Nebcanuck – I think it’s safe to assume that Gillis will bring in offensive talent (how “talented” they will be is of course up to debate). But the alarming thing to me is that he has NEVER coached an offensively-talented team. In Montreal he had the likes of Recchi, Damphousse, Rucinsky, Koivu, Corson, Zubrus, Linden (snicker), Savage, etc at his disposal and couldn’t use them effectively. He’s had even less to work with in Vancouver honestly; assuming Gillis solves that, we’ll still back at square one wondering how long it’ll take him to employ his old tactics. Maybe he’ll adapt, maybe he won’t. If this team goes 5-20 out of the gate, sadly it wouldn’t be shocking.

Once the signing frenzy begins, we’ll see if Gillis is willing to give him some offensive pieces. Until then, we have little choice but to assume that Vancouver’s scoring failure is as much of not more due to the inept talent as opposed to the coaching.

I’d like to see Vignault coach the team to success. But I also would love to see him get canned, if he deserves it. It’s really a matter of the GM more than anything at this point.