Jim Benning(2014) vs Mike Gillis(2013) draft

[hiebskey]

Both did a great job.. But 2013 was a deeper draft Imo. I really think trading a second for Vey was a great move by Benning too.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Both years were very solid years no doubt, but I would say 2013 was a better year overall than 2014.

[KSniper88]

I really think Fox can surprise people, the guy can score

[GrogZilla]

Cassels could end up being a steal from last year.

Frosling could be another great 5th rnd D pick this year. A little undersized but tons of talent.

Last years 1sts has more upside then this years. Horvat was a ballsy pick & Shinkaruk falling to us was unbelievable.

This year seemed to be 2 safe picks, Virtanen is a good prospect & will be a good player, but probably the lowest upside of the 4 possibilities there. McCann falling to us, well ok solid prospect but I dunno if he has any more upside then Cassels.

[JeremyCuddles]

Too many variables. 2013 was a deeper draft. 2014 was good considering, but 2013 is better.

[GrogZilla]

I really think Fox can surprise people, the guy can score

Yeah after reading an article where Fox talked about working hard on his shot last summer, practising hard to get it away fast I've been pretty high on him.

He was always projected to be a 3rd line agitator, checker, but a 3rd line checker who develops a world class shot becomes a top 6 winger.

[TheRussianRocket.]

Know one knows yet. We'll find out in 3-5 years and either way, doesn't matter. It's the same team. No point in comparing within the organization lol. All those players are under one team and all that matters.

[R3aL]

Id say a tie.

Bennings draft could have easily been much greater:

Virtanen

McCann

Demko

Mckeown

Glover

Russian Chara

But I am happy with Linden Vey that was a solid trade, I really really wanted Roland but it was a good hockey trade and I have a good feeling about Vey.

and we walked out of the draft with a top PWF, top goalie, and one of the top 2 way Centremens plus I think the largest dmen of the draft lol

[saucypass]

Really wish we could've drafted Jack Glover, Roland Mckeown, and Ondrej Kase (with our last pick) to be honest...

But as usual, I'm excited for our 5th round pick

Forsling looks like he could be a steal in the fifth for Vancouver AGAIN.

[Grape]

As of now, Gillis 2013 looks far more superior compared to this year's draft. It might have been Gillis' best draft during his tenure here and I truly believe that we'll look back a few years from now and say, "man Gillis actually helped us a lot in that '13 draft." However it'll take years to figure out which draft was better.

[kassian 09]

2013 was such a deep deep draft.

[Phil_314]

It depends, and we won't see the results of all the moves for awhile, but if most of them pan out it'd be close. On paper, 2013 looks good because Horvat has "future clutch scorer" branded on him by media, and Shinkaruk has "Zach Parise/ Pat Kane upside", plus Cassels seems to be developing and Subban's a decent offensive D-man prospect, while Cederholm's also signed.

Virtanen has good upside too as a scoring winger, and McCann I think can be even better than Horvat, in that he has more pure skill "projected as Krejci". People tab Demko as "Schneider 2.0", and Tryamkin could be a steal, as could Forsling. Both years' late picks are meh IMO.

However, just seeing Benning's willingness to cut guys loose to build the team he wants is good to see, it shows that he's not afraid to go after what he wants, unlike Gillis who went after what the league wanted instead of crafting his own success. Also, just revamping the team with the assets acquired is a good step in the right direction IMO (plus by getting Dorsett it probably means Sestito's not a regular in the lineup anymore! )

[Winter Soldier]

Both drafts are equally good in my eyes. The big four of the last two years notwithstanding, I'm keenly following the careers of later picks such as Cassels and Tryamkin with great interest.

[VegasCanuck]

I picked both. Not really a fair assessment though. I think 2013 was overall a much deeper draft, maybe the deepest since 2003.

Time will tell, but Benning overall rocked this weekend with trades and picks.

[Dogbyte]

Gillis sucks.

[Jester13]

Considering these kids' b@llz haven't even dropped yet, I'm gonna go with:

E) too early to tell

[Heretic]

This year because we dumped Kesler and didn't drag it on and on and on.

[goblix]

I think the McCaan pick and Shinkaruk pick are similar in terms of upside and both could end up being great steals for a low first rounder.

Horvat is going to be a stud, he plays the game smart and I value smarts highly which is why I really wanted Reinhart.

Virtanen looks to be a great player too but doesn't seem like he has a good Hockey IQ so I'm wary about him but he could be a player like Mason Raymond but will actually be able to drive to the net and positionally protect the puck with his body and speed.

I like the Demko pickup especially since Gillis nerfed our team's goalie depth

[aqua59]

I'm just curious to know which draft do you think we took the best players. I really liked Mike Gillis selections last year and believed a lot of them have potential to crack our lineup eventually. I also think that Jim Benning chose some really good prospects as well, who aren't far away either. I personally feel that even though the hype is on Horvat and Virtanen (because they were selected top 10) that Shinkaruk and Mccann were complete steals and could be just as good, if not better. I don't think I've ever seen us make such great selections on the types of players and with such great upside ever in my life. I see 5 players from the Gillis draft and 4 players from Bennings that could make the line up and be studs for us. Which draft did you like more?

