From Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province:
Trevor Linden met with Boston Bruins president Cam Neely on Thursday which means, naturally, he sought permission to talk to Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning about the vacant GM’s job in Vancouver.
But he didn’t. Or maybe he did but he didn’t make the request through official diplomatic channels. It’s hard to know.
As you might have guessed by reading that excerpt, the Canucks’ new president of hockey of operations didn’t share many specifics from his trip to Boston. In meeting with Neely, it’s possible Linden was mostly curious to learn how the Bruins run their operation, one former player in charge of a team he used to star for to another.
As guarded as Linden was in his comments, he did seem to suggest that the hiring of Benning, or any other candidate currently with another organization (like, say, Ron Hextall in Philadelphia), wouldn’t necessarily have to wait until that particular organization was no longer participating in the playoffs.
“The one thing I’ll say is I spoke to several GMs and I haven’t got any push back on timing, whether they’re playing or not,” he said.
Time is a concern for Linden, who still has to decide on the future of head coach John Tortorella. Unless, of course, Linden chooses to leave the coaching decision to the new GM, in which case Tortorella may have to twist in the wind a bit longer.
“I know from the outside people are wondering what’s going on,” said Linden. “But this isn’t a two-week project. The ripple effect of each decision is significant. I have to understand things in the full situation. not just a sliver here or a sliver there.”
