"Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis 'faced the nation' Wednesday night taking questions from GM Place season ticket holders eager for info on the team's future plans.

The hot topics of the hour were all touched on, but one mantra played heavily throughout the event; the Canucks are looking for youth players to step up in a big way.

"Alex Edler got the opportunity to step in last year and play meaningful minutes, and I can tell you every team in this league wants that player, and they want him because he had an opportunity to play; nobody knew about him before that," said Gillis. "So if we continue in that pattern and get young players to step up I think the coach will have multiple opportunities to create more offense."

In regards to who might be captain for the Canucks this season, Gillis said, "In the event that we're unsuccessful in our bid to attract [Mats] Sundin, that's the very area that we've been talking about, which is younger players stepping up and filling void ... We have the younger players, we believe, that can step into those places and be successful."

Player development was a recurring theme, with Gillis stating team ownership will spend whatever he asks for on developing draftees; "We have to get younger players into this lineup that will be star players and we're committed to that."

On the lack of big name free agency signings, Gillis again pointed to youth as his rationale for avoiding players that might have eased the panic of fans. The thinking, he said, was to avoid signing older players to long term contracts to leave room for youngsters to get minutes as soon as their form warrants.

On the prospect of signing Daniel and Henrik Sedin to contract extensions, Gillis said, "We've started the process already and we're hopeful we'll get that completed in the not too distant future.""