NHL History: Vancouver Canucks hire Brian Burke as GM

Yesterday was one of the biggest days in Vancouver Canucks history as they named Brian Burke as the clubs general manager in 1998.

It was a monumental move for the organization as Burke would have a lasting impact on Vancouver. His biggest move was the acquisition of the Sedin twins at the 2000 NHL draft.

To set it all off, Burke traded defenceman Bryan McCabe and their 2000 first-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for the fourth overall pick. Burke then paired the fourth overall pick and two third-round picks to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for the 1st overall selection.

A deal was then made by Burke to trade the 1st overall pick to the Atlanta Thrashers in a deal for the 2nd overall pick with the assurance they would not take a Sedin. Atlanta took future draft bust Patrik Stefan first overall.

In turn, Burke got his wish — a pair of electric teen’s from the SHL. The pair, who spent their entire careers in Vancouver, retired after the 2017-18 season and had nearly identical stat lines the whole way through.

Daniel scored 393 goals, 648 assists, and 1041 points in 1306 games.

Henrik scored 240 goals, 830 assists, and 1070 points in 1330 games.

And Burke had other significant deals made, too.

His second trade saw him ship Pavel Bure, Brad Ference, Bret Hedican and a 2000 3rd round draft pick to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Mike Brown, Dave Gagner, Ed Jovanovski, Kevin Weekes and a 2000 1st round pick.

Burke also re-acquired Trevor Linden for his second stint with the organization in November 2001 giving up a 2002 1st (Boyd Gordon) and a 2003 3rd round pick (Zack Stortini).

He’s been credited for being a big part in helping revive the Canucks organization making big pushes to help fill the stands that had seen dips in the late 90’s.

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