Francesco Aquilini says "I have no plans to make changes."

[iceman64]

20 hours ago, Dazzle said:

LOL @ Vancouver media and their "sources".

 

I applaud Aquilini for having a backbone. If this season is a write-off, the decisions on management can made after this season. As much as I question Travis' coaching, along with his assistants, I do believe this is the right move to keep things intact.

 

Fans who don't want to watch the Canucks can watch the Sens or Sabres. I honestly think our fanbase is too toxic. We are basically BEGGING the media to make up news to support what fans want to hear. LOL. The result? Journalism without accountability.

You mean journalism with accountability actually applies to our lame ass media? Think someone should send them a email and notify them... it would be news to them, that's for sure...

[Fred65]

3 minutes ago, iceman64 said:

You mean journalism with accountability actually applies to our lame ass media? Think someone should send them a email and notify them... it would be news to them, that's for sure...

And yet, and yet, so many are willing to follow like sheep when it flatters one of the prospects. Trust your own eyes, simple, don't join in the adoration. I'll judge JB as I see him and on the best facts I can gather 

Edited February 14, 2021 by Fred65

[The Lock]

20 hours ago, Dazzle said:

LOL @ Vancouver media and their "sources".

 

I applaud Aquilini for having a backbone. If this season is a write-off, the decisions on management can made after this season. As much as I question Travis' coaching, along with his assistants, I do believe this is the right move to keep things intact.

 

Fans who don't want to watch the Canucks can watch the Sens or Sabres. I honestly think our fanbase is too toxic. We are basically BEGGING the media to make up news to support what fans want to hear. LOL. The result? Journalism without accountability.

The way I see it, if management reacted to everything like people on this forum reacted to everything, we'd never have a good team.

[iceman64]

1 minute ago, Fred65 said:

And yet, and yet so many are willing to follow like sheep when it flatters one of the prospects. Trust your own eyes, simple, don't join in the adoration 

Nah, I was meaning $&!# like the JT Miller fiasco, or was supposed to be a fiasco until he shut them up and most of the CDC that went along with them instead of doing their own FACT checking first..

[Elias Pettersson]

Looks like Sekeres and Price have joined in this thread.  I guess they are unemployed now so they have time to contribute to CDC...

[JM_]

5 hours ago, aGENT said:

I mean he's clearly a pretty bright guy and has a pretty good understanding of analytics (at least in isolation).

 

Doesn't mean he knows a damn thing about building a hockey team though 

I hate it when they hedge their bets and try to look like an "insider". Its like a breaking Sekeres story, you know to ignore it. 

[canuck73_3]

2 hours ago, NewbieCanuckFan said:

or have the league in your back pocket.

 

Did the league hold us to 8 goals in 7 games or was that a red hot Tim Thomas? 

[ilduce39]

Drance was actually getting ripped in the comments section of his post game “armies” article for dedicating half the thing to talking about Aquilini’s tweet instead of the game.
 

The irony of him filling half the article getting into a defensive lather over FA adding a little dig at the media (about how they can run with negative narratives) was obviously lost on him. 
 

I usually like Drance but damn that was predictably thin skinned overreaction to one little jab from the owner - after we’ve ALL seen the veritable crap storm of social media where JB and Green have been fired for weeks and we’re weighing the merits of possible replacements.  

[King Heffy]

11 minutes ago, canuck73_3 said:

Did the league hold us to 8 goals in 7 games or was that a red hot Tim Thomas? 

The league did suspend Rome for an excessive amount of time while Horton faked a concussion, didn't suspend Boychuk for breaking Raymond's back,and allowed Sutherland to pull his usual garbage.  While we might not have won if the series had been reffed honestly, we will never know.  It's demoralizing as hell to play in a series when you know the league is rigging it in favour of your opponent.

Edited February 14, 2021 by King Heffy

[canuck73_3]

5 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

The league did suspend Rome for an excessive amount of time while Horton faked a concussion, didn't suspend Boychuk for breaking Raymond's back,and allowed Sutherland to pull his usual garbage.  While we might not have won if the series had been reffed honestly, we will never know.  It's demoralizing as hell to play in a series when you know the league is rigging it in favour of your opponent.

