[Article] Is Jim Benning the best GM in the NHL at the season's halfway mark?

[Rabbit]

It is too early to rank the GM ranking for the season. Just for half of the season, I think BN is:

 

Draft :  A  (Pod, Hod))

Free agent signings :   B-  (Myers, Ferland, Benn)

Trades:  A  (Miller)

Assets keeping:  B+  (Stretch, Jake, Loui, Leivo, Sutter, Pearson)

 

I am looking for the TDL moves.

 

 

[Warhippy]

15 minutes ago, Rabbit said:

It is too early to rank the GM ranking for the season. Just for half of the season, I think BN is:

 

Draft :  A  (Pod, Hod, Boeser, Gaudette, McCann, Forsling, Demko, Tryamkin, Lind, Hughes, Madden, DiPietro )

Free agent signings :   B-  (Myers, Ferland, Benn)

Trades:  A  (Miller)

Assets keeping:  B+  (Stretch, Jake, Loui, Leivo, Sutter, Pearson)

 

I am looking for the TDL moves.

 

 

Based on potential as of now in alternative leagues and benchmark of 50 games played or more in the NHL

 

I'd say that's a solid 5 years worth of drafting myself.

[HerrDrFunk]

44 minutes ago, xereau said:

If you want to go deep into the weeds, he fracked his friend's (Benning's) direct competition over, is what he did.

 

 

How do good of a friend would you have to be to sabotage a multimillion dollar sports franchise and ruin your own reputation in the process? Benning’s ass better be there with bells on any time Chiarelli needs help moving. 

[Captain Canuck #12]

24 minutes ago, Rabbit said:

It is too early to rank the GM ranking for the season. Just for half of the season, I think BN is:

 

Draft :  A  (Pod, Hod))

Free agent signings :   B-  (Myers, Ferland, Benn)

Trades:  A  (Miller)

Assets keeping:  B+  (Stretch, Jake, Loui, Leivo, Sutter, Pearson)

 

I am looking for the TDL moves.

 

 

Considering how much better Benning is at drafting than trading (with a few exceptions), his best TDL move will likely be not to make any trades and to just keep developing all the young players he has already drafted or signed.  The exception would be if he can make a decent trade that does not involve trading picks or top prospects, but still only for short-term veteran depth (so that the acquired players don't get in the way of our developing prospects).

[oldnews]

yes. 

only other option is Burnaby Joe imo.

[King Heffy]

Fully wanted him fired up until the Burr/Hansen trades.  Neither player worked out, but both were decent gambles at the time.  Following up the trades by taking EP40 and the rest of that haul fully convinced me that he knew what he was doing.

 

Benning has made his mistakes over his tenure but he's shown a willingness to learn from them and move on (Gudbranson, Gagner, MDZ).  It's hard to argue against the fact that the team is in much better shape, both for the short term and for the future, than when he took over.

Edited January 28, 2020 by King Heffy

[Alflives]

Just now, King Heffy said:

Fully wanted him fired up until the Burr/Hansen trades.  Neither player worked out, but both were decent gambles at the time.  Following up the trades by taking EP40 and the rest of that haul fully convinced me that he knew what he was doing.

 

Benning has made his mistakes over his tenure but he's shown a willingness to learn from them and move on (Gudbranson, Gagner, MDZ.  It's hard to argue against the fact that the team is in much better shape, both for the short term and for the future, than when he took over.

I only hope our owner is smart enough to realize JB is great.  

[Gaudette Celly]

Quote

But we can say this: After a four-year reign of error, Benning has done more to rehabilitate his image and the image of his franchise than any other general manager this season.

More media clownage.  As if he was a complete incompetent for 4 years, then suddenly snapped into a Slim Jim super-GM in a single off-season.  Cuz there was no plan in place, but everything magically appeared instantly somehow.

 

[King Heffy]

1 minute ago, Alflives said:

I only hope our owner is smart enough to realize JB is great.  

Given the extension Benning got while the team was losing, I think it's likely that FA gets it.

[Mathew Barzal]

I'm still extremely worried about our back end. Hughes is the only sure thing at this point, and the last thing I want is to end up as the Leafs 2.0.

 

That being said, he's definitely redeemed himself somewhat in my books. #1 GM in the league though... Heh. 

[xereau]

I hope Benning drafts D heavily for the next couple seasons.

Edited January 28, 2020 by xereau

[sonoman]

2 hours ago, xereau said:

He’s a meat and potatoes kind of guy. 

[khay]

He will be the best GM if

 

1. We win at least one cup and

2. Despite drafting in the late first year after year, he finds a way to infuse the team with quality youth, i.e., he continues to draft players of Boeser's quality in the late 1st round. Then the team will do #1 more frequently and he will be able to cement himself as the best GM in the league.

[King Heffy]

1 hour ago, Mathew Barzal said:

I'm still extremely worried about our back end. Hughes is the only sure thing at this point, and the last thing I want is to end up as the Leafs 2.0.

 

That being said, he's definitely redeemed himself somewhat in my books. #1 GM in the league though... Heh. 

Pretty comfortable with Woo, and still think OJ will work out.  We're already far better than the Leafs D as we actually have more than one player capable of playing like an NHLer in his own end.  The Comets have a better D group than Toronto's pylons.

[MoneypuckOverlord]

I don' think he is a great gm, just my own opinion.  Love the team and I hope Jim does well.  We have some over loaded contracts he's also made some bad trades and free agent signings didn't work well.  His drafting is a A though, that's for sure. 

[MoneypuckOverlord]

double post .  

Edited January 28, 2020 by MoneypuckOverlord

[cyoung]

3 hours ago, MoneypuckOverlord said:

I don' think he is a great gm, just my own opinion.  Love the team and I hope Jim does well.  We have some over loaded contracts he's also made some bad trades and free agent signings didn't work well.  His drafting is a A though, that's for sure. 

If you look at the over loaded contracts though, they were done with a timeline in mind. Over pay the right locker room guys to bridge this gap. I don't mind it at all. 

Edited January 28, 2020 by cyoung

[J.I.A.H.N]

5 hours ago, Horvat is a Boss said:

Cap management (and Free Agency by extension) is the main thing holding him back. He's been below average at best in those two areas. 

But truly, when has he ever been caught, and had to trade a player, just for cap?

[180sret]

Honest question, how long do you think he'd be unemployed for if the Canunks fired him? There would be a few teams happy to have him. I have to say he exceeded my expectations on the rebuild, and before someone complains about low expectation, I've see them all since Canunks day 1.

[24K PureCool]

Best GM in the league, still a little more to go. Best GM of the year, think he got a strong case.