[Report] Canucks sign GM Jim Benning to contract extension

[Warhippy]

Just now, Jester13 said:

Well, such is the sickness of confirmation bias. Anything that refutes someone's inane belief is dismissed and unfounded evidence is circled back to using as real evidence. 

Well the trick now is to let them wallow while we stay happy

[DonaldBrashear]

11 minutes ago, WHL rocks said:

Good news. JB has learned a lot over the past 5 yrs. He's a veteran GM now. Would have sucked for another team to hire him after he did all his learning on the job here. 

 

Team is starting to come together now. Let him finish the rebuild. 

I know you're being sarcastic, but you actually make a good point. It reminds me of an old story. Many years ago, an employee at the Ford factory made a huge mistake that cost the company $1 million dollars. He was called to Henry Ford's office. He stood in front of Henry Ford and said "Sir, I understand of course if you want to fire me". Henry Ford scoffed at him... "FIRE YOU? Not a chance! I just invested 1 million dollars in your education!"

 

Same thing applies here. I think we can all agree, whether you like him or not, Jim Benning has gotten much better as the years go by. If we fire him, another team will scoop him up guaranteed and have themselves a seasoned GM and what will we do then? Who would you hire? It's not like seasoned GM's grow on trees. 

[86Viking]

At the end of the day I don't pay $ to watch GM JB, so don't really care about the extension. Personal opinion, I dont think it was deserving...I would have waited to see how this season plays out before giving him the extension. He is a rookie GM, he has no leverage to not want to be a lame duck GM and go through the final year of his contract.

 

He made some big moves this summer and capped us out...if any of them falter and we miss the playoffs I would have wanted so see him fired. Its about results and so far he hasnt been able to get any.

 

Now pro JB fans please go on and on about why he deserves it, I wont be back here to read or reply tho

[Chickenspear]

Just now, DonaldBrashear said:

I know you're being sarcastic, but you actually make a good point. It reminds me of an old story. Many years ago, an employee at the Ford factory made a huge mistake that cost the company $1 million dollars. He was called to Henry Ford's office. He stood in front of Henry Ford and said "Sir, I understand of course if you want to fire me". Henry Ford scoffed at him... "FIRE YOU? Not a chance! I just invested 1 million dollars in your education!"

 

Same thing applies here. I think we can all agree, whether you like him or not, Jim Benning has gotten much better as the years go by. If we fire him, another team will scoop him up guaranteed and have themselves a seasoned GM and what will we do then? Who would you hire? It's not like seasoned GM's grow on trees. 

Exactly, you got to sweat them, and season them yourself... 

[Jester13]

4 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

Well the trick now is to let them wallow while we stay happy

Absolutely! So stoked for Benning and this team. I'm with you, Hip!

[JeremyCuddles]

I hope it's a 12 year deal, front loaded, so we can get hit with a recapture penalty.

[fecklund]

2 minutes ago, Canuckster86 said:

At the end of the day I don't pay $ to watch GM JB, so don't really care about the extension. Personal opinion, I dont think it was deserving...I would have waited to see how this season plays out before giving him the extension

No term has been reported, but there were whispers that this was simply an option on his last contract - an option to extend 1 more year... so it could be that. 

[Smashian Kassian]

Wonder what the terms of the extension are. Whether he's signed another multi-year deal or if he has an option that's been picked up.

 

No matter what happens in the future Benning will always be credited with putting this core in place, and he deserves full marks for that.

 

I'm not sure if he's the guy to take this team to the next/top level, but he's going to get more time to try. 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Smashian Kassian

[Kootenay Gold]

24 minutes ago, fecklund said:

2015–16	2015–16	Western	Pacific	6th	82	31	38	—	13	75	191	243		—	—	—	—	—	Did not qualify
2016–17	2016–17	Western	Pacific	7th	82	30	43	—	9	69	182	243		—	—	—	—	—	Did not qualify
2017–18	2017–18	Western	Pacific	7th	82	31	40	—	11	73	218	264		—	—	—	—	—	Did not qualify
2018–19	2018–19	Western	Pacific	5th	82	35	36	—	11	81	225	257		—	—	—	—	—	Did not qualify

 

2019-20

2019-20

Western

Pacific

3rd

82

42

30

—

10

94

259

231

—

—

—

—

—

2nd Round Loss

[thrago]

Great news IMO.  Benning has improved as a GM consistently since being hired.  People who keep pointing out the mistakes he made in the first few years haven't been paying attention to the last few years where he has been very solid.

