Canucks rumored to be close to shaking up management team after disappointing season

There's a lot of smoke emanating from the city of Vancouver on Tuesday morning, and the source of it isn't the smoldering ruins of the Canucks' wasted season. At least not directly.

Rather there's a whole host of rumors, stemming from some of the most reliable sources in the business, suggesting that dramatic changes in the Canucks' management structure are imminent. 

"Hearing whispers that perhaps change is coming sooner rather than later with the Canucks, perhaps as soon as today or tomorrow," tweeted ESPN reporter Pierre LeBrun on Tuesday morning. "Nothing concrete as I said, but those are whispers out of Van city. Will it be the GM? or the coach? We shall see..."

TSN's Bob McKenzie chimed in as well, tweeting that he was hearing the same rumblings out of Vancouver. "(The Vancouver) situation is highly volatile, and also highly unpredictable," McKenzie tweeted. "A LOT of money involved in making changes. Lots of moving parts."

Both general manager Mike Gillis and head coach John Tortorella signed lucrative five-year contracts last summer. LeBrun spelled out the money aspect of this saga last week on an Insider Trading segment on TSN:

Nothing has been officially decided but all indications lead to the fact that the Canucks are headed towards a separation with their coach John Tortorella. It's going to be a costly one, he still has four years and $8 million on that deal he signed last summer, but he's never really been a good fit with this roster and I think he'll pay the ultimate price for a very disappointing season in Vancouver.

The more intriguing decision is with the GM, Mike Gillis, what will ownership do with him? He's had a long run there, a lot of people believe he deserves another year there to right this ship, but that decision has not been (made).

Vancouver Province beat writer Jason Botchford handicapped how all of this discontent was likely to play out in his game story Monday night. His suggestion? Perhaps it's Gillis who will find himself out of work, while Tortorella remains the Canucks' bench boss:

Still, no one knows what the Aquilinis are going to do and I don’t believe there is a betting favourite.

Some believe the owners would like to fire Gillis, and could pull the trigger before the end of the season. Many called his interview Thursday a success, but it may not have been viewed that way in the owners’ suite...

So you can imagine how they felt with the perception that in the TEAM 1040 interview Gillis was hinting he hasn’t been calling all the shots here.

Gillis’s comments are open to interpretation, but there are those who believed there was a “my way or the highway” tone directed at ownership.

When he said things like "I deviated from things that have been successful," some took it as him suggesting he hasn’t been in total control.

If the owners do fire Gillis, they will be hoping a new general manager would be willing to keep Torts.