The ax finally fell on Mike Gillis. The Vancouver Canucks rise and fall under the former Team President and General Manager is well documented. Since losing the Stanley Cup to Boston in 2011, they were eliminated in back-to-back first round series by the Kings and Sharks winning just once. After falling yesterday to Anaheim, they failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time in six years.

Following a sweep to San Jose, Gillis replaced Alain Vigneault with former Rangers coach John Tortorella signing him to a five-year $10 million contract. A move Vancouver management was in favor of. Feeling they needed a tough cop, they brought in Tortorella hoping it would light a fire under the team. Instead, the Sedins have struggled mightily after re-signing through 2017-18 that pay each $7 million per season. Injuries to Alex Edler, Henrik Sedin, Alex Burrows and Mike Santorelli didn’t help.

Neither did a lack of production from their top players. Daniel and Henrik Sedin have combined for 24 goals and 91 points. Ryan Kesler leads Vancouver with 24 goals but is a minus-17. Former Ranger Chris Higgins ranks second in goals with 17. The only Canuck who’s performed after getting an extension. Edler is a team worst minus-34 with 21 points. A colossal fantasy bust I know too well since I took him. Kevin Bieksa has four goals and 24 points but is just minus-five by comparison. Burrows has just five goals and 14 points in half a year.

It’s pretty obvious that this roster is devoid of talent. Outside of the Sedin twins and Kesler, there’s not much scoring depth. Combined with Tortorella choosing rookie Eddie Lack over Roberto Luongo, Gillis eventually shipped the franchise netminder back to Florida for Jacob Markstrom and Shawn Matthias. A trade so unpopular that he got blasted. While some of it was justified, it’s where Luongo wanted to go. What made it so bad was it came less than a year after he traded Cory Schneider to the Devils at the 2013 Draft in exchange for the ninth overall pick (Bo Horvat). The butchering of the goalie controversy contributed to his dismissal.

Recently, Gillis even criticized Tortorella on an appearance on Team 1040 radio last Thursday. Making reference to the team’s style, he made it clear he didn’t prefer a tight checking defensive game. But rather the higher tempo previous coach Vigneault employed. Ironic.

“I want us to play up-beat, puck possession, move the puck quickly, force teams into mistakes, high-transition game,” Gillis said. “I think we have the personnel to do it. If we don’t have the personnel to do it, they’ll be changed.

Interesting, he also noted that he didn’t know if he’d still be there. Already on thin ice, opening his mouth in public sealed his fate. It’s hard to agree with him on the roster. Zack Kassian has played better lately upping his goal total to 13 and point total to 27. Acquired in 2012 from Buffalo for Cody Hodgson, the former first round pick is more of a power forward who mixes it up. His 124 penalty minutes rank second on the Canucks. A better point producer, Hodgson ranks second on the Sabres in scoring with 41 points (19-22-41). His nine power play goals lead them.

Nicklas Jensen has three goals and three assists in 14 games so far. Jordan Schroeder has been a bust so far. The Canucks’ future lies with Horvat, who came over in the Schneider swap. They’ll also look towards 2013 first round pick Hunter Shinkaruk. Jordan Subban is also in the organization on the back end.

What does it all mean for Tortorella? If the rumors are true about former popular captain Trevor Linden taking over in the front office as president, it’s hard to say. Bob McKenzie seems to think which would be a popular move to attract more fans. Season subscription renewals are down. Linden could pick a new GM who then would decide on Tortorella. Regardless, he’s still owed four years and eight million. Why bring him in if you’re going to clean house after one bad season? It doesn’t make sense.