 

Benning learns from his mistakes and does his best to fix the mistakes he's made what more can you expect.  

[Gurn]

10 minutes ago, Canuckster86 said:

He is a rookie GM,

Hired in 2014, five years ago, so not a rookie.

[6string]

[DonaldBrashear]

I don't think people realize this. When hiring a GM, you only have three choices:

 

1) Hire a new GM and train him yourself

2) Hire an experienced GM who has been FIRED from a previous team because he sucked as a GM.

3) Be Toronto Maple Leafs and poach a non-FIRED GM away from a team by paying huge sums of money.

 

Since we aren't the Maple Leafs, we are left with option #1 or #2. So you are either getting an inexperienced GM you have to train or you are getting someone elses fired junk. How often does FIRED junk work out?

[Angry Goose]

I'm JB supporter for sure-i like the direction this team is headed and the style of play they seem to be going for.  BUT I know there is room for improvement as well.   

[RWMc1]

Benning has slowly but surely been building a solid team. We are just coming into our window and Benning definitely deserves the right to complete the job.

 

Thankfully Aquilini wasn't swayed by the incessant whining of the vocal minority.

 

Go Canucks Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Warhippy]

47 minutes ago, Smashian Kassian said:

 

Its been 5 years, alot of the players on the team he inherited have retired, are on the verge of retirement, or are out of the league. I hope he would've made the team younger in 5 years. Fair point but I feel like that's a given considering where the team was at.

 

He did a good job moving out Garrison & Bieksa as they declined, while getting value in return. But he's also signed quite a few poor contracts himself. They had 20 million allocated to forwards who scored less than 30 points last season. 

 

There's been successes with this group for sure. Most recently addressing needs in the offseason. Leading into what should be an exciting year. But there's legitimate critiques aswell. 

 

 

No arguments there at all.  His first 2 years I was vocally anti benning.  3rd year I started coming around.  the last 2 seasons it's been easy to see where he was steering the team and why.

 

I think he did ok with the unlovable contracts, signed the fill in players etc to reasonable contracts along the proper timelines.

 

Compared to a number of other GMs that took over teams with decent foundations I think benning coming in with effectively Horvat and...Demko(?) has done a pretty spot on job of a rebuild over his last two years

[Smashian Kassian]

I saw a tweet saying it was 2 more years. Sounds fair to me. Really excited for the start of the season with the additions. Can't wait to see Myers, Ferland, Miller & Q. 

[combover]

Because nobody of quality will work for FA and jimmie still a great fist puppet for him.

 

[Warhippy]

7 minutes ago, combover said:

Because nobody of quality will work for FA and jimmie still a great fist puppet for him.

 

[Crabcakes]

1 hour ago, 48MPHSlapShot said:

I'm kinda surprised at the timing of this. The way the offseason was playing out, I figured Aquaman was going to wait to see how next season went before making a decision either way. There's a lot up in the air right now. 

 

Anyways, as anyone with a semblance of objective thought should be able to point out, Benning has improved significantly as a GM over the course of his tenure here. With the exception of the Miller trade, which is obviously still up in the air, his trades have generally been pretty solid over the last two/three years or so, and his signings this offseason have been solid. While I would have waited to see how the season played out, I'm not altogether unhappy. At the very least it should give Benning the time he needs to complete the rebuild. This way there's no question about it. If we're not contending by the time this extension is up, he's screwed the pooch. If we are, he's done his job.

I'm not surprised at all. 

 

I'm not sure whether it was the decision to go with a rebuild or Linden leaving but things have looked much better to me since then.  

 

Ya, I was surprised at the additions this off season but when I thought about it, I think that the timing is right.  Some of the core players have progressed much more quickly than expected and they need to have the right kind of support for their further development.  These players will continue getting better for up to 5 years (with the possible exception of Horvat who is near his peak already imo).  This is where the real improvement of this team is going to come from and why Benning sacrificed a 1st round pick for the first time.  Supporting the core is the most important thing now.

 

Is the team a finished product?  Hell no.  There are going to be holes to fill and adjustments to make with respect to supporting players.  This version of the Canucks core is young enough to have a chance to retool unlike the last version.

 

This is what ownership wanted and they've got it.  This is why Benning was re-signed.  Atta boy Jim.

 

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Crabcakes