Seven years without a clear plan from Canucks brass.

[Tom Sestito]

 

[Fred65]

The wheels fell of this management with self inflicted anchors around the neck in 2018. In 2018 JB spent $15 mill on the following Beagle, Beartschi, Roussel, Schaller and Gudbranson. It's as though he couldn't contain himself OR had a push from ownership. From that year onward the franchise has been hog tied. Since then Pettersson has turned out to be far better than even they or 3 other teams ever imagined ( I exclude Col they took Makar ) of course the following year Detroit took Zadina and left us with Hughes. Both close to franchise type players but also emphasised the wasted Cap space and over spending in 2018 because of the top end salaries both will demand. We should be in better in 2022 as JB stated another two years. That will be 8+ years following the following statement

 

Quote

“I like this team - I like the core players. This is a team we can turn around in a hurry.” - Benning

— Vancouver Canucks (@VanCanucks) May 23, 2014

 

[kanucks25]

7 hours ago, Tom Sestito said:

 

Don't forget capped out almost the entire time. 

[awalk]

On 4/15/2021 at 3:18 PM, kloubek said:

Given Benning's obvious ability to pick out drafted talent, don't you think it would have been his preference to tear it all down asap? I'm not sure if it is public knowledge or speculation, but I believe it was ownership who wanted to keep the window open for as long as possible. We also had the aging Sedins, for whom we were waiting to retire before a true rebuilt could occur, and even when it did, we had to content with Loui's hurl-worthy contract as an anchor to bringing in talent as well as Luongo's ridiculous penalty. One may say that LE is Benning's fault, but I would make that same acquisition every single time if I'm GM. His falling off a cliff was an absolute anomaly and bad luck.

I'm not blind to Benning's mistakes. He's made some gaffs which are entirely on him, but that could be said of literally every other GM. I think if you step back and look at all the speedbumps and hurdles he's had to deal with, he's actually managed quite well. And while the Aquilinis can make mistakes like any other owner, their confidence in him by virtue of his 3 year contract signals to me that they believe the same.

Yeah I'm not sure. I did think at the time it was a good idea and a retool on the fly was possible. It's just clear at this point in time, whatever the circumstances have been to get us here, that this isn't working at all.

[aGENT]

5 hours ago, awalk said:

Yeah I'm not sure. I did think at the time it was a good idea and a retool on the fly was possible. It's just clear at this point in time, whatever the circumstances have been to get us here, that this isn't working at all.

I don't think you can take much of anything from this one off, gong show of a doomed season as concrete. People are confusing a bad season with a bad team IMO.

[Chesster]

On 5/3/2021 at 11:28 AM, Tom Sestito said:

 

Bieksa is smart. Let him be our GM. I'd put money on his success.

[Provost]

1 hour ago, aGENT said:

I don't think you can take much of anything from this one off, gong show of a doomed season as concrete. People are confusing a bad season with a bad team IMO.

I don’t think you can take a one off fluke  playoff round win as a show of anything concrete.  People are confusing a very short stretch of good games a year ago (amongst years of futility) with a good team IMO.

[awalk]

1 hour ago, aGENT said:

I don't think you can take much of anything from this one off, gong show of a doomed season as concrete. People are confusing a bad season with a bad team IMO.

Team is in cap hell with a thin prospect pool after 7 years of rebuilding, with few tradeable assets outside of the young core who shouldn't be traded. This goes way beyond a bad season. 

[Tom Sestito]

On 4/15/2021 at 3:18 PM, kloubek said:

Given Benning's obvious ability to pick out drafted talent, don't you think it would have been his preference to tear it all down asap? I'm not sure if it is public knowledge or speculation, but I believe it was ownership who wanted to keep the window open for as long as possible. We also had the aging Sedins, for whom we were waiting to retire before a true rebuilt could occur, and even when it did, we had to content with Loui's hurl-worthy contract as an anchor to bringing in talent as well as Luongo's ridiculous penalty. One may say that LE is Benning's fault, but I would make that same acquisition every single time if I'm GM. His falling off a cliff was an absolute anomaly and bad luck.

I'm not blind to Benning's mistakes. He's made some gaffs which are entirely on him, but that could be said of literally every other GM. I think if you step back and look at all the speedbumps and hurdles he's had to deal with, he's actually managed quite well. And while the Aquilinis can make mistakes like any other owner, their confidence in him by virtue of his 3 year contract signals to me that they believe the same.

 

The age gap acquisitions point to his impatient nature.

[aGENT]

32 minutes ago, awalk said:

Team is in cap hell with a thin prospect pool after 7 years of rebuilding, with few tradeable assets outside of the young core who shouldn't be traded. This goes way beyond a bad season. 

Not in cap hell. Not thin on prospects (especially after this coming draft).

 

We'll be just fine as we continue to filter in youth, get Pettersson back and vets age out.

 

So much 

[Tom Sestito]

15 minutes ago, aGENT said:

Not in cap hell. Not thin on prospects (especially after this coming draft).

 

We'll be just fine as we continue to filter in youth, get Pettersson back and vets age out.

 

So much 

rly good team we have here ur right mb

[aGENT]

1 hour ago, Tom Sestito said:

rly good team we have here ur right mb

One of your better posts. Good stuff there.

 

Yeah, we do have a good, young team... Solid young core not even in its prime, with more youth trending well and coming, and another high draft pick this summer.  No long term cap issues. But carry on panicking about a gong show of a season...

