The Toronto Maple Leafs have begun searching for their next general manager, having parted ways with Brad Treliving earlier this week. However, the team should be wary of one of the people already linked with the vacancy.
The general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs is easily one of the biggest jobs in the NHL, and there will be plenty of interest in the role. Still, one interesting name has been floated in the media.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently stated that there has been contact with former Vancouver Canucks GM Mike Gillis, who, he said, would fit the data-driven profile that MLSE CEO Keith Pelley said was necessary for the team’s next hire.
Since being mentioned, there has been much discussion around Gillis and his suitability for the role of GM, or maybe even as President of Hockey Operations, and the Leafs should consider him with great caution.
Gillis makes sense on the surface
On paper, the 67-year-old from Sudbury, Ontario, would make a lot of sense for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was in charge of the Canucks between April 2008 and April 2014, during which time his team was one of the dominant forces in the NHL.
From the 2008–09 season through 2012–13, the Canucks claimed five consecutive Northwest Division titles. The team also earned back-to-back President’s Trophies in 2010–11 and 2011–12, the only times this has been achieved in the franchise’s history.
The Canucks, led by superstars Roberto Luongo, Ryan Kesler, and Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and coached by Alain Vigneault, came within one game of winning the ultimate prize, falling short in Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins.
The team was so strong during this era that .610 was the lowest single-season win percentage during that run. But, as with all good things, the run came to an end after a disappointing 2013–14 season, where the Canucks finished fifth in the newly named Pacific Division, missing the playoffs in the process.
Gillis was let go that April, reportedly over disagreements with team owner Francesco Aquilini regarding the direction of the team. Aquilini supposedly wanted a retool, whereas Gillis seemingly believed a bigger overhaul was needed to get things heading in the right direction.
Since leaving the Canucks, Gillis has only held one other role in hockey, that of a member of the Board of Directors for the Swiss team Genève-Servette HC, meaning he has been out of the NHL now for 12 years.
This lack of involvement in the NHL is the first issue that should give the Toronto Maple Leafs pause when considering whether or not he would be the best candidate to help steer the team in a new direction.
A retooling appears to be the preferred approach, especially if you’re the likes of William Nylander and Auston Matthews, but if Gillis considers a rebuild a better long-term outlook, can the Leafs afford that approach?
More misses than hits in trades
Regardless of which direction the Leafs ultimately follow, the team will need to be heavily involved in the trade market. Offloading assets in return for longer-term investments, or acquiring impact players in the immediacy.
This is an area that Gillis hasn’t had the best results from during his tenure in Vancouver. Gillis excelled in landing players in free agency, offering deals to known commodities looking at winning a Cup with a team already primed to compete for years.
Adding players via trade did not always work during Gillis’ time, with many deals seeing little impact for the Canucks.
Some deals, however, did pay off. The team needed a solid, puck-moving defenceman who could put up points on their way to challenging for the Stanley Cup. Christian Ehrhoff was certainly that.
Gillis saw the need to rebuild before ownership wanted to, so he dealt both Luongo and backup goaltender Cory Schneider. In return for Schneider, Vancouver received the New Jersey Devils’ 2013 first-round pick, which became Bo Horvat. For Luongo, along with Steven Anthony, the Canucks got a young, promising Jacob Markstrom as well as veteran forward Shawn Matthias in return.
Unfortunately, these deals left the Canucks weak in net for a time and did not pay off until a few years after Gillis was already out of town.
There was a lot of tinkering in the trade market from Mike Gillis, predominantly with bottom-end players, to help complement the team’s stars. Outside of a handful of hits, which could arguably include the David Booth/Marco Sturm deal with the Florida Panthers in 2011, most were not overly noteworthy.
Poor drafting record
The Toronto Maple Leafs desperately need to restock the prospect pool over the next few seasons. Whether the team’s retool/rebuild is successful or not, having a stronger long-term outlook is an absolute must for the team.
Mike Gillis might not be the man to do that with his drafting history.
Gillis oversaw six draft classes with the Vancouver Canucks, from 2008 to 2013. Across those drafts, Gillis picked 37 players. Of those 37 players, only six reached the 100-game mark in the NHL. Of those six players, only three of them hit the 100-game mark while playing for the Vancouver Canucks. In total, none of them played 100 games while Gillis was in charge. Only two of those six players played under Gillis.
Bo Horvat is the clear standout of all players selected by Gillis in his draft classes, with the former ninth-overall pick being a key player in Vancouver from 2014 until he was traded to the New York Islanders in the 2022–23 season.
Ben Hutton and Kevin Connauton (who didn’t play a single game for Vancouver) have both had lengthy NHL careers, playing in 573 and 360 regularseason games, respectively, while the likes of Cody Hodgson, Jordan Schroeder, and Brendan Gaunce have only been depth-level players despite some longevity.
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to be landing prospects who can play important roles in the future, and Gillis’ struggles in this area leave much to be desired for a team that may only have two more years to compete before Auston Matthews becomes a UFA in 2028.
Gillis was hugely successful in Vancouver, with strong free agency signings that helped support a core group of stars who were already on the team by the time he replaced Dave Nonis as GM. But with his struggles in trades and the draft, is he really worth the risk for the Leafs?
