Vancouver Canucks fans might be having a flashback of a bad episode of "The Apprentice" today when they learned General Manager Dave Nonis was canned after a sub-par season by the Canucks.
The Canucks failed to make the playoffs two out of the last three seasons, and when they did they had an early second round exit at the hands of last year's Stanley Cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks.
Nonis did not address their lack of offense in the offseason, with signings such as Brad Isbister and Byron Richie who played most of the season as either a healthy scratch or a fourth liner.
I can't really blame Nonis for not pulling the trigger at the Trade Deadline, when big names like Hossa, Richards, and Ollie Jokinen were thrown around. Those aces came at a high price.
The question now is, who is next??
Rumors out of Anaheim have ex-Canucks' GM and current Ducks' GM, Brian Burke, wanting to head back to Vancouver, and also ex-Head Coach Pat Quinn as a possibility.
Seeing Vancouver's track record, they like to hire inside guys—Nonis was Burke's right hand man for many years in Vancouver before finally getting the big chair—so others think Director of Player Personal, Steve Tambellini, might also be a fit.
It's no secret Vancouver struggled this year in the scoring department. They had a lackluster defensive performance due to an injury-riddled blue line and a rough go at the later stages of the season by average All-Star goaltender Roberto Luongo, possibly due to his wife's complications during child birth.
Expect Vancouver to hammer out a couple of deals this summer to vastly improve offense. Rumors has it that Fabian Brunnstrom, the Swedish Sniper out of the Swedish Elite League, said he wants to play in Vancouver. He would be a low risk signing, as he would only cost cash and not a draft pick.
Vancouver also has the 10th overall pick in a draft, one of the deepest in recent years.
With Canucks' Captain Markus Naslunds' contract ending this season, he will either take a pay cut or take a hike, which would also free up some cap-space, giving Vancouver some extra spending cash to fill two to three holes on offense.
It's your call fans. Who do you think Vancouver will bring in as GM, and what kind of summer deals will they be mulling around to improve this team?
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