Jim Benning Review?

[CanadianRugby]

17 minutes ago, ThaShady1 said:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/how-much-confidence-does-each-nhl-fan-base-have-in-their-front-office-a-ranking-of-all-30-teams/

 

Really good friend of mine sent me this link. I found it amusing that we're dead last. Thoughts?

I saw that a thread started on this article, and a thread on Canucks being last in Las Vegas odds (to win the cup) both were locked.  Better not let anyone on CDC read what people outside the bubble think. 

[Tony Da Tigre]

For JB to walk in, inherit a shatstorm where there's little to nothing in the pipeline and too many players with NTC/NMCs and make it to the point now where we have a potential franchise goalie of the present(Markstrom) AND the future(Demko), potential franchise dman(Juolevi), potential elite top-6 forwards(Horvat, Boeser) is nothing but impressive. No one can take over top-line duties right now, but at least we have young guys in the system who might be able to step in...

 

I would give Benning a B+

 

Would've given him an A if he didn't give Sbisa so much $$$.

[Honky Cat]

1 hour ago, CanadianRugby said:

I saw that a thread started on this article, and a thread on Canucks being last in Las Vegas odds (to win the cup) both were locked.  Better not let anyone on CDC read what people outside the bubble think. 

Not at all...it's in the "Around The NHL' forum..

[Butters Stoch]

I'd give him a C. He's made some decent moves but some of his headscratchers even it out a bit. I realize some of these moves are too early to judge but based on my own predictions:

 

Good:

- Baertschi is looking good.

- Big fan of the Juolevi pick even though everyone else wanted Tkachuk.

- Eriksson signing gives us some hope for next season.

- Has managed to draft some prospects with 20th or higher picks that already look like guaranteed NHLers like Demko, Boeser, Tryamkin, and McCann. Not bad considering the number of NHL regulars we've drafted from post lockout until 2013 is pathetic.

 

Even:

- Gudbranson for McCann+2nd. Hefty price but neither team lost this trade, we both got decent returns that fit our needs.

- Bonino for Sutter. Bonino was not impressive at all with us here so even with his recent performance at the SCF, I wouldn't regret trading him. Sutter is a slight upgrade but expensive for the limited offence he can bring.

- Kass for Prust. Neither lasted a year with the teams they were traded to LOL

- Everything else I didn't put in Good or Bad goes here.

 

Bad:

- Miller signing. Expensive, old, past his prime. Not sure what he brings other than leadership for Markstrom but the term was too long. Markstrom should've taken over last season, hopefully he does upcoming season. Would've preferred the Lack/Markstrom tandem.

- Dorsett is way overpaid, it wouldn't be too hard to find a similar player on the FA market for half his salary.

-  Sbisa is overpaid for such a mistake prone defenceman.

- Shinkaruk for Granlund. Traded potential for lower potential and further along in development even though we aren't making the playoffs any time soon. 

- Got absolutely nothing for Vrbata and Hamhuis at the deadline in a season we had no chance of competing.

- Gonna get some hate for this. Virtanen was the wrong pick at 6th. I sure hope he proves me wrong but I'm pretty confident that Ehlers and/or Nylander are and will be MUCH more valuable players than Virtanen. You can make the hindsight argument all you want but all the warning signs were there in Virtanen's scouting reports at the time and it was well known that Ehlers and Nylander had some elite level talent despite their minor size disadvantage which is hardly slowing down small forwards in the NHL nowadays. I don't doubt that Virtanen can be valuable but realistically I see him becoming a cleaner Raffi Torres, not bad but not someone you'd use such a high pick on.

[IBatch]

I think Benning did exactly what he had to do after Luongo and Schnieder were gone - which was pick up a proven goalie in Miller, and adding one of the better free agent forwards at the time in Vrbata - both signed to reasonable term and money showed that they were committed to winning still (more of a re-tool than a re-build). 

Since then my only disappointment is there is really no splash to his ruling (unlike Burke and Quinn days) so far.  Meat and Potatoes, his drafting seems prudent - it must have been hard to do the right thing and pick Oli over Tckchuk but time will likely prove that was the right thing for the team.    Thought we could have done better with the Lack and Prust from Montreal trades..but I don't think he's finding it easy to get trading partners other than Florida, Guddy trade was the best thing he has done trade wise by far so far.  

