Benning Doesn't Get Enough Credit

[selkirkcraig]

14 minutes ago, BCNate said:

I truly feel that if this team stays relatively healthy throughout the year, and adds 1 or 2 key UFA's, that they will be in the mix for a playoff spot all year.  Likely they would have been last year had they not lost Hamhuis, Edler and Sutter for huge portions of the year.  They are much deeper going into next year than they were last year.

i hope you are right, but i don't think so.  as many are right to ask, "where will the goals come from?"  i am thrilled that we are finally rebuilding our d core but as was pointed out on a local radio station, if you look at the playoffs teams, they have 6-8 scorers.  how many legitimate goal scorers do we have?    

[StraightFlush]

I like how benning isn't afraid to trade for who he wants, even if it costs an extra draft pick. Shinkaruk for granlund trade was a bit out of left field, but if benning feels that shinkaruk was redundant or can't hack the nhl I trust his judgement.

 

i also trust benning to use the picks he does have and get solid players. It's no coincidence that a former head scout is willing to "throw those picks away", as some are quick to state, if it means getting a player he knows is good already. 

 

A slick trade no one mentions, besides a 2nd for beartschi (brilliant btw), is Jensen for etem. Jensen wasn't impressive at all, traded for etem who, if I'm not mistaken, has more nhl games, points, and has a higher ceiling. 

 

Gudbranson trade was sheer robbery but that's just me. Won't know until/if McCann pans out, but once again I trust JB. 

 

The man is good. Very good. 

[Wrecken]

1 hour ago, Stanky Legs said:

You guys are so easy to please. That lineup is nothing compared to most teams in the west. That prospect pools is inferior compared to most teams in the NHL. 

If we are to easy, you are impossible.

[MeanSeanBean]

1 hour ago, Stanky Legs said:

You guys are so easy to please. That lineup is nothing compared to most teams in the west. That prospect pools is inferior compared to most teams in the NHL. 

I wish you would leave 

[Mattrek]

12 minutes ago, Stanky Legs said:

I didn't see any significant upgrade from the before and after. It will still be a bottom 10 team this year. Prospects-wise, it isn't that much better either.

 

How do you not see improvement? Let's go through this one by one: Vrbata is now gone and unlikely to get very much on his next contract. He was dead weight for us this year. Higgins went from 2nd line to AHL. Burrows went from 2nd line to 4th line. Sutter (9p 20 gp) for Bonino (29p 63 gp) is unfair to judge, but before Sutter got injured he was on fire. Jury is out on that one. Richardson you could make an argument was better, but Etem is younger, has more room to grow and Richardson is on the opposite spectrum. Vey went from 3C to 13th forward. Kassian compared to Virtanen or Rodin. I know who I'd pick. Dorsett's the same and Hansen while an improvement over Vrbata isn't quite what we need with the Sedins, which is why I'm hoping we sign a FA for them, so again I'll give you that one. Matthias is missed, but we couldn't carry his cap and Gaunce and Granlund will make a nice 4th line duo as centres instead.

 

Defense with Tanev and Edler are the same. Hamhuis and Sbisa vs. Hutton and Gudbranson is no contest on which is the better pairing. Sbisa went from top 4 to top 6 with the Russian beast playing alongside. Compared to Bieksa and Stanton there's no contest. Even our 7th guy is a huge improvement. Pedan over Weber any day of the week.

 

Goalies don't really need to say much, but Lack is now struggling and Markstrom is killing it. Guess the GM made the right choice there. 

 

So please explain to me how you see zero improvement from our old line-up to our likely new one.

[StraightFlush]

The kassian trade sucked for everyone involved, but it started with hodgson. He should have been kept till draft day.

 

prust didn't want to be here and was terrible

[Wrecken]

8 minutes ago, selkirkcraig said:

i hope you are right, but i don't think so.  as many are right to ask, "where will the goals come from?"  i am thrilled that we are finally rebuilding our d core but as was pointed out on a local radio station, if you look at the playoffs teams, they have 6-8 scorers.  how many legitimate goal scorers do we have?    