Horton didn't fake a concussion that is absolutely ridiculous. 

[iceman64]

16 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

The league did suspend Rome for an excessive amount of time while Horton faked a concussion, didn't suspend Boychuk for breaking Raymond's back,and allowed Sutherland to pull his usual garbage.  While we might not have won if the series had been reffed honestly, we will never know.  It's demoralizing as hell to play in a series when you know the league is rigging it in favour of your opponent.

man I wish we had a guy like Tryamkin in that series... only guy I can think of that would have went toe to toe with Chara and co. but I'm not going really deep in that or I could have pointed to others like Brash but Train would have been a game changer in that series.. anyone who can grab a 6' 200 pound guy and through him around like a ragdoll is something we still need to this day  

[kloubek]

We really don't need sweeping changes, and I agree with ownership. When the team is up, all the Benning and Green fans chirp up. And when we aren't, the fire everyone fans do. We are clearly hearing a lot from the latter lately.

 

But this is still largely the team that surprised a lot of people last season. Demko was the biggest surprise, and we still have him. Tanev is a huge loss, though I maintain our defense is a better one on paper than last year. I believe it's our defensive systems that have been an issue for many years, and it remains so.

 

Overall, I think this is a reasonably talented team... capable of doing damage on a consistent basis. But I also think we are a little fragile, and not in sync as a team this season. Fix the chemistry and get everyone on the same page, and I think this team is better than it appears now.

 

We lost TT which I believe was just flat out mismanagement, but we do have Hoglander - which has exactly the kind of energy everyone has to look up to nightly. We also have Podz coming soon as well. By all rights, after that point I think we can reassess where we stand. I believe we will be fine.

 

Benning has put together a talented team. He's made some mis-steps, but all GMs do. I believe it's up to the players and coach now to make it work.

[appleboy]

So they are still looking to add a president.  That is interesting.  Maybe someone who is good at cap management and contracts. 

Maybe someone with experience this time? A proven track record. OK , let's not get carried away.

[EastVanCanuck]

19 hours ago, aGENT said:

Nope. But we have most of the key pieces with few of them even sniffing their primes, let alone in them. Hate to break it to CDC but in reality, that could mean another season at some point down the line, that is also 'disappointing' as the team and it's core continues to mature. Going from rebuild to contender is seldom a linear line.

 

And? Does that speak to how the team is positioned next year or the year after? Nobody is suggesting they haven't massively underperformed this season. In fact that's kind of my point. Learn from it, study areas of weakness and continue to build and improve. That's how you get better... Not panic and knee jerk nonsense.

 

As I replied earlier... They could/should be more competitive next year and then could take another small step back the year after etc. Or they could make a final/win a cup in the next couple seasons. We'll see what we see when we see it. There's no magic 'we'll be good in X year'. That's frankly, silly.

 

That said, if people were expecting us to be a legit contender before any of Pettersson, Hughes etc are even in their primes... As much as that's a lovely fantasy (and I'd be thrilled to see it), it's not terribly realistic or objective.

 

I get it's no fun watching your team lose, I'm not particularly enjoying it either. But the sheer, knee jerk lunacy in this market is laughable. People need to attempt to at least glance at the bigger picture.

 

Remind me not to rely on any of you yahoos in a crisis 

I'm not sure if some on these people are skipping their therapist appointments or just weak minded whiners.  

 

There is a process in building a winning team.  The path of any successful team is never going to be perfect.  

 

Just stay calm people and support the Canucks.  

Edited February 14, 2021 by EastVanCanuck

[Silky mitts]

25 minutes ago, iceman64 said:

man I wish we had a guy like Tryamkin in that series... only guy I can think of that would have went toe to toe with Chara and co. but I'm not going really deep in that or I could have pointed to others like Brash but Train would have been a game changer in that series.. anyone who can grab a 6' 200 pound guy and through him around like a ragdoll is something we still need to this day  

Lmfaooooo I can assure you tryamkin isn’t the &^@#ing difference lmao. Maybe a healthy hamhuis more like it .

