The hot rumour coming out of Vancouver in the wake of Dave Nonis's firing is that the Canucks may seriously be considering the path less traveled for his successor.
While all the usual suspects are being mentioned – from the currently employed Brian Burke to as many unemployed GMs as you can list - a number of sources are suggesting that Canucks owner Franceso Aquilini is seriously entertaining the notion of going outside the traditional lines for the team's next GM.
Sources say former player agent Brian Lawton, who quit the agent business last year to focus on getting a job in hockey management, is said to be extremely well thought of by the Canucks' hierarchy. Whether Lawton, a former NHL player who was chosen No. 1 overall in the 1983 Entry Draft, is a leading candidate or just one of the candidates remains to be seen, but it's clearly a name that should not be ignored.
And there is a sense Aquilini is interested in getting the new GM in place in fairly short order.