After being out of the National Hockey League front office business for over a decade, a former Vancouver Canucks General Manager has surfaced as a potential suitor for the recent Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager job opening.

On his Tuesday morning hit on Sportsnet 590, The FAN, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned Gillis was a frontrunner for the new Maple Leafs General Manager position:

“I think one of the names that has kind of been floating around because they are interested in what he did in his past job, I think, potentially is Mike Gillis. I think that is a name that they’ve kind of looked at, and I can see why.

“He took a team that was really struggling, and took them to the edge of the Stanley Cup Final. I don’t know that it’s going to be Mike Gillis, but I think he is the kind of person that they’ve been looking at so far. And we’ll also see what shakes loose, who else shakes loose. There are going to be lining up for this job.”

Gillis served as the Canucks GM from 2008 to 2014. He made a big first impression when he took over for Dave Nonis in 2008, letting two-thirds of the West Coast Express line, Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison, walk in free agency.

With Gillis at the helm, the Canucks accumulated a 261-146-51 record, made the playoffs in all six seasons, won five straight Pacific Division titles from 2008-2013, won two Presidents’ Trophies in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and were within one game of lifting the Stanley Cup in 2011.

Throughout his time in Vancouver, Gillis brought in some big names that helped contribute to all that on-ice success through the trade market: Steve Bernier, Shane O’Brien, Christian Ehrhoff, Keith Ballard, Chris Higgins, Max Lapierre, David Booth, Samuel Pahlsson, Derek Roy, and the ninth overall pick in 2013, which became Bo Horvat.

He also made multiple notable free agent signings: Pavol Demitra, Mats Sundin, Aaron Rome, Tanner Glass, Dan Hamhuis, Marco Sturm, and Jason Garrison. In addition to those names, Gillis signed four players who are still with the Canucks organization: Ryan Johnson (assistant GM of Vancouver and full-time GM of Abbotsford), Manny Malhotra (Abbotsford head coach), Jason Frog (skills and skating coach in Vancouver), and Mikael Samuelsson (player development).

After all that success, Gillis has not found another job for an NHL team since then. However, he did apply for the Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager job in 2021. Gillis formulated a 27-page proposal to the Penguins outlining what he would do to change the direction of the team. The proposal was reportedly leaked, leaving many impressed by his stance on hockey operations, which relied on data as the primary driver.

The leaked proposal earned him a job as a consultant for business development for the NHLPA from 2021 to 2023.

On Tuesday afternoon, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment President Keith Pelley met with the media to discuss the change at GM. When asked about the next potential suitor for the role, Pelley shared that the next hire will have to be “data-centric.”

With Friedman’s reporting earlier today, followed by Pelley’s comments about the new hire being data-centric, the dots are starting to connect to a potential marriage between the Maple Leafs and Gillis as a candidate for the new job opening.