Edited May 5, 2021 by aGENT

[24K PureCool]

2 minutes ago, aGENT said:

One of your better posts. Good stuff there.

 

Yeah, we do have a good, young team... Solid young core not even in its prime, with more youth trending well and coming, and another high draft pick this summer.  No long term cap issues. But carry on panicking about a going show of a season...

I think even you at this point cannot deny that this team desperately need a president of hockey ops or ceo of CSE to help re-construct the front office structure. The organization from top to bottom has been a mess especially with the numerous report of poor communication between the front office and players and the media/fan relations.

 

If Aqua want to remove the stigma that he is a meddling owner and a cheap ass than he needs to hire an experienced veteran senior executive to run the organization.

[spur1]

1 hour ago, Chesster said:

Bieksa is smart. Let him be our GM. I'd put money on his success.

Can’t help but think you would lose your money. 

[Rush17]

Rather keep Jimbo but if we opt to change I hope we target Jim Ruthford if he would like to take on another franchise.

[aGENT]

19 minutes ago, 24K PureCool said:

I think even you at this point cannot deny that this team desperately need a president of hockey ops or ceo of CSE to help re-construct the front office structure. The organization from top to bottom has been a mess especially with the numerous report of poor communication between the front office and players and the media/fan relations.

 

If Aqua want to remove the stigma that he is a meddling owner and a cheap ass than he needs to hire an experienced veteran senior executive to run the organization.

They could probably use a better media liaison. Jim's not a great public speaker.

 

But really, the team doesn't owe fans or the media anything there. I don't need to be coddled or lied to buy some silver tongued, message massager personally. And I don't think it would help the way you guys think it would.

 

Otherwise, fans and media are still going to whine and bitch about whatever they feel is the issue du-jour regardless of who gets hired or sells the message.

 

I'm not opposed to a qualified president. But I also don't think it's some magic cure all and there's very few qualified guys even available for that type of thing.

Edited May 5, 2021 by aGENT

[Rush17]

1 hour ago, Tom Sestito said:

 

The age gap acquisitions point to his impatient nature.

Has it really been that long. Since 2014..

[wallstreetamigo]

25 minutes ago, aGENT said:

They could probably use a better media liaison. Jim's not a great public speaker.

 

But really, the team doesn't owe fans or the media anything there. I don't need to be coddled or lied to buy some silver tongued, message massager personally. And I don't think it would help the way you guys think it would.

 

Otherwise, fans and media are still going to whine and bitch about whatever they feel is the issue du-jour regardless of who gets hired or sells the message.

 

I'm not opposed to a qualified president. But I also don't think it's some magic cure all and there's very few qualified guys even available for that type of thing.

I dont think they need to hire a President to handle the media although you are right that talking to the media is not Benning's strong suit. They need a President to run the hockey operations, objectively assess the management team and the job they are doing, and decentralize the power from the GM and AGM specifically.

 

Bad decisions usually follow when all the dissenting voices are pushed out of the picture and only like minded people remain. Thats happened a lot in the last several years in Vancouver. Could be an Aquilini driven thing or a Benning driven one or more likely a combination of both based on their stated mutual view that short term, day to day and reactionary decisions are the right way to run an NHL team. A President with some perspective on longer term planning could be a real positive to the team and the management team.

 

There are a lot of qualified people for that particular job in the hockey world. I think both Aquilini and even Benning if he stays as GM would benefit from the right person in that role.

 

 

[D-Money]

5 hours ago, wallstreetamigo said:

I dont think they need to hire a President to handle the media although you are right that talking to the media is not Benning's strong suit. They need a President to run the hockey operations, objectively assess the management team and the job they are doing, and decentralize the power from the GM and AGM specifically.

 

Bad decisions usually follow when all the dissenting voices are pushed out of the picture and only like minded people remain. Thats happened a lot in the last several years in Vancouver. Could be an Aquilini driven thing or a Benning driven one or more likely a combination of both based on their stated mutual view that short term, day to day and reactionary decisions are the right way to run an NHL team. A President with some perspective on longer term planning could be a real positive to the team and the management team.

 

There are a lot of qualified people for that particular job in the hockey world. I think both Aquilini and even Benning if he stays as GM would benefit from the right person in that role.

That’s exactly what we had, but the GM and AGM disagreed, and won the argument.

 

Just before free agency in 2018, Trevor Linden stated that the team would be “extremely young” the following season. But then when free agency hit, the team immediately signed Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, and Tim Schaller, at cap hits that shocked most people. Linden stepped down (or was fired, depending on who you ask) shortly thereafter.

 

Word around the league was that Linden favoured a more long-term rebuild, letting young players play, and not committing long-term dollars to aging players. Benning and Weisbrod disagreed, believing that with the right veterans the team could become a winner more quickly. Turns out Linden was right - Beagle/Roussel/Schaller didn’t help us win much, and the Beagle/Roussel contracts are now interfering with our ability to sign other, more important players. This trend continued a year later with the Myers and Ferland signings.

 

That’s exactly why the #FireBenning crew exists. Most agree that he’s made some great draft choices, but his entire team-building philosophy around them is a disaster. Had Linden truly had the power his title inferred, and was able to deter the free agent signings and focus on development and asset-building, the team would likely be significantly better off right now.

[awalk]

8 hours ago, aGENT said:

Not in cap hell. Not thin on prospects (especially after this coming draft).

 

We'll be just fine as we continue to filter in youth, get Pettersson back and vets age out.

 

So much 

If only saying it made it so