A Fair Criticism of Jim Benning

[SealTheDeal]

13 hours ago, IBatch said:

In all fairness Gillis also gave out his clauses to keep salaries down so we could have a better team and to plahyers entering free agency.  Benning didn’t add clauses to Horvats last year(s) of his contract, although he could have, wonder how Boesers end up, and once they are in their prime years and ready for their third deals I’m not so sure these guys won’t get the same treatment depending on how things go, whether it’s Benning or someone else running the show by then.   Definitely agree that third liners don’t usually get those though.  And don’t think Myers has one either so far so good.  

I believe Myers has a full NMC in his first year, a NTC the next two and a modified NTC in the final two years.

[MikeyD]

I'll tell ya one thing, that Ferland contract just upped his status. Hell of a signing. Easily should have netted 4.5 - 5 mill. I'm super pumped that A, we got him, and B, we got him for cheap. 

[Darius]

7 minutes ago, MikeyD said:

I'll tell ya one thing, that Ferland contract just upped his status. Hell of a signing. Easily should have netted 4.5 - 5 mill. I'm super pumped that A, we got him, and B, we got him for cheap. 

I wonder if this is the first big sign of the "Petey" effect.  Apparently there were a few teams trying to attract Ferland. From Ferland's perspective it must be a big bonus when a team comes to you and says you can play shotgun with our new wonder kids on the top line...might beat other offers where he perceived that he would be used as more of a grinder/third liner?  

[MikeyD]

12 minutes ago, Darius said:

I wonder if this is the first big sign of the "Petey" effect.  Apparently there were a few teams trying to attract Ferland. From Ferland's perspective it must be a big bonus when a team comes to you and says you can play shotgun with our new wonder kids on the top line...might beat other offers where he perceived that he would be used as more of a grinder/third liner?  

That's exactly what I was thinking. I think with Hughes and Petey teams are looking at this team on the up and up. It's like how McDavid brought it a couple guys before that team collapsed into oblivion again. Hopefully that's not us! I'd love to keep a momentum going.

[nergish]

At several points in the last couple years, I've been reminded that Jimbo's rebuild will require patience.

But the timeline for legitimate growth has matched what I anticipated from the time he was hired.

There's a clear difference between bargain bin shopping while you wait for even one young star to be ready, and going in for win-now mode.

 

 

How to fill top end of lineup: Draft or Trade 

 

(or FA if your team plays in New York City)  

 

Pettersson, Boeser, Hughes. I include your starting goaltender in this bracket, and we have Demko. 

 

Everybody knows what a star player looks like. It's in the way they carry themselves.

 

Young players who are peaking now lead this team.

Pettersson was Playoff MVP in Sweden for heaven's sake. He is the kind of player that considers not winning the cup a loss. Every year.

Quinn Hughes is already being penciled-in as a key contributor in the NHL, and it will be interesting to see how he handles the rigour of the league... but I think he's actually being undersold. His talent is world-class. There are smooth skating, puck moving defensemen, and then there's Q. Hughes.

 

JT Miller is an unknown as far as chemistry is concerned, but not as a player.

From seeing his off-ice persona, he gives us a cockiness we've lacked since Kesler's beast mode days.

If for some bizarre reason his skill set does not align with what Jim and Travis are trying to do, he is easily tradable.

 

Gaudette will have an opportunity to show he's got top-6 skill. Most likely our 3C, but has shown to have a scoring touch at lower levels.

Podkolzin. Unleash the beast.

Woo should be a minute muncher.

Maybe Hoglander?

 

 

 

 

 

How to fill your middle: Free Agency.

 

Tyler Myers.

Ferland.

Rousell.

Stecher.

 

 

 

Bottom: Minor Trades or FA

 

Tyler Motte was a sharp trade. A lot of guys hit a major wall jumping to the heavy, physical pro game. Coming out of college, Motte was no longer able to be a dominant offensive player, but was able to adapt his game. Now you get an energy guy with underrated hands and vision who plays on your 4th line.

Josh Leivo. Looked like a pretty competent hockey player with great size. We gave up nothing.

Zack MacEwen.

Tanner Pearson could slide down the lineup once young players graduate.

Jordie Benn. Solid veteran D.

Beagle is an okay signing simply because of his character. Keeps the kids honest.

Jim was not involved in bringing in Jacob Markstrom, but he did show a lot of faith in his abilities by holding onto and developing him. Marky's not ready to give up the crease yet. Not a bad problem to have...

 

 

I for one am pretty tired of the boy's club of General Managers. "Dim Jim" is actually just a genuinely nice guy who loves the game. Other teams do not 'take advantage' of him. He's highly respected league wide. Has anyone heard the way Brian Burke talks about Benning?

 

Has he made mistakes? Plenty.

Have we iced some pretty sad lineups under his regime? Yes.

But none of those teams represented his overall vision. This current one finally does.

 

 

If this team crashes and burns, that is squarely on Benning.

Edited July 11, 2019 by nergish