Jim Benning's mid-season press conference

[lmm]

20 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

We have more solid young players and prospects then we’ve ever had. No one can deny Benning has had a positive impact here.

 

Eventually that is going to pay off. Whether he’s at the helm or not. 
 

Im still more concerned about their confidence in the coaching staff.

I think Jim knows skill

I am not sold he is able to build a team that can win

I give you

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=207678

[oldnews]

2 minutes ago, Bo fan said:

the full interview is up on one of the previous pages

I didn't make up any imaginary/liberally paraphrased/ misrepresentative quotes - so there's literally no onus on me to go find anything - but thanks for the note.

I'll check it out in it's entirety later - but I suspect Vintage did a pretty accurate job of representing what was actually said.

[Josepho]

This is what I mean when I refer to accountability -- Benning didn't even say this $&!#.

[Dumb Nuck]

I’m starting not to like Benning.

[Convincing John]

2 minutes ago, oldnews said:

Andrew Peeke is a good young player/prospect, but is that a plan?

"isn't ready now...in 2 years?  struggling to adapt"....sounds like you acknowledge the reality = longshot

 

And I don't even see a proposal - way of acquiring him there (if he's even available). 

It takes two real world franchise to make a trade.  Who are you sending to Columbus for him?

 

Mott was not anywhere near as much of a question mark - was not simply a 'future' at the time, btw.

And you've just undermined your entire Clendening point in the process - Peeke is not a pick - and he's no more a sure thing than AC was.

I’m a little bias. I watch a lot of college hockey and I’ve always kept tabs on this kid. His shot is really hard. What I’m trying to say is that we should be focused on players that will be hitting their stride in 2 years. D men that organizations lost their patience on is an avenue for success in that window. Why is Jim worried about playing Toronto? He should be focused on what he does best. Evaluating young players for the future. 

[lmm]

1 minute ago, Dumb Nuck said:

I’m starting not to like Benning.

I have always admired those skilled in the art of understatement

[kanucks25]

5 minutes ago, oldnews said:

Right.  You're clearly claiming to be brighter than Benning - elaborate on the "jiggering" you are alluding to / proposing.

Find a way to do the 2 goalie protection thing and/or make a deal with Seattle? It's not that hard.

 

5 minutes ago, oldnews said:

Benning did quite well in the Vegas expansion btw - they took Sbisa - the 3rd piece in the Kesler deal.  Do you have a problem with that as well?

At that point we had little to lose (Sbisa) and Vegas took advantage of some teams that didn't get themselves sorted. We could have been in on that action.

[Tom Sestito]

1 hour ago, Down by the River said:

Being a grown-up means being accountable for your actions. 

Benning is a total failure of a GM. He made mistake after mistake after mistake and instead of building a team around him to help address his weaknesses, he instead got rid of key people. 

 

If you're a fan of the Canucks, I don't know why you'd just turn a blind eye to all of Benning's mistakes. 

 

There are going to be fans in the seats next season. Aqua has a lot at stake. A loud fanbase that voices frustration (which can impact Aqua's bottom line) can make a difference in the direction of this team. A small difference, but small differences are what it takes. 

Some people cheer for the general manager because they want to be proven right. There’s certain people who still think Gudbranson is a good player because they don’t want to admit they’re wrong.

 

Other people actually cheer for the most important thing.. winning.

 

If you don’t like the management group, it doesn’t make you morally inferior to a group of people who want to be right about Benning/Weisbrod - what it makes you is a passionate fan who thinks the organization needs a different leader to steer you towards a cup rather than mediocrity.

 

I want to win. I don’t give a &^@# who is at the helm in the sense of I don’t have a personal attachment to them. If Benning sells four or so players at the deadline to recoup picks, and then uses picks in the summer to flip the $&!# contracts he has on the team like Eriksson, Roussel, and Holtby (the three most noticeably bad ones for next season) and then fills the newfound capspace with good players, maybe he will have finally figured things out like he implied he has learned today.

 

If you give Benning two more years to see if he can maybe finally figure out how to manage the team at a pro level (no more albatross and retention/acquisition of good players which he has shown no semblance of being able to do), you’re gambling hard because he said we would be there in year four or five, not nine or ten.

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Tom Sestito

[CR7]

2 hours ago, PhillipBlunt said:

I'd be curious as to how much input either ass coach takes from the players.

I would hope they are open to player suggestions, but at the end of the day I think the only person they'll listen to is Travis. 

[J-Dizzle]

I mean let’s be honest.... if the team was winning it wouldn’t matter what JB said people would be happy. If the team’s losing.... You get my drift

[oldnews]

1 minute ago, Convincing John said:

I’m a little bias. I watch a lot of college hockey and I’ve always kept tabs on this kid. His shot is really hard. What I’m trying to say is that we should be focused on players that will be hitting their stride in 2 years. D men that organizations lost their patience on is an avenue for success in that window. Why is Jim worried about playing Toronto? He should be focused on what he does best. Evaluating young players for the future. 

what does allegedly being "worried about playing Toronto" have to do anything?

 

I'm pretty sure they're aware that drafting/developing/acquiring RHD is a priority (as it is with virtually any NHL franchise - arguably the rarest, most difficult assets to produce.

