Mike Gillis

Mike David Gillis (born December 1, 1958 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional player and current general manager of the Vancouver Canucks.

Playing career
Mike Gillis spent his junior hockey career with the Kingston Canadians of the OMJHL from 1975–1978, playing in 111 games, and scoring 132 points (39 goals-93 assists). He added on 18 points (4G-14A) in 12 playoff games. Gillis missed most of the 1976–77 season due to a leg injury. He was drafted in the 1st round, 5th overall by the Colorado Rockies in the 1978 NHL Entry Draft.

In 1978-79, Gillis played 2 games with the Philadelphia Firebirds of the AHL, getting no points, and spent 30 games with the Rockies, getting 8 points (1G-7A). He split the 1979–80 season with the Rockies, getting 9 points (4G-5A) in 40 games, and the Fort Worth Texans of the CHL, with 22 points (9G-13A) in 29 games. Gillis started the 1980–81 season with Colorado, and had 18 points (11G-7A) in 51 games before being sent to the Boston Bruins for Bob Miller. Gillis then had 6 points (2G-4A) in 17 games, for a total of 24 points (13G-11A), which would be his career high.  Gillis also appeared in a playoff game, going pointless.

In 1981–82, Gillis then registered 17 points (9G-8A) in 53 games, and earned 3 points (1G-2A) in 11 playoff games. He spent the majority of the 1982–83 season with the Baltimore Skipjacks of the AHL, getting 113 points (32G-81A) in 74 games, good for 4th in AHL league scoring. He also played 5 games with Boston, earning an assist, then played 12 playoff games for the Bruins, earning 4 points (1G-3A). Gillis split the 1983–84 season with the Bruins, getting 17 points (6G-11A) in 50 games, and with the Hershey Bears of the AHL, getting 29 points (8G-21A) in 26 games. He played 3 playoff games with Boston, getting no points.

Gillis retired from playing hockey in the summer of 1984.

Post-playing career
Upon retiring from playing hockey, Gillis coached the Queen's University Golden Gaels hockey team in 1985–86. He earned a law degree from Queen's University in 1990, and became a player agent. His clientele over the years included Pavel Bure, Markus Näslund, Bobby Holík, and Mike Richter among others.

With the firing of Vancouver Canucks' general manager Dave Nonis at the end of the 2007–08 season, Gillis was introduced by the organization as Nonis' successor on April 23, 2008. Entering into the free agent market for the first time, Gillis made immediate changes, choosing not to re-sign former client and longtime Canucks captain Markus Naslund, as well as Brendan Morrison. He made an aggressive pitch for unrestricted free agent centre Mats Sundin with a two-year, $20 million offer. The deal would have made him the highest paid player in the league. Sundin chose to spend more time pondering his future and missed the beginning of the regular season, but eventually accepted a one-year, pro-rated $8.6 million offer on December 18, 2008, arguably Gillis' most significant move in his first year as a general manager.