With training camp 3 weeks away and Sundin not returning any phone calls, including Roberto Luongo's voicemail that the big Swede decided was best left unanswered, it's time for me to finally admit defeat and get on with looking at potential options for this team's roster. Assuming the left coast is not the option for Sundin, GM Mike Gillis is faced with many more options of his own to ponder.

Are there any players out there that can adequately fill the key offensive centre role that this team clearly needs?

If not, do you concede Pavol Demitra is your second centre then try and find a winger to compliment him?

Was Kyle Wellwood really an important signing? (Please say no!)

There is money to spend, potential trades to be made and Gillis' own words to live up to.

In his first months on the job our new GM has had much to say as to what he wants to do with every aspect of the organization, but everyone knows that hockey is a results orientated business and at this point the only measuring stick is the current roster and there's not a whole heck of a lot there that is gonna get this city excited. There's still time to change things and no lack of desire to make it happen, but that doesn't mean it will all work out as Gillis' first offseason is quickly coming to a close.

There is a chance that he may be able to secure some offense in the aftermath of Sundin signing, especially if that team is the Rangers, although personally I can't see a playmaker like Gomez as a player that compliments the Demitra signing and provides enough balance opposite the Sedin line. I like Gomez a lot and having a couple of cups on your resume along with some local ties after playing in Surrey and Tri-Cities as a kid makes him intriguing, but he does much the same that Demitra does ... who is gonna be potting the goals on all those plays these two pass-first-shoot-second guys will be setting up?

This team needs a balanced top 6 like nobody's bizness and to do that the Demitra line, like all good NHL lines, needs balance within it. A lot of people, including myself and Director Of Player Development Dave Gagner, think that Mason Raymond deserves a legitimate top 6 opportunity. With Gomez and Demitra I'd assume they'd want some size on that other wing which would severely limit Raymond's chances, and Gillis has repeatedly said that young players need to be given the opportunity to take on significant roles and to do that they need to know that the team will provide those opportunities. I think Gomez is the most likely to move from the Rangers if they need to do something, but I really don't think he would be the right addition to this team right now.

Darren Dreger is saying that the Canucks are very much interested in Anaheim's Mathieu Schnieder and that it could happen "within hours of a Sundin announcement." Like the potential Gomez trade, the Ducks emphasis for the deal is to dump salary which always means you get more talent in return than you give up, and a puck moving Dman that would instantly QB your powerplay is never a bad thing, but this would seem to be going against the original plan and type of players needed. It wouldn't be a bad thing, but would still dictate a further move, packaging another blueliner to fill the needs up front.

There are plenty of other teams out there that appear to be in Cap trouble, either of the CBA variety or pre-set by internal budgets, so there will be some decent players available once this whole Sundin thing is settled. Not all of the teams are automatically going to be just unloading salary to the competition to get under as some teams have players that will go on LTIR or get waived, etc, but a glance around the league shows a few interesting potential non-Sundin-options.

Getting back to Gillis and his words, the development of younger players appears to be the key focus amongst the many that he is implementing throughout the organization. Without a regular supply of young talented players taking on important roles on and off the ice on a continual basis the potential for long-term success is severely diminished. These are words that I strongly believe he will adhere to by leaving spots available for young players to see if they have what it takes to fill them.

If young guys will have opportunities, then even just adding one more decent forward to the group and seeing what comes of it for the first few months or so wouldn't be the end of the world. The chances of failure in the short-term would be higher of course, but getting to see all there is to see within the ranks up close in your first year at the helm would give Gillis a better foundation with which to make the more important long-term decisions.

Along with Raymond and Bernier the forwards dressed for any game could include a Hansen, Grabner or Hodgson, who according to Gagner has already improved substantially in his skating by working extremely hard on it this summer at his facility. I was really surprised at his genuine upbeat tone and he strongly hinted that Hodgson could challenge for a spot on the opening night roster, which I would have labelled at a whopping zero percent chance of probability 2 months ago.

Catching lightning in a bottle with a bunch of young guys all hitting potential at the same time would be nice of course, but the benefit is just getting the chance to see what your players can do under big league conditions and will give a much clearer indication if they have everything that is required to adjust and be successful at the NHL level.

As a new GM, Gillis needs to learn as much as possible as soon as possible and many of the players here, from Henrik Sedin to Michael Grabner, are probably mostly unknowns to him. Unfortunately it probably won't satisfy the "win now" mandate that he was given by Ownership, but these are also the same people who now have given their rookie GM the highest budget in the league for player development. Gillis & Co have a very steep learning curve in assessing what they have in the cupboard and the argument can easily be made that rotating younger players through the big team on a regular basis immediately will help protect that budget, ensuring more dollars go to those who truly have the best chance to be impact players in the long-term.

So going on the theory that the lack of Sundin pushes the team into more of wait and see approach, then all we need to look for is a good/decent/nothing-great guy that can confidently take a 2nd line centre spot giving some potential to the now, while facilating the concentrated auditions for the future. A lot of these players potentially available wouldn't be many people's first, second or even third choices, but could come in and play a role on this team under these circumstances.

