doesn't come around very often.

[Broda]

Hodgson is OFF limits as far as I'd be concerned. Just imagine how far Detroit would have gotten if they'd have traded a young Steve Yzerman....now I'm not saying Hodgson will pan out that well but you never know. Any other prospect and pick is fair game but there's something special about that kid that doesn't come around very often.

Couldn't agree with you more. Look at all the top teams in the nhl. For the most part they are all very good developing teams. The canucks of the past have been so much of a piece from here guy from here fit this guy here. I love that this franchise as of right now has a new philosophy of producing from within. Guys like Hodgson, Grabner and Schneider need to be given time to season. Look at Detroit they don't bring guys up till they know they are capable of playing NHL caliber minutes.
Gillis is hopefully going to follow through with his promise of turning the canucks into a competative team year in and year out. I think the only way to do that is develop your own talent.

[Island Nucklehead]

Hodgson is OFF limits as far as I'd be concerned. Just imagine how far Detroit would have gotten if they'd have traded a young Steve Yzerman....now I'm not saying Hodgson will pan out that well but you never know. Any other prospect and pick is fair game but there's something special about that kid that doesn't come around very often.

I hear what you're saying Clam. I don't want to trade Hodgson either, my only point was that I hope Gillis is keeping his eyes and ears open to see what is around the league. If Pittsburgh needed to dump salary and offered us Malkin for Hodgson and our First, we can't immediately say "NO".

Sorry for the extreme example, but to say that anyone is off limits is extreme, imo everyone has a price.

[the toucan kid]

I really hope that people's expectations for Hodgson are that he will ever be franchise center. He's a good player, but playing in a media market with false expectations you can never live up to can only hinder him.

[Kel]

Hodgson is OFF limits as far as I'd be concerned. Just imagine how far Detroit would have gotten if they'd have traded a young Steve Yzerman....now I'm not saying Hodgson will pan out that well but you never know. Any other prospect and pick is fair game but there's something special about that kid that doesn't come around very often.

I hear what you're saying Clam. I don't want to trade Hodgson either, my only point was that I hope Gillis is keeping his eyes and ears open to see what is around the league. If Pittsburgh needed to dump salary and offered us Malkin for Hodgson and our First, we can't immediately say "NO".

Sorry for the extreme example, but to say that anyone is off limits is extreme, imo everyone has a price.

It is extreme but in reality, it's pretty much the truth. Nothing you can offer to Pittsburgh or Washington is going to get you Malkin or Ovechkin. There are some players who are franchise players and actually there's one in Vancouver right now too.

[Island Nucklehead]

Yeah I'm not so sure, you never know what that Ovechkin contract will necessitate a trade.

Malking and Crosby are making a pile of money in Pittsburgh and I think it might come down to one or the other at some point if they don't want to be Ottawa.

Looking at a guy like Lecavalier, I wouldn't think he'd get traded...but it's almost happened this season.

People on this forum have openly talked about trading Luongo even before he enters his final contract season.

There's always a price, especially when dealing with good but unproven prospects.


Disclaimer... anyone who thinks I WANT to trade Hodgson can shove it. I'm VERY big on the kid, my only point was that we should listen to all offers and assess them with where this team should be heading.

[dr.dork]

Disclaimer... anyone who thinks I WANT to trade Hodgson can shove it. I'm VERY big on the kid, my only point was that we should listen to all offers and assess them with where this team should be heading.

When a GM (Gillis) says Hodgson is untouchable what he really means is you better give me an untouchable in return. Or to put it another way, Hodgson is untouchable if you want to talk about a rental. Our first (this june) is also untouchable for a rental.

Nobody is untouchable (unless they have a NTC/NMC), but what the label really means is don't waste my time without a very very good return.

One of Malkin or Crosby will be moved out of Pittsburgh IMO. I don't know how it is possible to be too strong down the middle, but Pittsburgh has managed to do it. Even with the cap at $56M, Pittsburgh has $27.5M tied up in Fleury, Gonchar, Malkin and Crosby. If the cap drops to $44M, they will have about $16 to spend on 18 players, and about $4M of that is tied up in Staal ($4M for a third line center ??!!). They are screwed and their only way out is to shed top end contract(s). They are way too top heavy. My guess is that Pittsburgh will try to trade quantity for quality. i.e., trade Malkin/Crosby for 4 reasonably good $2M dollar players. Since Crosby is the face of the franchise, my guess is Malkin will likely be moved (I would rather have Malkin).

[Soapy]

Sloppy ,I will respond to your drivel on March 1st. Pretty easy to criticize the GM in a losing streak when Ray Charles could see that the coach and the players are performing well below expectations. Let's give it another month before we analyze this situation shall we? If you are so enamoured with obese GM's that promise much and produce little there is a team in Toronto that has a pair of them. i'm sure they would love to have you. Nonis had 4 drafts and three seasons here and produced one playoff run and three decent prospects. Lets give Gillis the same amount of time before we start the whining and balling.

