The New Jersey Devils have interviewed 61-year-old Mike Gillis to fill their currently vacant general manager position.
It appears the New Jersey Devils‘ search for a new general manager is underway. After firing Ray Shero in January, the team has now interviewed Mike Gillis for the position, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Gillis, 61, served as the Vancouver Canucks general manager from 2008-14. In that time, the Canucks made the postseason five times and reached the Stanley Cup Finals once in 2011. They lost that series in seven games to the Boston Bruins. While the team failed to win it all that year, Gillis earned the 2011 General Manager of the Year Award.
Before becoming a general manager, Gillis played in the NHL in six separate seasons (1978-84). He put his talents on display for the Colorado Rockies (now the Devils) and Boston Bruins.
Since Shero’s firing, Tom Fitzgerald has taken over as the team’s interim general manager.
Chris Ryan of NJ Advance Media reports that Fitzgerald will be given “serious consideration to be the next full-time GM,” but that the search will include a wide range of candidates.
While the Devils have at least two candidates for the position, Friedman’s report also states their search will continue into the offseason.
This won’t be the only decision the organization will have to make either. They additionally must choose who their next head coach will be. The team fired John Hynes and promoted Alain Nasreddine to interim head coach in December.
New Jersey is a respectable 16-14-8 under Nasreddine, but it appears the team will go with an external option.
The Devils are currently 25-27-12 (62 points), sitting in last place in the Metropolitan Division. They have 18 games left to play before the regular season comes to a close.
