loading...
By Pieter Uni
You’ve got to hand it to Mike Gillis, he really knows how to get a bang for his buck.
The Vancouver Canucks general manager has made some incredibly deft moves since his arrival almost two years ago, all while paying discount prices.
His brilliance came to light this offseason when he locked up the Sedin twins to five-year contracts at a very respectable price.
By paying the twins $6.1 million a year, he secured the services of the duo that has amassed 288 goals, 634 assists and 922 points prior to the beginning of this season and ensured that the backbone of the franchise won’t cripple the future financial outlook to the Canucks.
Both Henrik, who sits atop of the NHL points race with 101 points, and Daniel are having terrific seasons and thanks to Gillis, they’ll have four more years to get even better.
While he could have sat on his hands after he signed Hank and Dany, Gillis instead went out and signed veteran Mikael Samuelsson to three-year deal worth $7.5 million. In return, the former Red Wing has career bests in goals (30) and points (53). Gillis wasn’t done there, signing spark plug Ryan Kesler to a five-year deal earlier this month, ensuring the nucleus of the team will be around for a long time.
But I would argue that his best move was made last March, when Gillis locked up Alexandre Burrows for four years.
How has Burrows, an overachiever who played for the Columbia Inferno of the ECHL as recently as the 2004-05 season, repaid Gillis?
The super pest has 34 goals in 75 appearances this season, more than superstars Jarome Iginla (32), Rich Nash (31), Patrick Kane (28) and Evgeni Malkin (24).
Not a bad signing for Gillis who used to get the most out of general managers when he was a former player agent.
Snap shots
Former Rockets defenceman Tyler Myers is a shoe-in for rookie of the year. While the buzz at the beginning of the season surrounded New York’s John Tavares, Colorado’s Matt Duchene and Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman, Myers has quietly become the league’s best first-year. The 6′8″ Houston, Texas native is third in points among rookies, first in assists, second in plus-minus, all while leading his Sabres in ice time.
Tim Tebow gets no love. The former Florida Gator quarterback is one of the biggest NFL Draft stories this year, but for all the wrong reasons. Tebow led his Gators to two national titles, set the SEC record for most rushing touchdowns and won a Heisman Trophy. But because of a change in his throwing mechanics, he is projected to fall all the way to the fourth round before being selected. His individual statistics are comparable to Peyton and Eli Manning, and are better than JaMarcus Russell and Tim Couch, all of whom are former first rounders.
Tags: alex burrows, Mike Gillis, Tim Tebow, Tyler Myers, Vancouver Canucks