We were not a playoff team, and we are about to get into the UFA market and a 5th OA pick. Its about to happen.

[Solinar]

When it comes to judging Benning, I think a lot of the hate stems at finishing 28th, not 30th, while still having our vets.  The fans wanted to blow it up, and were willing to help plant the charges.  What they got was posturing and moves that seem more aligned with what Calgary did for so many years as they wasted away in mediocrity.  And when you say you're going for the playoffs and finish 28th, when everyone knows that's where you're going to end up with the team you have, people doubt your credibility and ability to actually see reality.

  That being said, I do enjoy some of the moves he's made, and as long as I don't listen to him speak, and judge him on his actions alone, I can see that he's trying to rebuild us from the back end forward.  When faced with a daunting task of rejigging the team with an aging roster, several ntcs, and little to no prospects of consequence, and picks already out of the cupboard from the previous regime, I have to say I see more hope now than under Gillis.

  This years UFA and drafting/trading in the summer is going to be what will cement him as either a mad genius, or just another mediocre GM in a long list of mediocre canadian GMs who try to have it both ways.  Please the fans, while putzing around trying not to piss anyone off and do the hard work of actually making a contender before the fans call for his head on a stick so we can rinse and repeat.

[Mattrek]

9 minutes ago, selkirkcraig said:

i hope you are right, but i don't think so.  as many are right to ask, "where will the goals come from?"  i am thrilled that we are finally rebuilding our d core but as was pointed out on a local radio station, if you look at the playoffs teams, they have 6-8 scorers.  how many legitimate goal scorers do we have?    

 

Or maybe, just maybe because our defense was terrible our offensive players held back to make sure they could cover whenever Weber or Bartkowski or whoever would do an oopsie and give the puck away ending in an odd man rush our way. Maybe they didn't score, because they had to make up for our defending deficiencies in our line-up. Now with our blue line looking solid I'm betting there's going to be a lot more scoring then last year, because we can let our offence do its thing knowing we've got a solid back-end finally.

[Crabcakes]

2 minutes ago, selkirkcraig said:

i hope you are right, but i don't think so.  as many are right to ask, "where will the goals come from?"  i am thrilled that we are finally rebuilding our d core but as was pointed out on a local radio station, if you look at the playoffs teams, they have 6-8 scorers.  how many legitimate goal scorers do we have?    

On defense, if things go according to plan, I think we see Larsen on the 3rd pair, not Sbisa.  Benning may decide to keep one of Hamhuis or Sbisa but not both.  I think Benning prefers Hamhuis.  So if they can't come to terms with Hamhuis, he'll walk.  If they can, look for a Sbisa trade.  This is a cap issue.

 

Edler Tanev

Hutton Gudbranson

Tryamkin Larsen

Hamhuis/Sbisa Biega

Pedan

 

So we have offensive drivers on D in Edler, Hutton, Larsen

 

On forward it's clear that they're bringing in a free agent to replace Vrbata.  The goals come from:

1. Free Agent (Erickson, Okposo) 25
2. Daniel 20
3. Sutter 20
4. Baertschi 20
5. Horvat 20
6. Hansen 15
7. Virtanen 15
8. Rodin ?
9. Hank 10
10. Etem 10

Scoring needs punching up but it's a developing team.

[Crabcakes]

I just listened to Benning interview on Sportsnet after the Gudbranson trade.  I'm getting the sense from him that the management team feels that they can't sell a bottom feeding team in this market.  I know that the media has been saying this for some time but this time I'm getting it from Benning.  I can believe him, the media I am skeptical about.

 

I've been on my soap box talking about how being competitive helps with the development of young players, and I still think that but the other reason is putting bums in seats.

 

Fair enough, they have a 6 OA (Virtanen) and will soon have a 5 OA.  Every now and then a top pick is available by trade 3 OA (Gudbranson).  Other than that, they will be looking at turning over the team with 12-20 OA picks.

[Mattrek]

1 minute ago, Crabcakes said:

I just listened to Benning interview on Sportsnet after the Gudbranson trade.  I'm getting the sense from him that the management team feels that they can't sell a bottom feeding team in this market.  I know that the media has been saying this for some time but this time I'm getting it from Benning.  I can believe him, the media I am skeptical about.