[coolboarder]

4 hours ago, Tony Romo said:

Me personally, I would rather spend 11 million on John Tavares and have to work around the contracts of star players, than spend 9 million on a 4th line and have to work around those contracts to sign our stars. 

 

I would also rather have had 60 draft picks the last 7 years as a rebuilding team, instead of 48, especially since drafting is this current regimes biggest strength. 

 

 

You need to take a look at the NHL rules regarding to 50 contract limit and there is only so much spots.  If we have had 60 draft picks, we need at least 10-15 veterans to insulate the team and ability to develop their draft picks properly, and we lose maybe 10-20 draft picks in last 7 years due to this rule called unsigned prospects by the time they are 20 are automatic sent back to the draft pick and other teams take them.   It is a wasted asset and wasted rebuilding the team years by not being able to develop their own players properly.  The effect is what we see the Leafs and the Oilers on a losing culture for years with no real depth to back them up. 

 

With the lottery rules in place, considering the #1 overall picks goes to teams that is not bottom 5 in last few years.  Had the top 3 pick lottery in place before McDavid/Matthews, they are extremely lucky to land in that spot.  Had it not for them, the Leafs and the Oilers will be dead in the water in the basement for years by now.   Also considering the Oilers had too many top 10 picks and where are they now?  They are not with the Oilers anymore, see Hall, Yak as one of the examples.  

 

Benning has this strategy right and the result will speak for itself with the patience approach by signing expensive free agents that is bottom 6 else they wouldn't be coming here.  It is a price to pay when we were unable to attract some free agents if we are too cheap, the result will not be pretty.   Once we turn into a powerhouse, it becomes easier to entice quality bottom 6 players for cheap.  Nobody wants to go to a lousy team and everybody wants to play for a winner and that is the reality of the cost of overpay their players in order to build a quality team. Best of them all, the term is just about right, it is not too long of a term to handcuff us like that.  

 

Leafs may have their own 11 million players but you fail to recognize once their own star players is up for a contract, they can't afford them and depth will not be good after a few years.  No way the Leafs will be able to win the Cup with this and the weak North division will be exposed to a real team once they reach the final 4.

[IBatch]

3 hours ago, DefCon1 said:

I rarher have the Canucks sign their own prospects before spending money on FA even with more cap space available. I dont want to see Benning make the same mistakes like he did with Myers, Ericksson,  Roussel etc. We should see what we have in Podkolzin, Lockwood, Lind, Mckewan, Bailey. Extend Motte, and maybe sign Beagle to a cheap 1 million dollar deal. Get rid of Sutter, Roussell and trade Virtanen for maybe a young bottom 6 D or a young D.

 

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser

Podkolzin-Horvat-Hoglander

Pearson-Gaudette-Lind

Lockwood-Beagle-Motte

 

I hope that will be our forward group going forward. I rather not want to see any FA signings by Benning unless its for a clear #1D that is pietrangelo level.

That is what every NHL team in the league is trying to do.   Top heavy teams like TO have relied heavily on their fringe prospects at times and it's been a mixed bag for them.   This year they filled out their roster with vets, something teams like TO can do, because heck it's is TO.   No way was Simmonds, Spezza or Thornton joining Vancouver instead, or most other teams for that matter at that price if at all.  

 

Teams competing for the playoff won't be using rookies in their lineup often unless a player has a good camp and sticks (like Hoglander), or injures require it.   The summer is the time GMs can look to add solid bottom six depth players which is also a bit of a mixed bag, but for sure much more certainty around it then leaving a spot open for a rookie next year.   Canucks are actually a pretty good example of this, for years JB had to find placeholder veteran players in the post season to plug holes, often ones left from the last placeholder, just to barely ice an NHL caliber team.  