Here is my drivel.
First of all...I am not a obese GM lover....
I do (did) not see MG as an upgrade...imo...like you said.....lets see what he can do......although I think there is a TON more with the Aquman problem than there was a Nonis problem.....anyhoo....
can i NOW crticize on a winning streak......thanks......our third line centre is Welwad...freakin awsome???..I know we can move guys around but there were a lot of filthy,dirty checkers out there to be picked up.Did you see who Chicago picked up to stop the Sedins......or Calgary......
So what is the lesson that you were going to tell me on March 1st? that the best trade is no trade? I bet that was NOT what you were thinking....some thing bold perhaps.....neither was I.......MG has turned out to be more of a PAT QUINN than the 'pile of shit agent' that i thought was dropping in on us......
I agree with MG going forward....empty cupboard...bold moves.....GM's that promise a lot & produce little...hey, I think MG did the right thing in not making any move......it is a weird market these days...salary cap can go anywhere & no one is taking chances...hell I thought Lawton was making BOLD moves!!
I know MG will say that we are 'not there yet' & most of us will be happy to advance to the second round & lose a 'close one' in 6 games...hey I will be OK with that too..with the direction we are going we look OK....this season is turning out OK......now that THE BIG 10 MILLION $$ FISH has landed....nice catch MG.....
Now sign the Sedins, Ohlund, Sundin & Bouwmeester..........hello Stanley Cup
& don't call me Sloppy again fatso

[Fred]

Actually MG did have a number of pick up's, he just did it before the bidding wars started at the deadline. He signed Sundin, LaBarberra and Vaananen, they all came free in as much as we never give any thing away of importance and we're a much better team with the additions. I'd call that astute management

[DonCherry4PM]

So what is the lesson that you were going to tell me on March 1st? that the best trade is no trade? I bet that was NOT what you were thinking....some thing bold perhaps.....neither was I.......MG has turned out to be more of a PAT QUINN than the 'pile of shit agent' that i thought was dropping in on us......

Soapy, let me preempt this with the comment that I would like to add to the discussion but am by no means attacking, just debating.

I wasn't that much of a fan of Nonis but definitely would have liked to see AV get canned before him. That said, there were several things that I did not like during his tenure. One of the most aggravating was his consistent spending of draft picks on the ilk of Weinrich, Carney, Sanderson etc. Not that our drafting at that time was good enough to have made those draft picks worth something.... Hated the singing of Cloutier, but he did come back with one of the best trades in Canuck history.

Now, while I would not espouse the opinion that the best trade is no trade, I would say better no trade than a bad one. Yes, there is a dearth in our third line centre position, but that is not nearly as serious as a problem on one of the two top lines. Had we still been playing like the team of January, I would full-heartedly agree with you that Gillis did not do enough, but, as it stands right now, I don't have too much of a problem with his lack of activity on deadline day.

I also wonder as to how much team chemistry factored into his activity, or lack thereof. I haven't seen the team gelling like this for quite some time and, while that is more of an intangible, I still think it weighs heavily on a team's success. Now maybe that wasn't the reason he didn't make any trades and maybe he had some good potentials on the table and didn't pull the trigger, but what I do like about this deadline is that Gillis didn't panic; he held fast and, while that may not have been the best decision, in my opinion it was much better than another Smolinski, Bergevin, etc.

Now after all of that pontification, let me submit that, if he lets the Sedins walk without any return on July 1, I will come to agree with you.

[dr.dork]

Now, while I would not espouse the opinion that the best trade is no trade, I would say better no trade than a bad one. Yes, there is a dearth in our third line centre position, but that is not nearly as serious as a problem on one of the two top lines. Had we still been playing like the team of January, I would full-heartedly agree with you that Gillis did not do enough, but, as it stands right now, I don't have too much of a problem with his lack of activity on deadline day.

This whole thread started off as a vindication of Gillis' strategy of being patient in the ongoing Sundin saga. And I agree 100% with that strategy, whether it failed or not (and I repeatedly restated that agreement). But somehow everything devolves to a Gillis vs Nonis argument, and Nonis basically got fired for being patient.

Gillis hasn't done anything stupid yet, and although I was somewhat disappointed at the Nonis firing, I have to say I think Gillis has done a good job in the past 10 months. He resisted quite a bit of pressure (some of it on himself, no doubt) and didn't fire AV in January, and AV managed to help steer us out of that January debacle by remaining positive amongst a panicking populace. Where would we be now if AV was fired ? Hard to tell, but firing AV wouldn't have been the brightest move (in hindsight).

For a rookie GM with no experience whatsoever he has done very well.

[LotusBlossom]

For a rookie GM with no experience whatsoever he has done very well.

Not bad...so did Nonis as a rookie GM, but he had experience fetching Brian Burke's Diet Cokes before he took over BB's job. They won the NW title that year I believe.

Yeah I like the on-ice product and the morale of the dressing room that Gillis has put together. They are really a fun bunch to watch most nights. 9 more games...this will be the tell tale of how they are going to be going into the playoffs. I'm excited.

[LotusBlossom]

Gillis on the NHL Hour with Gary Bettman.

it's on NHL.com