Well besides, where does this idea that Gillis is "hated by other GMs" come from? Just because he was a player agent? So, what, GMs hate him because he was acting in the best interest of his players? If I was a GM, I'd be pretty suspicious of any agent who DIDN'T.

because Nonis was going to guarantee us a cup by this season right? this was the final year of his "plan" right? :rolleyes:

Doesn't matter anymore. He's opted for salary arbitration so he's ineligible for offer sheets now.

dammit! just the canucks luck. either that or he doesn't want to go from contenders to pretenders

cooke signs with the pens for 2 years.

well he had a lot of minutes with datsuyk throughout the year on the second line.

is it just me or is gillis just not signing anyone...and having a shitload of salery left over

You do need to reserve 10 million incase Sundin does take the offer, and you don't necessarily need to splur on UFAs to build a winner team.

well, by the looks of it, our 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines are set...

we have 20 million to spend on 2-3 1st line players via trades, UFA signings and offer sheets.. things are not looking that bad..

There's no one left via UFA and offer sheets (as all the good RFAs are now in arbitration and cannot sign offer sheets). Only Demitra, Sakic, Selanne and Sundin are left and other than Demitra, they're all far fetched.

Via trade...if we're going to get a first liner, we'll need to give up something good...like Alex Edler or Kevin Bieska or Mason Raymond + high draft picks...and even then, we're not looking at too many opportunities.

bye bye BIEKSA!^^

^ huh?

10 char

he meant... he's looking forward to trading bieksa for a forward.. methinks..

don't get me wrong, I wasn't much of a Nonis supporter..I just feel that had we kept him on for slightly longer and perhaps secured that brunstrom guy it would've been a better move stratigically speaking

I agree........ Bieksa out of those mentioned should be the first one to go.

Why? Bieksa is fucking awesome.

My favourite Canuck.

He's one of two Canucks who will stand up for Luongo after the whistle.

Why would you get rid of him? fuck our team will be full of pussies next season.

That's the only thing good about bieksa - he's a tough mother fucker and is decent offensively but otherwise, he's a defensive liability and imo does not deserve to be our highest payed D-man.

because bieksa is probably the highest sought after canuck right now. kesler is another, but since we have that problem of overabundant dmen's, why not trade the player that can get us the most in return. i like bieksa too, but after all, this is business. its whats best for the team

agreed. this team needs more toughness.

He is pretty young.. and for his age group in the league for D men he is right up there as far as overall quality..

Don't forget how much he has improved over the last 2 years and how his minutes have gone up to justify this. From a business point of view, I believe Bieksa is a gem the Canucks should hold onto because I believe in 3-4 more years he will be in his absolute prime and an worth a lot more.. his value IMO will only increase and I don't believe it is in the Gillis' or the Canucks' best interest to let go of their young and improving talent (ie Kesler).

Where would we be if we let go of Linden 3 years in? or Ohlund? These two examples are players who have shown to be great examples of smart investment management by the Canucks.

Why exactly is Bieksa so "Tough" ? because he has that wince on his face all the time? or because occasionally he will go into some kind of rage mode which he needs to be in to make the agressive plays while normal people can just look...normal doing it?

personally i think bieksa is so overrated, and sometimes I even think the canucks signed him based purely on how he looks. The guy severely underperformed last year and had a bourdon-esque look to him on the ice, trying too hard to make things happen and over commiting to plays, then he goes and gets injured [bad luck or not] and never even comes back..

i think he is expendable

dude had a lacerated tenant on his leg. translation = one big freaking cut on his leg, freak injury that for sure hurt his performance last year

lol rage mode....KEVIN SMASH!!!

problem was, bieksa wasn't doing that good before his leg injury. it could very well be possible that he got overwhelmed with those minutes last year whereas his rookie season he wasn't playing top 4 minutes.

If trading KB makes the team better I'm all for it.