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Canucks GM Gillis: ‘We entertained multiple offers but none fit our expectations’

Mike Gillis

Vancouver Canucks president and general manager Mike Gillis addresses reporters in Vancouver, British Columbia on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, after the team fired head coach Alain Vigneault, associate coach Rick Bowness and assistant coach Newell Brown. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

AP

The National Hockey League’s trade deadline day began with the anticipation that the Vancouver Canucks would make a blockbuster deal involving Ryan Kesler, but a deal never transpired.

Kesler remains with the Canucks for now, although general manager Mike Gillis didn’t get into specifics when asked during a conference call about the future of the second-line center when summer rolls around.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were believed to be pushing hard to make a deal with the Canucks for Kesler, with center Brandon Sutter as the biggest piece reportedly coming to Vancouver. Didn’t happen, however. Adding to the intrigue of whether a deal could be completed or not was a report from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Vancouver’s ownership may not allow for a Kesler trade.

“We entertained multiple offers in multiple situations today and none of them fit with our expectations or our long-term vision,” Gillis said in a conference call Wednesday.

On the subject of ownership’s role in the deadline, he added to reporters: “Ownership is involved in all kinds of decisions that we make and when you’re in situations like this at trade deadline and draft, they’re going to be involved as you … evaluate situations.”

The Penguins weren’t the only team apparently interested in Kesler. The Anaheim Ducks also appeared in play, making two first-round and two second-round picks available, according to Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register.

The fact Ducks GM Bob Murray didn’t have any takers left him confused when it was all over.

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