 

As for number one Ds.   Two have come to market since JB took over - EK and AP.   Maybe Hamilton will this year, but so far CAR keeps saying they want him and will move guys to keep him if he has too.   I would like that too... Hamilton would be incredible.   Unfortunately it's very unlikely.    Even Myers level guys aren't available often, one of the main reasons i've been on his side since he put the uniform on, personally am tired of watching guys like Del Zotto, Hutton and Stecher do their best as a top pairing guy.   This year Myers and Schmidt have taken the toughest minutes so far.   Both these guys are welcome additions and massive upgrades - the premium was also earned and a fair price to pay for.  

 

On the bright side OJ doesn't look at all out of place.    Could have our own built in Tanev replacement - with a little more offense.   That's four to work with, just need two more - Edler as a bottom pairing guy would be just fine for a couple of years too, enough time to groom one more guy maybe - if not we need to do our best to find two more solid top four guys and do it by committee - which worked great for both the 94 and 2011 teams. 

Edited February 14, 2021 by IBatch

[EastVanCanuck]

12 hours ago, dank.sinatra said:

Please give some examples of this so called journalism without accountability.

 

Aquilini's jab at the media was tasteless and completely unfounded. That twitter thread is pure PR bullsht. If you can't see that I feel bad for you. 

 

This is Trump level baseless media bashing from Aquaman.

 

If ownership actually made themselves available to media instead of putting out trash PR statements like this then maybe some progress could be made. 

Disagree.  Media is a strong factor driving this cancel the Canucks GM and coach initiative.  Most likely to sell more clicks and make more money.  The media is about driving propaganda to make a few dollars.  

 

Unfortunately, a lot of sheep out there that are blind.  

[aGENT]

5 hours ago, kanucks25 said:

How is it knee-jerk? It's year 7 lol. If people were asking for a firing after the first summer of Benning's tenure (although that actually wouldn't have even been a stretch after what he did in that first off-season).

They were wrong then, they're still wrong now. Not agreeing with how someone is rebuilding is not the same as them doing a bad job. Especially when their boss has approved said direction.

 

It's knee jerk because nobody was firing him last year when we were beating St Louis and on to the second round of the playoffs with our third consecutive Calder candidate leading the way.

 

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7 years is a long time to be asking people to continue being patient, especially when the team looks as bad as it has (save for last night). I get that there are "signs" but there are also signs of Jesus Christ returning to earth. I see wackos on the corners of busy intersections warning me to repent all over metro Vancouver.

First of all, yet again, 7 years is not a long rebuild. Seriously some of you people need to look the &^@# around the rest of the league. Second, how many of those years have people been expecting a contending team? Sure, if Gillis had missed the playoffs 5 of 7 years with the rosters he had, you have a right to impatience. When a rebuilding club does it...? That should be expected to anyone who doesn't drool when they talk.

 

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How long is too long? How many years do you give Benning before you agree he should be fired?

Probably after we don't have 3 (going on 4 and possibly 5 next year when Podkolzin arrives) Calder candidates in a row, a rebuilt young core of talented players not even sniffing their primes, with more solid prospects on the way and a trade that brought in a key top 6 F for a solid value, anitger trade for a top pair D for peanuts and signed another top 4 D for a perfectly reasonable contract. 

 

 

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Saying things like "rebuilds aren't linear" or "you don't understand the plan" is just a way to muddy to waters so that you'll never have to admit you're wrong.

Nope, just reality.

 

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And then when there are no more excuses left, time to play the owner card or the pandemic card as if every other team doesn't deal with the same stuff.

Who's playing the owner card? Whatever that is... Other teams are in the same ocean, not the same boat.

 

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Pettersson made an impact in year 4, Hughes year 6. What does Benning have to show for the years before that other than Boeser? (with Demko still not being established in the grand scheme of things).

Demko seems established just fine for his age. Splitting starts and was stellar in the playoffs. Not sure what else anyone would expect for a guy in his second full season?

 

Juolevi looks damn good or there was well.

 

Lots of other depth prospects still coming from prior drafts as well. 