 

I've been on my soap box talking about how being competitive helps with the development of young players, and I still think that but the other reason is putting bums in seats.

 

Fair enough, they have a 6 OA (Virtanen) and will soon have a 5 OA.  Every now and then a top pick is available by trade 3 OA (Gudbranson).  Other than that, they will be looking at turning over the team with 12-20 OA picks.

 

If he finds guys like Brock Boeser then that is perfectly ok with me.

[GoodCanadianKideh]

As the saying goes "Build from the back-end out".  Benning has done a great job with the goaltending in bringing in an established vet (Miller) to mentor the younger goalie (Markstrom).  The future looks great as well with the young prospect working his way up (Demko).  Goaltending is established and hopefully, it works out with proper development.  Goalies also take the longest to develop and Benning rapidly sped up that process to where goaltending is now a strength.

 

Defensemen take years to develop and all of a sudden, we have a strong, young core of defensemen that have a great mix of size (Gudbranson, Tryamkin), speed (Hutton, Tanev), and scoring (Edler, Hutton).  They also have a balanced mix of right and left D-men that has eluded the Canucks for years.

 

Forwards usually develop the quickest and that is the area that Benning will target through this draft (Dubois or Tkachuk) as well as with Boeser.  Our forwards are a bit suspect, but hopefully Baertschi and Horvat will continue to develop along with Virtanen.  Sutter is young and looks like a good 2/3 centre.  We still have Hank to take tough minutes and mentor the younger Centres.  If Benning adds a few more pieces this off-season through trades or free agency, we should be looking competetive again.  Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing what this group can do this year!!!

[BCNate]

1 hour ago, Qwags said:

While I'm not expecting much to change next season (bottom 10 finish), I do believe we'll be a lot more consistent and much harder to play against. Who knows? We could also surprise next year.

I'm pretty pumped to have a young fast team that is going to be much more fun to watch.  Nobody can predict what happens to other teams in terms of chemistry, injuries, and players regressing.  There were an awful lot of people who thought the Sharks to miss the playoffs.  Every year there are players that come out of nowhere and surprise people...Ghost from Philly being one.  I have no expectation of a long playoff run, but am looking forward to watching this team grow next year.  Benning has done a great job of changing the dynamic of this team in his 2 years.  

[combover]

One of the lowest scoring team last season, no offence from the d, a lineup that lack scoring and skill both up fron and on the back end. Trading picks for fring nhlers,bottom pairing d men, and 4th liners. His return on the trades he's made has been pitiful. Compete incompetence when dealing with ufas . Horrible contracts. 

There isn't an hockey expert (someones who's paid )out there that thinks this guy is good.i hate cbc tsn as much as the next guy but a some point you need to realize that when everyone saying the same thing chances are it's right. 

The only direction benning has is to get big and less and less skill. 

Of all the trades he's made the only guy that's even show any sign of top 6 skill is bear. That is just plain brutal. Throwing picks away like candy then whining at the draft that he has no picks. 

Top 3 worst gms in franchise history(Keenan nonis benning and the stats to prove it),worst gm currently working in the nhl and will be happy next summer when he's fired. That's before the lottery ball is picked with Vancouver having the top chance. 

So Yeah he should get loads of credit for putting together one of the least skilled teams in franchise history. 

K-Lowe = Jim benning.

[BCNate]

1 hour ago, Stanky Legs said:

I didn't see any significant upgrade from the before and after. It will still be a bottom 10 team this year. Prospects-wise, it isn't that much better either.

Hutton, Virtanen, Brock, Tryamkin, Demko, #5 this year, (maybe Baer, and Horvat, are not prospects, anymore).  I have been a fan of this team for many years, and we have never had a prospect pool as deep as this.  Yeah, some teams have a better pool, but they have also had a lot of year of watching their teams get smoked year after year.  We have got to watch a lot of playoff hockey over the past ten years, and have a pretty nice pool of legit prospects to look forward to.  Things aren't as bad as the media will have you believe.

