Really this is worse than I predicted...

[Canorth]

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[Canorth]

As 250 implies, the points in the OP have been made before. They are reasonable points, but a reasonable rebuttal can be made, as in the response by touchable. I won't repeat my opinion here, although I have been somewhat critical of JB.

But I would like to raise one point that puzzles me. The Bieksa deal apparently fell through because the Canucks thought they were getting a 2015 2nd round pick and San Jose was actually offering a 2016 second round pick.

But why not take the 2016 pick? The Canucks desparately need the cap room. That was one reason for trading Bieksa in the first place. Without trading Bieksa the Canucks do not seem to have enough cap room to sign their remaining RFAs or have a full 23 man roster to start next year. And, personally, I think a second round pick is not bad. At the deadline the best the Canucks could do is probably a second round pick and a lower one than the San Jose pick is likely to be. (I expect both Vancouver and SJ to miss the playoffs next year.)

The Canucks have a mess with Bieksa right now. His mind will not be in the right place to start the season. And the best they can do now is probably a 2016 second round pick. Next year's draft is expected to be another deep draft and I am all in favor of stockpiling picks.

The way I understand it, Wilson yanked the pick at the last second. I am much more inclined to believe this, than an entire Canucks management team mistook 2015 for 2016 - it does not make any sense. It is much more likely that a deal was in place and the terms were changed at the last second.

I dont think they refused the 2016 2nd out of spite; rather, the time frame had changed from less than 24 hrs to an entire calendar year and there was no longer a time crunch. That pick isn't going anywhere neither are the other teams that were interested.

[Seeker1]

There are a number of Canuck "fans" who are widely criticizing Jim Benning. Perhaps, there is some justification for criticizing his trade moves, or, lack thereof, perhaps not. The fans and so called "experts" are not privy to the inner workings of the organization, so it is difficult to ascertain if JB can initiate a rebuild, or if his hands are somewhat tied by the mandate from the owner, Mr. Acquilini. I believe that he still has a number of years left on the payouts to former GM, and the former coach of the Canucks? Bearing that in mind, it is not unreasonable to assume that he wants his Canucks to be a part of the playoff picture every year so that he can recoup some money to partially offset the losses of revenue due to the payouts to his former employees.(The Canucks are also responsible for 10% of the salary of former goaltender, Mr. Luongo, as well, if memory serves me correctly?)

That said, JB's has openly stated that he wants the Canucks to be competitive every year (mandate from ownership?), yet introduce younger, more draft picks to the organization. This dual objective is incompatible, if you want to be a successful organization, over the long term. (Other NHL teams have attempted this method with "one leg on either side of the road," and have suffered with the consequences for a number of years.)

This kind of fuzzy logic is only delaying the inevitable; the Canucks must shed more of their older players a.s.a.p., if they do indeed, want to become a successful power in the N.H.L over the long "haul"

It should be most interesting to see how quickly they come to this conclusion.

[Standing_Tall#37]

So what do you want the team to do?

I think your sig is prophetic. Worse part is I don't think we'll have to make any changes to the current roster to have a decent chance at chychrun

[canucklehead44]

The Vey deal looks really bad, giving up a second for a player about to be placed on waivers.

The Miller deal was terrible for term. I understand the need to bring in an established goalie, but the three year contract pretty much destroyed Lack's value.

He maybe could have done better on the Kesler trade, but overall not bad (I like Sbisa more than most).

However, the Sbisa signing was awful. He deserved to be qualified for one year to see whether he progresses or not. No way he is worth 3.6 million next year.

Dorsett contract was also brutal for both term and value, especially when Kenins could have filled his role.

Baertschi trade was alright.

Overall I would give him a C so far. Gillis did a much better job overall other than handing out NTC like candy. His mistakes were understandable (the Luongo deal allowed us to sign him at a much lower cap it) and even then he got way better return for Luongo than Benning did for Lack.

Drafting is impossible really to judge right away, but I just have a bad feeling about this year other than Boeser. Not quite as bad as 2007, but it does remind me a bit of that draft.

[Solinar]

I think Benning is operating under what would clearly be seen as a mandate from ownership that is almost unrealistic. That being said, he's also stuck with the NTC's from a previous regime making it hard to trade players who want to stay. Edler proved this true when he refused to be traded. Nothing wrong with that, just pushes back what you can get for certain personnel and pushes back the time frame on a rebuild. We are going into the last year of the Hamhuis and Bieska deals, and 1 year closer to the end of Burrows and Higgins contracts. If you take a long look, and have been listening to Bennings thoughts on 2016 being the year that is strong in the draft, you can see he's just waiting out his time, will move Bieska and Hamhuis to contenders at trade deadline, and move Burrows and Higgins next summer at the draft while retaining some salary. All those picks will be there to be had for next year, and we'll be going into a summer with a better UFA crop to spend on. You'll probably want to throw Vrbata in the trade bin too for trade deadline. Means we'll probably be drafting high in 2016 and have a short downtime as opposed to dredging thru the muck like the Oilers did for a decade.