DrJockitch

I think the value of “toughness” is really overblown in the current NHL. Having Ryan Reaves on the Rangers would not have prevented the Chris Simon goon show from running through the bread man. The game is too fast, people aren’t out there making changing the decisions they need to make in a fraction of a second based on the size of the goon at the end of the bench. Team toughness is not measured by a ruler or scale or related to the country the players came from. It really is almost more the system they play and the leadership group as well as player buy in. Do you need to be

Good post. I don’t really like how the Aquillinis get bashed on this board. They are not afraid to put the resources in. OEL is getting paid $10.5M next three years, no problem. Front load contracts so they can be moved and effectively increase spending above the cap every year, no problem. One thing the FA has made clear though is he wants his father to see the cup go to Vancouver and his father is getting very old. So there probably is some pressure there to rush things along which is likely part of the reason why these deals were made. That being said, if we had let the clock r

Did you see the length of that post? My goodness does there have to be a complete compendium of all draft picks, scouts and AGMs listed for it too be enough or just something that fits your narrative? Your points are fair as far as Benning’s limitations, although certainly with their own bias but man a lot of work was put in by the OP. I do think that we can just make the assumption here that anytime we talk about a GMs record in drafting we all recognize that it is a team effort, Benning is just the head of that team and right or wrong the one that gets the credit and blame.

I think some people just can’t give Benning credit for anything. I heavily criticize a lot of what Benning does, justifiably but this is one area he does well. I think if you step back and look at the returned value of players drafted in later rounds with a broader measure of success it looks even better. A 6th or 7th rounder that plays in the AHL should be considered a successful pick as that is generally better than most late rounders. Even if he doesn’t make the NHL club in the end. He should get credit for picking Petterson as that was a bit off the board. QH was a no brainer so do

Would take that laughing all the way to the bank. Getting out of Tyler Myers contract would be great moving forward. Cap flexibility and a potential and offensive upgrade. Not sure why St. Louis would do this but maybe they like Myers. Stranger things have happened

Man, can’t even joke on this board without someone getting huffy. maybe it should be Princess Huffy. I have teenage daughters that are less dramatic than most of the posters here.

I think that last year the Flames said “How do we get better?” and the only response they could think of was sign Vancouver players tells you they are a mess. I mean if I am looking for a successful team to emulate Benning’s Canucks would be pretty low down my list.

The potential for that is there now. I think that the league has recently shown that they take their rules very seriously. The Arizona penalty for breaking the draft rules was harsh and this is a franchise they have coddled like no other. They aren't going to do what they did for Lou Lamoriello, letting him off the hook for cap circumvention, again.

I wish they would fix the LTIR system. When a guy like this has a legit career ending injury why does the team need to be penalized a second time? We lost a valuable player to injury and then lose some cap flexibility on top of that. If it happens in season, fine LTIR until the end of the year but then just let them retire and disappear from the cap while insurance pays them out. Would be better from the clubs and would get rid of a lot of the cap circumvention possibilities.

Problem with the internet, looking to blame someone and pile on. The pairing just doesn’t work. As mentioned earlier though a lot of that is usage as they were primarily used situationally when already loosing to try and push the pace and take risks.

Making room for a $10M contract with him and MAF.

This is NJ Subban we are talking about, not Montreal or even Nashville Subban right?! I have room on my team for Montreal Subban all day. The other ones not so much.

Benning is that you? Cant put those bad habits fully behind you I guess.

We are deeper, faster, bigger and younger. Forwards are a lot deeper and better balanced. D could go either way but will be exciting one way or another. Goaltending is improved or at least a push. We know we have a starter in Demko now and, well Halak can’t be a lot worse than Holtby last year. The Pacific stinks which is also a benefit. Toronto looked like a world beater last year because their division sucked.

I think people should really get off Morgan Reilly’s back as much as Quinn’s. It is really hard to score in the NHL and you need D that are game breakers. You hope you have the right partners and systems to cover them but you need creativity to score. There is a reason scoring D-men keep ending in the minuses and keep getting paid better then their more defensive minded partners. A lot is deployment as well. You put these guys out more when you are loosing and need to push for a goal. It is that opening up and desperation that leads to the minuses they get very frequently. Quinn an