 

Quote

Benning deserves praise for the handful of good pieces he's put together, no doubt.

Handful? He's basically rebuilt our current/future top 6 by drafting Pettersson, Boeser, Hoglander and Podkolzin and trading for Miller. With a huge pool (Lind, Jasek, Costmar, Lockwood, Karlsson etc, etc) of quality depth prospects to fill out the bottom 6 (with Motte, MacEwan etc) in coming years.

 

Same goes for the top 4 D in drafting Hughes and Juolevi, trading for Schmidt and signing Myers. And we still have Rathbone, Woo, Tryamkin etc to add to that as well as decent depth guys like Brisebois, Rafferty, Chatfield and some pretty nice looking D prospects taken last draft. As well as plenty of opportunity to trade or sign for other pieces as needed.

 

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He's also had the luxury of drafting pretty high most years he's been here, so good picks out of the top 7 of the draft are to be expected, in fact that should be the bare minimum considering we saw nothing good on the ice during those years.

They've largely made good picks throughout the draft, first round included. Are we complaining about that now too?

 

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But every time he does something good he does something else to stand in the way of his own success; this past off-season was one of his worst, which is saying something, and deserved to be the last nail in the coffin.

Completely disagree. Team underperforming withstanding, I LOVED his moves this summer.

 

Didn't commit term and cap to vets when we'll actually be needing it, improved our D, lateral on goalies while setting up to not lose Demko in the ED all amongst tough, pandemic circumstances.

 

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People warned of the opportunity cost and long-term cap and asset effects of the moves made 4,5,6 years ago and they came to roost in the off-season (not to mention it's probably means more of the same next season in year 8).

We weren't supposed to be a good as well were last year. Nobody expected Pettersson and Hughes to me that ready, that soon. This and next of season all the vets expire. We're extremely well positioned and (despite the hand wringing) there has been very little 'opportunity cost' lost. We don't have 'long term cap' issues. At all.

 

4 hours ago, Tony Romo said:

Not saying you are wrong. I just think the best way to get 4 complete lines is to pay for stars in the top 6 and top 4, and build in the rest of the roster under those constraints, rather than pay for bottom 6 guys and try and fit in the stars.

What do you think happens in the next two years? All those vets come off.

 

And even then, have you actually looked at how much cap recent cup winning teams have in their bottom 6? Tampa? St Louis?

 

 

[iceman64]

51 minutes ago, kloubek said:

We really don't need sweeping changes, and I agree with ownership. When the team is up, all the Benning and Green fans chirp up. And when we aren't, the fire everyone fans do. We are clearly hearing a lot from the latter lately.

 

But this is still largely the team that surprised a lot of people last season. Demko was the biggest surprise, and we still have him. Tanev is a huge loss, though I maintain our defense is a better one on paper than last year. I believe it's our defensive systems that have been an issue for many years, and it remains so.

 

Overall, I think this is a reasonably talented team... capable of doing damage on a consistent basis. But I also think we are a little fragile, and not in sync as a team this season. Fix the chemistry and get everyone on the same page, and I think this team is better than it appears now.

 

We lost TT which I believe was just flat out mismanagement, but we do have Hoglander - which has exactly the kind of energy everyone has to look up to nightly. We also have Podz coming soon as well. By all rights, after that point I think we can reassess where we stand. I believe we will be fine.

 

Benning has put together a talented team. He's made some mis-steps, but all GMs do. I believe it's up to the players and coach now to make it work.

Those are mis-steps your believing just like everyone else, I'd rather have the cap left by TT to use on D because Podz will step in and be a difference maker right away and that cheaply on  a ELC, we weren't going to the cup this year with our without TT.

Tanev, you'd sign a guy with his injury record and age? really? 

Even Marky is getting up there too much and won't be able to hold his game as any goalie couldn't so that's not a slam on him at all but when you consider we got Holtby for the 2 years we need for Demko to get used to the workload to take over number 1 is exactly the right decision to make. 

Edited February 14, 2021 by iceman64