His signing's can seem a little expensive, but they really are not for players entering there best contract years (Dorsett, Sutter,) and Markstrom might turn out to be one of the best deals on the team if he finally makes it happen this year (or turn out to be a small anchor he will have to work magic on to disappear).

 

Overall I would give him a 8.5 out of 10, the ranking would be lower (6.5) if he didn't have to deal with such a mess left after Gillis and his NTC's and goalies that don't want to play with us anymore, and butt-hurt whiners that want out etc. etc. which took quite a bit of wiping to deal with.    

[GreyHatnDart]

8 hours ago, oldnews said:

"Just over 200 people responded to the survey. Here’s how much confidence they have with every team on a scale from 1-to-10."

 

Hahahaha that was my face to it exactly. 

[higgyfan]

10 hours ago, CanadianRugby said:

I saw that a thread started on this article, and a thread on Canucks being last in Las Vegas odds (to win the cup) both were locked.  Better not let anyone on CDC read what people outside the bubble think. 

Remember when 'people outside the bubble' thought Garth Snow was the worst GM in the league?  Or were you just a Rugby fan back then?

[butters]

15 hours ago, CanadianRugby said:

I saw that a thread started on this article, and a thread on Canucks being last in Las Vegas odds (to win the cup) both were locked.  Better not let anyone on CDC read what people outside the bubble think. 

No one is thinking we are winning the cup at this stage, so I don't know how that fits in.

[CanadianRugby]

5 hours ago, higgyfan said:

Remember when 'people outside the bubble' thought Garth Snow was the worst GM in the league?  Or were you just a Rugby fan back then?

No I don't remember that.  I remember people being surprised that he was hired, but you make your opinions based on actions taken.  Did people say Snow sucks as GM 2 years after he was hired or were they just surprised he was hired in the first place?  Just like people were surprised when Gillis was hired.  It's been 2 years since Benning was hired and you can see the direction that the team is trying to take.  If it's too early to have an opinion on Benning you better get some notices to the throngs of cheerleaders he has on CDC. 

[Bagofcats]

3/10

 

I want to rate him higher but until he adds size and skill upfront the Canucks are going to be a mediocre team at best. What's the point of watching when you play uninspired, boring hockey. I don't want to see 2-1 games for the foreseeable future. Without size and skill in the top 6, teams can't be competitive in the playoffs. Our small forwards are going to get wrecked. Drafting Juolevi and not Tkachuk cemented the fact Benning isn't going after the Boston model. I thought building a big, skilled team is what he got him for? Oh well. Oilers should be ripping it up soon. Bought a Draisaitl Jersey! Atleast now have something to look forward too when it comes to hockey. 

[higgyfan]

1 hour ago, CanadianRugby said:

No I don't remember that.  I remember people being surprised that he was hired, but you make your opinions based on actions taken.  Did people say Snow sucks as GM 2 years after he was hired or were they just surprised he was hired in the first place?  Just like people were surprised when Gillis was hired.  It's been 2 years since Benning was hired and you can see the direction that the team is trying to take.  If it's too early to have an opinion on Benning you better get some notices to the throngs of cheerleaders he has on CDC. 

Snow was really mocked as a gm in his early days.  I also recall a lot of NHL fans making fun of Gillis in his first couple of years as well.  like you said; 2yrs is too early to know how good a gm will be. Obvioulsy it's never to early for people to have an opinion.

[CanadianRugby]

3 minutes ago, higgyfan said:

Snow was really mocked as a gm circa '93/'94.  I also recall a lot of NHL fans making fun of Gillis in his first couple of years as well.  like you said; 2yrs is too early to know how good a gm will be. Obvioulsy it's never to early for people to have an opinion.

Are we talking about the same guy?  Snow was named GM in 2006 and won executive of the year (Sports Illustrated).  I made fun of Gillis, for about 6 months until I saw the moves he was making.  

[leomessi]

25 minutes ago, Bagofcats said:

3/10

 

I want to rate him higher but until he adds size and skill upfront the Canucks are going to be a mediocre team at best. What's the point of watching when you play uninspired, boring hockey. I don't want to see 2-1 games for the foreseeable future. Without size and skill in the top 6, teams can't be competitive in the playoffs. Our small forwards are going to get wrecked. Drafting Juolevi and not Tkachuk cemented the fact Benning isn't going after the Boston model. I thought building a big, skilled team is what he got him for? Oh well. Oilers should be ripping it up soon. Bought a Draisaitl Jersey! Atleast now have something to look forward too when it comes to hockey. 

let me redirect you to your teams forum

 

http://fans.oilers.nhl.com/community/forum/25-oilers-discussion/

[higgyfan]

10 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

Are we talking about the same guy?  Snow was named GM in 2006 and won executive of the year (Sports Illustrated).  I made fun of Gillis, for about 6 months until I saw the moves he was making.  

