Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis wants to bring in some seasoned playoff veterans for the 2010-11 season.
He said the Canucks proved they can excel during the regular season, but come playoff time the team becomes plagued with breakdowns leading to early eliminations.
"I think we clearly didn't compete the same way we did in the playoffs as we did in the regular season," said Gillis. "We have to take some time and evaluate why that happened."
Gillis also said the disappointment the Canucks suffered at the hand of the Chicago Blackhawks is still too fresh to objectively assess the situation.
The Canucks were knocked out of Stanley Cup contention for the second consecutive year by a young Blackhawks team lead by agitator Dustin Byfuglien and sniper Jonathan Toews.
"I believe we have strong leadership in our dressing room," said Gillis. "We just need to nurture it a little further to get more out of it."
Canucks captain, Roberto Luongo's leadership skills were called into question after he failed to live up to playoff expectations.
"We're going to look at every possible way to improve," said Gillis. "Roberto has all the characteristics of a great captain and leader. He's the hardest working guy on the team."
Head coach Alain Vigneault agreed with Gillis' summation of Luongo. Both agreed it was too early to say whether or not Luongo would be painting a "C" on his goalie mask in the fall.
The Canucks may look to some of their young talent to fill their roster for next season, especially with free agency in July and salary cap considerations.
"This summer we have lots of room. We have all of our core players signed," said Gillis.
"We constantly need to make improvements but the one thing we need to have happen is we need to have some push from younger players that we've selected."
The Canucks currently have no prospects in their lineup that Gillis picked in the NHL draft.
Gillis said his team needs young stud players, like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Toews or Michael Del Zotto, who have participated in high levels of competition since the age of 14.
Once the young players start to contribute to the team, Gillis said the Canucks' game plan will start being effective.
The Canucks have never won a Stanley Cup in team history. They came close twice, once in 1982 losing to the New York Islanders and once in 1994 losing to the New York Rangers.
Gillis hopes adding experienced post-season players will help push his team to victory.
"We need to give them [the Canucks] the support they need to perform in the Stanley Cup playoffs," said Gillis.
"It's now time to make the steps to get through the second round, onto the conference finals and onto the Cup finals."
