Gillis Has a Full Well, But is the Water Any Good?

Mike Gillis has undoubtedly put his stamp on this team, from the ground up.

I was trying to think of a comparison of Gillis’s work with the Canucks, since he took over last spring.

I thought of a water well. Mike Gillis has dug a deep well for this club, full of water. The problem is.. how good is the water in that well?

There’s no doubt that Gillis has been busy in the last 16 months or so, putting his stamp on this team. He’s been trying to make it younger, faster and grittier.

He has certainly done that. The problem is that he’s done that at the lowest level and moving up. He has really not put his stamp on the top 6 forwards or the top 4 defencemen. The rest of the team, and the farm team, is rife with Gillis acquisitions.

After looking at all the transactions since Gillis took over as GM, I found that 34 active players left the organization, and 30 players joined the organization. That includes the Canucks, the Moose and junior acquisitions.

That’s a LOT of players movement. However, only 4 of those player transactions involve the top 6 forwards and the top 4 defencemen.

Also, of all of those moves, there are NINE players that have in, then left. Assuming that Mats Sundin is gone (which we all believe is the case), the following players have come in and left the club: Sundin, Sanford, Labarbera, Ouellet, Vaananen, Krog, Cullen, Davison and Nycholat.

What is one to make of that? Well, with the exception of Sundin, all of those players were AHL players and backups. They cost very little money and were all expendable. The only risky move was the Sundin signing. And by all account, Gillis made a smart decision by only signing him for half a season.

So there’s the evidence that Gillis has claimed this team and this organization as his own. He’s dug his own well and filled it to the brim with his own water. Now, it’s time to bring in the Evian. He needs to bring in a top 4 puck-moving defenceman first, and hopefully a trade for a top 6 forward.

Get your bucket, Mike and go get some quality water. Your Canucks fans are thirsty.