[ScotianLifestyle]

Some of these posters taking a mega dump on benning should be ashamed of themselves, as if whatever he does is clearly not up to par, Although some of the moves have been questionable, the majority of the moves he made make sense.

 

Gudbrandson trade was solid, I really did like what Mccan brought to the table, but this is the Western Conference.

 

[Ghostsof1915]

4 minutes ago, combover said:

One of the lowest scoring team last season, no offence from the d, a lineup that lack scoring and skill both up fron and on the back end. Trading picks for fring nhlers,bottom pairing d men, and 4th liners. His return on the trades he's made has been pitiful. Compete incompetence when dealing with ufas . Horrible contracts. 

There isn't an hockey expert (someones who's paid )out there that thinks this guy is good.i hate cbc tsn as much as the next guy but a some point you need to realize that when everyone saying the same thing chances are it's right. 

The only direction benning has is to get big and less and less skill. 

Of all the trades he's made the only guy that's even show any sign of top 6 skill is bear. That is just plain brutal. Throwing picks away like candy then whining at the draft that he has no picks. 

Top 3 worst gms in franchise history(Keenan nonis benning and the stats to prove it),worst gm currently working in the nhl and will be happy next summer when he's fired. That's before the lottery ball is picked with Vancouver having the top chance. 

So Yeah he should get loads of credit for putting together one of the least skilled teams in franchise history. 

K-Lowe = Jim benning.

Maybe wait until mid-season next year when we see what kind of team we have, the draft picks he makes, and who is doing great, and who isn't? People are praising Toronto, yet they finished last. Yes they've got some good pieces, and Matthews will be a solid addition. Wasn't everyone slagging Pittsburgh and the moves by Rutherford before? Yet they and San Jose are in the Stanley Cup finals. Not that I'm a Kessel fan in any sense. But the Toronto media dumped all over him, he seemed disinterested and out of shape. But maybe it's Kessel (And I'm loathe to say it Burke) that is getting the last laugh. You have to remember Bonino was in the Kesler trade, and he seems to be doing well when he has good players to work with. So maybe Benning has better eyes for talent than folks give him credit for?

[DefCon1]

34 minutes ago, GoodCanadianKideh said:

As the saying goes "Build from the back-end out".  Benning has done a great job with the goaltending in bringing in an established vet (Miller) to mentor the younger goalie (Markstrom).  The future looks great as well with the young prospect working his way up (Demko).  Goaltending is established and hopefully, it works out with proper development.  Goalies also take the longest to develop and Benning rapidly sped up that process to where goaltending is now a strength.

 

Defensemen take years to develop and all of a sudden, we have a strong, young core of defensemen that have a great mix of size (Gudbranson, Tryamkin), speed (Hutton, Tanev), and scoring (Edler, Hutton).  They also have a balanced mix of right and left D-men that has eluded the Canucks for years.

 

Forwards usually develop the quickest and that is the area that Benning will target through this draft (Dubois or Tkachuk) as well as with Boeser.  Our forwards are a bit suspect, but hopefully Baertschi and Horvat will continue to develop along with Virtanen.  Sutter is young and looks like a good 2/3 centre.  We still have Hank to take tough minutes and mentor the younger Centres.  If Benning adds a few more pieces this off-season through trades or free agency, we should be looking competetive again.  Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing what this group can do this year!!!

Benning's toughest task is to somehow replace the Sedins once they retire. He still has a couple of years time and am hoping he can get Stamkos this year through the free agency and draft either Tkatchuk or Dubois to complete the 1st line of the future. At this moment, we really don't have anyone to replace the Sedins whether its at the present or the future and the only likely prospect that the Canucks have with a 1st line tag is Boeser. I see Horvat, Baertcshi, Sutter, Virtanen etc. as more of 2nd line guys.

[canuckster19]

Everyone expects us to suck, so if we suck we suck, but if we do well, it'll be all the more fun to rub it in the faces of the naysayers around the league. I think Benning's vision is starting to become clear, yes he is overpaying slightly, but he isn't selling us short either. 

 

Free agency is key here, if we can make a couple key acquisitions, who knows.