Gillis(2013)

Horvat, 18, was selected 9th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He had 33 goals (33-28-61) in 67 regular-season games in 2012.13 for London of the OHL and was named the Most Valuable Player of the OHL playoffs.

Shinkaruk, 18, was selected 24th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He served as Medicine Hat’s captain during the 2012.13 season and finished first on the team in assists (49) and second in both goals (37) and points (86). He also led the Tigers in playoff scoring with three goals and three assists in eight games.

Cassels, 18, was selected 85th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The 6’0”, 178-pound centre collected 43 points (15-28-43) and 61 penalty minutes in 64 games played for the Oshawa Generals.

Subban, 18, was selected 115th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. In 2012.13, Subban finished sixth among Ontario Hockey League defencemen with 51 points in 68 regular season games (15-36-51). Internationally, Subban helped Team Canada earn a gold medal at the 2012 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and played for Ontario’s bronze-medal team at the 2012 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge.

Anton Cederholm, 18, was selected 145th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. In 2012.13 he collected 13 points (5-8-13) in 36 games with Rogle junior.

Williamson, 18, was selected 175th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He recorded 11 points (1-10-11) and 35 penalty minutes in 23 games for Spruce Grove of the AJHL in 2012.13.

Liberati, 18, was selected 205th overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. He notched nine points (3-6-9) in 42 games played for London of the OHL in 2012.13.

Benning(2014)

Virtanen, 17, collected 71 points (45-26-71) and 100 penalty minutes in 2013.14 with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League. He finished fifth in the league in goals scored.

McCann, 18, finished second on Sault Ste. Marie in goals (27) and points (62) during the 2013.14 season. In 2012.13, he received Ontario Hockey League All-Rookie Second Team honors after recording 44 points (21-23-44) in 64 games.

Demko, 18, backstopped Boston College to a Frozen Four appearance in his freshman year, stopping 29 shots for the Eagles in their 4-3 victory over UMass Lowell during the NCAA Northeast Regional Final. In the Frozen Four semifinals, they were defeated 5-4 by Union College, who went on to win the National Championship.

Tryamkin, 19, spent the 2013.14 season with Yekaterinburg, collecting seven points (1-6-7) and 38 penalty minutes in 45 games. He also represented Russia at the 2014 World Junior Championship where he recorded three points (1-2-3) in seven games.

Forsling, 18, played for Linkoping in 2013.14, collecting 18 points (6-12-18) in 44 games and played for Team Sweden at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.

Pettit, 18, played for Erie of the OHL in 2013.14, recording 10 points (5-5-10) in 53 games played.

Stewart, 18, played for Prince Albert of the WHL in 2013.14. He recorded nine points (5-4-9) and 69 penalty minutes in 55 games.

Good subject, the problem here is that this years class doesn't have the perspective last years class had because of post draft performance.

So I'm voting on GM performance as far as divisiveness in making the actual moves and Benning wins hands down. I think we're watching that same Gillis syndrome happening in Ottawa . Waiting as Gillis did killed any motion forward the Canucks had at last years draft. The entire attitude towards moving in the teams direction is totally different this season. There is clear purpose behind Benning's and Lindens choices and they're telling you why they are making them.

Gillis said reset and get bigger. We all waited and it never happened. Gillis just couldn't do it and I had a felling other GM's around the league just didn't want to deal with him. Last year Gillis still drafted some Dwarfs. I like Suban but is he really going to fill out and play like his brother in this league for years to come? Is he a big defenseman?

On the other hand Benning stated he was going to get bigger and he has through both the draft and trades in a matter of 2 days.

We don't know results of this draft because no one has played in the NHL yet, but we do know Benning is a decisive GM. Benning actions have exposed Gillis lack skill as a GM and even more what his GM counter parts felt about him.

I'm going on the fact that Gillis didn't do what he stated he would do at the completion of last season. I believed in what Gillis was saying and waited as many others did, with nothing in the end to hang on to. Other than small parts and some free agent signings in the beginning Gillis has been exposed as being indecisive, over valuing what he had and handcuffed b y the fear of making a mistake.

Regardless of this draft and the last we've all seen the difference between a good GM and a weak one.

Benning wins hands down.

[Puck'nAnimal]

Think both draft years were good. Horvat is a solid pick as was Shinkaruk. This year the 'Nucks picked another two first rounders. McCann was slated to go higher but dropped to 24 (and really it was a bonus pick off the Kesler deal) and we drafted a good solid big bodied LW in Virtanen. It will take some years to really determine which prospects will develop before we can ascertain just how good of a draft either one was.