Yeah, I put the wrong dates in my post.  Anyways, I do recall him getting laughed at by fans during his early days.  He also took a lot of flack for the Vanek trade ( a first-round pick in either 2014 or 2015, three second-round picks and forward Torrey Mitchell).

 

Here's a quote from an article written after the trade " Snow and the Islanders take more gleeful whacks than a beer-filled piñata from critics. It’s not always warranted. But here, now, when it comes to Thomas Vanek, they are completely valid and encouraged: This is an epic failure in judgment of assets and marketplace by Snow. This was a terrible investment; like, "Wolf of Wall Street" bad.

 

Here's another article...notice the last paragraph is similar to the critics of JB: http://toomanymenonthesite.com/2014/04/20/islanders-bleakest-future-nhl/

 

.

[GreyHatnDart]

3 minutes ago, higgyfan said:

Yeah, I put the wrong dates in my post.  Anyways, I do recall him getting laughed at by fans during his early days.  He also took a lot of flack for the Vanek trade ( a first-round pick in either 2014 or 2015, three second-round picks and forward Torrey Mitchell).

 

Here's a quote from an article written after the trade " Snow and the Islanders take more gleeful whacks than a beer-filled piñata from critics. It’s not always warranted. But here, now, when it comes to Thomas Vanek, they are completely valid and encouraged: This is an epic failure in judgment of assets and marketplace by Snow. This was a terrible investment; like, "Wolf of Wall Street" bad.

 

Here's another article...notice the last paragraph is similar to the critics of JB: http://toomanymenonthesite.com/2014/04/20/islanders-bleakest-future-nhl/

 

.

You didn't like Wolf of Wall Street? What? Leo at his finest and T&A everywhere? What?

[kingofsurrey]

Great to read JB's reviews.

 

We can re-read when he and Willie are both fired next May...

 

Time to bring in an experienced managment team to get this club back on track to a cup. 

[IBatch]

On 2016-07-13 at 6:42 PM, higgyfan said:

Snow was really mocked as a gm in his early days.  I also recall a lot of NHL fans making fun of Gillis in his first couple of years as well.  like you said; 2yrs is too early to know how good a gm will be. Obvioulsy it's never to early for people to have an opinion.

Look at all the flak and heat Sakic was getting until he traded Duchene.  He was patient both with his team and maximizing his haul for a blue chip piece.  Now he's getting loads of applause.

 

And your bang on about Snow, it was considered a possible Milbury 2.0 possiblity at the time, in the end he's learned on the job and not at all as deserving of all the criticism as expected.

[Baggins]

10 minutes ago, IBatch said:

Look at all the flak and heat Sakic was getting until he traded Duchene.  He was patient both with his team and maximizing his haul for a blue chip piece.  Now he's getting loads of applause.

 

And your bang on about Snow, it was considered a possible Milbury 2.0 possiblity at the time, in the end he's learned on the job and not at all as deserving of all the criticism as expected.

Snow went from retiring as a player to immediately becoming the Isles GM. Benning retired as a player then spent 5 years as a scout, 6 years as director of scouting, and 8 years as an assistant GM. I'd say Benning was far better prepared for the role of GM than Snow was.

[IBatch]

2 hours ago, Baggins said:

Snow went from retiring as a player to immediately becoming the Isles GM. Benning retired as a player then spent 5 years as a scout, 6 years as director of scouting, and 8 years as an assistant GM. I'd say Benning was far better prepared for the role of GM than Snow was.

Absolutely.  It was beyond weird seeing the guy who went after McSorely after Brashear got heavy lumber, putting on a suit a few years later with the owner saying " now it's time to have a grown up job" as his endorsement.

My post didn't have anything to do with Benning or the work he put into getting the big job, that seems like a correct career trajectory, not from a career back-up sometimes starter to the GM seat, his ripping was coming in from all sides (from a team that had Mad Mike and his wacky legacy it seemed somewhat fitting but really wtf?).  

 

It's amazing he's still there, I guess he's earned his stripes but it's still an unbelievable story.  Snowman has assembled an up an comer.  Hockey is full of curve balls.  Hopefully we can be one too.