Still I have no complaints about drafting Woo, signing Chatfield as a UFA, or signing a very good value Hamonic for 1 yr at 1.25 million.  Or the Myers deal for that matter.

I imagine they have RHD and young natural centers at the top of their list - but still - not assets teams look to give away, and not always the BPA when you happen to be drafting. 

 

Not sure what any of this has to do with the pending trade deadline - or the fact that Benning indicated no intention of buying - but instead committing to improving from within for this season - as the priority should be imo.

[DSVII]

The fact that some posters still think Jim has had a coherent strategy since 2014 still boggles the mind.

 

If you as an owner have a GM that came to you and said the time to rebuild will take around 1/5th of your franchises existence before you're good (9 years) you wouldn't even give him an interview. 

 

Within that time frame canucks were able to compete with the west coast express, retooling with luongo and the sedins and  challenge for a cup. What we've experienced so far shouldn't be acceptable.

 

It's also ironic the pro mgmt side that was lecturing people that this market can't handle a tank back in 15/16/17 which is why we need to overpay for UFAs are the same ones supporting a bottoming out right now and it was the plan all along. 

[Devron]

4 minutes ago, kanucks25 said:

Find a way to do the 2 goalie protection thing and/or make a deal with Seattle? It's not that hard.

Are you arguing about trying to protect 2 goalies and or sending away prospects and picks to keep them both. On what planet does that make sense to do

[spur1]

2 hours ago, ey40 said:

He gave a BS answer to a question "what gone wrong in the 7 years when (Benning) said the Canucks will be a contender in the next 3/4 years when he first got the job".

He just talked about the trade deadline when asked if the Canucks can make the Playoffs.

He said he will wait (again!) after the trade deadline to negotiate the contract of Pattersson and Hughes.

 

What have we Canucks fans done to deserve a GM like this?

I don’t know but I hope they keep doing it. I can smell what JB is cooking. 

[CanadianRugby]

10 minutes ago, kanucks25 said:

He also said things would turn around in 4-5 years when he first took the job.

 

Now he's asking for 2+ while he's in year 7?

 

At any point will he run out of time? No pun intended.

As long as he's a lapdog for Aquaman he'll stay on.

[lmm]

4 minutes ago, Convincing John said:

I’m a little bias. I watch a lot of college hockey and I’ve always kept tabs on this kid. His shot is really hard. What I’m trying to say is that we should be focused on players that will be hitting their stride in 2 years. D men that organizations lost their patience on is an avenue for success in that window. Why is Jim worried about playing Toronto? He should be focused on what he does best. Evaluating young players for the future. 

I know nothing of this player,

but age wise 2 years from now he will be the same age as Erik Gudbranson was when he arrived.

Guber was expected to play higher than he was capable at age 24

If our window is open in 2 years that is asking a lot of a 24 year old D-man

[kanucks25]

30 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

We have more solid young players and prospects then we’ve ever had. 

Have we drafted as consistently high before Benning? Other than the first 15 years or so when the team was trying to dig themselves out of being an expansion team.

 

[Tom Sestito]

1 minute ago, DSVII said:

The fact that some posters still think Jim has had a coherent strategy since 2014 still boggles the mind.

 

If you as an owner have a GM that came to you and said the time to rebuild will take around 1/5th of your franchises existence before you're good (9 years) you wouldn't even give him an interview. 

 

Within that time frame canucks were able to compete with the west coast express, retooling with luongo and the sedins and  challenge for a cup. What we've experienced so far shouldn't be acceptable.

 

It's also ironic the pro mgmt side that was lecturing people that this market can't handle a tank back in 15/16/17 which is why we need to overpay for UFAs are the same ones supporting a bottoming out right now and it was the plan all along. 

Benning has unintentionally tanked 5 of the last 6 years. They were free-falling out of a playoff spot last year and had major injuries when the season was ended due to coronavirus.

 

 

[flat land fish]

14 minutes ago, CanadianRugby said:

Is the goal to make the playoffs or win a Stanley cup.  I’m sure Benning when he says competitive he means challenging for a cup.  Have you watched the leafs the last few years?  They were stuck in 1st gear for a few years as their young stars matured and then as those players are now entering their prime they have surrounded them with depth and as much as I hate to admit it look like a good bet for a long playoff run.  We are at a stage where petey and Hughes haven’t peaked and have some work to do over the next couple years to fill in depth.  Want a short cut?  That would be  trading all of our top young players for guys 26-30 years old and have a short window of being a top team.  Jim doesn’t really lay out the master plan in public which makes people think there isn’t one but clearly the moves made in FA this year were geared towards creating flexibility in the future rather than peaking in 2021.

[kanucks25]

2 minutes ago, Devron44 said:

Are you arguing about trying to protect 2 goalies and or sending away prospects and picks to keep them both. On what planet does that make sense to do

Not necessarily.

 

My overall point is that I believe a better GM could have done a better job of maneuvering this past off-season (and the rebuild in general over Benning's entire tenure).

 

The impression I get from Benning is that he's a pretty straight-forward thinker and creativity isn't really a part of his plan: "have cap space? sign free agent"