Washington is a team that has some cap issues and an abundance of guys who can play centre. Once Fedorov was re-signed at 4 Million for this year it has seemed that someone would be moved. There is talk of Nylander, who is an ex-client of Gillis, but he has a NMC and I'm thinking he's not looking to ask his wife for approval to move out west two years in a row.

The guy that I think might be a target for Gillis off the Caps is Victor Kozlov, who could potentially compliment Demitra's talents quite well being more of a shooter playing in the middle than most are, while adding much needed size (6-4 225 lbs).He's only making 2.5 and would be another player in a contract year, joining Bernier and Wellwood as those motivated to play well for the next contract.

While missing only one game playing for both the Islanders and Capitals the last two years, Kozlov has managed respectable point totals of 51 and 54 while going a combined plus 40, on teams not exactly known as being defensively orientated. With the emergence of Semin and Backstrom this last season he saw his minutes playing with Ovechkin drop, so his 16-38-54 stat line aint half bad at all. As well, with Nylander back his ice-time is sure to drop, so a move would work well for everyone involved.

Another team looking to move some money would be the Blackhawks and it just so happens that they also have a couple of forwards which conveniently also have one year left on their contracts in Martin Havlat and Robert Lang, either of whom could potentially mesh with Demitra while trying to prove themselves to the rest of the league. Each have obvious risks but are servicable players who do have something to contribute and at worst would be one year experiments that would come cheap so far as giving up assets.

After having so long to think about what the possibilities of what this team could do with Sundin and Demitra opposite the Sedins and Bernier everything else pales in comparison, and more than likely Canuck fans are going to have to accept that fact. We're also going to have to accept the idea that making the playoffs could be far fetched, but in the long run this upcoming season may go a long ways towards setting the path for the future.

When Dave Nonis was let go Mr Aquilini said that missing the playoffs wasn't acceptable, but asking for a complete makeover of a team in such a short period of time was a long shot at best. Management gave it their best identifying the number one player for their needs and going to an unprecedented extent to get it done. Now what? We know something will be done, but I can guarantee it won't be nearly as sexy as what might have been.

Unfortunately, the truth is that there really is no Plan B, at least not one that is similar to Plan A. There always has only been one legitimate #1 centre out there and that player appears to have said no to the offer ...there is no one else to target that can bring what Sundin could have brought this team.

I think it is time for Canuck fans to to understand that Plan B for this team may be one that will end up being labelled a "transistion year." A year with little expectations of on-ice success but one that provides a completely revamped management team the time it needs to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of their organization, while any players that are brought in will be in contract years providing exit strategies for the team while hopefully benefitting from the individual player's need to play well.

If this is the worst case scenario, it's not like we will be completely deprived of any excitement as we await to see what the team and it's young players are capable of as they battle as many as 7 or 8 teams for one of 3 playoff spots in the west. We have heard that our prospect pool, while still not nearly good enough, is better than it's been in years and I can think of worse things than watching the younger players try and secure their futures on this team, especially knowing that it would be allowing our new GM more time to assess what it is he actually has at his disposal to help him shape the team as he wants it.

While this would fulfill the pledge of developing players as a top priority, it would also contradict Gillis' words used when he spoke of the need to capitalize on the fact that Luongo is signed for the next two years and that, by far, is my biggest concern with such a strategy.

Nobody wants to win more than Luongo and the fear that he may want to explore free agency in the summer of 2010 if he feels that this team is not able to compete is a very real one, but may be a risk that Gillis has no choice but to take. There still will be the following year to add key pieces to take the team to the next level before he is up for renegotiation, and hopefully the pieces needed will be fewer based on the improved foundation of the team's new core.

Everyone wants to win, and the sooner the better, but we have to remember it was just 4 months ago that this franchise, after some 20 years of the Quinn/Burke/Nonis family presiding, changed direction in the executive office and to expect immediate results is somewhat unrealistic ... not impossible, just unrealistic.

Building a winning organization takes years, and I am willing to sacrifice my expectations for a season if that is deemed the best plan available. Asking or expecting a complete changeover top-to-bottom to A) get it all done and B) result in instant success upon completion on the first try was always going to be a pretty tall task.

Overall I like the changes that have been made on and off the ice, and no one is arguing that they are enough, but I am willing to give those that are now making the decisions more than 4 to 6 months to get things started and on a different track. Some very distinct ideas and philosophies are being implemented to try and change the culture of this team, and changing the culture always takes time, especially after 20 odd years.

None of us want to hear the words "next year" over again, but fans very rarely have much say in these things, so if you're gonna be a not-so-happy-camper sacrificing a year, then I suggest you start preparing yourself for the possibility now so you'll take the news better. Besides, with little expectations of performance as a team, the upside, when they do show a spark or two and have some success, is a great place to visit.

To me, I guess the worst case scenario aint too bad. We've got some new blood, are definitely a tougher team to play against and have a few younger guys that I am looking forward to seeing if they have what it takes to get the job done with the big boys ... just keep this transition thing to one year only gentlemen, please and thank you.

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