Thoughts on Jimbo's moves and this off-season

[Silky mitts]

Going into this off-season Jim had loads of work to do. Tons of terrible contracts to shed, and much needed cap space to make for our two young studs. Jim put in a bunch of unprecedented work and managed to clear a lot of cap , and also move his past failures. Overall is the team better this season than last? That is for sure, as I would say our forward corps is now one of the deepest in the league. The d remains relatively weak, especially the right side , but we are hoping Shaw can help tighten up our defensive structure. As mentioned in another thread, we do have the guns to simply out-score our opponents , although I don't know if that is sustainable through multiple playoff rounds if they make it deep.

 

• The Good: Garland. Garland is a player, I'm a fan of his game and he is a great top 6 piece and also locked in now to a good contract. He will excel with horvat and hoglander. Good job here from jimbo to pluck him from zona.
• Schmidt deal: Schimdt was unhappy here, and was not a good fit. He was able to move him for a third which makes it a wash, but more importantly no salary retention, which given our still tight situation was key.
• Halak signing : Good veteran backup on a good amount, good term. 
• Sutter: Not the biggest fan of Sutter, but at the price he was signed too, it's a good move. Hope he can stay healthy though, something he has struggled with his entire tenure with the team.
• Schenn: Was a fan of his short stint here, brings truculence and physicality, meshed well with hughes.

 

• The Bad: OEL: Yes the big controversy of the summer, lots of arguments here on what OEL is as a player these days. In fact how OEL plays is what will be a huge resounding factor for Jim's future going forward.  What he has shown though is not promising off the last couple years and has been a disaster on the ice. That contract is brutal as well. We are banking HARD on him rebounding to form, Could he have been simply just sick of Zona? The situation was not the best there and could take it's toll on anyone. While I don't think he is a top pairing calibre d-man like before, if he can stay consistent at a top 4 level and alleviate minutes from hughes it would be a great benefactor to the team. 
• Poolman: Replacement level player at best, so the money and term is a bit iffy. Lots of people saying oh its such a small amount blah blah blah, this is the kind of foresight that led to us being so capped out and unable to make the optimal moves for our team the previous years.  Atleast it seems he can be a physical player which is welcome.
• Hamonic: Too much money again, I like the guy , but it is what it is, RHD are hard to come by these days. Our Right side of D is not looking good at all however. 

 

Overall I would say Jimbo did well for himself this offseason, he managed to turn over lots of the roster and it looks revamped for the most part. Jim has essentially gone all in with his playoff bubble young guns, which in of itself isn't a bad thing. We know Aqua pushes hard for playoffs and is losing patience , he want's his revenue and Jim needs his job. But the key is success needs to be had as in about 2 years we will be very pressed against the cap and may lose some huge core pieces such as a miller, Bo, Brock. 

 

Let's hope it pay off and the canucks do well this season. We all want the same thing don't we? The team to win the damn cup . 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Silky mitts

[sonoman]

4 minutes ago, Silky mitts said:

Going into this off-season Jim had loads of work to do. Tons of terrible contracts to shed, and much needed cap space to make for our two young studs. Jim put in a bunch of unprecedented work and managed to clear a lot of cap , and also move his past failures. Overall is the team better this season than last? That is for sure, as I would say our forward corpse is now one of the deepest in the league. The d remains relatively weak, especially the right side , but we are hoping Shaw can help tighten up our defensive structure. As mentioned in another thread, we do have the guns to simply out-score our opponents , although I don't know if that is sustainable through multiple playoff rounds if they make it deep.

 

• The Good: Garland. Garland is a player, I'm a fan of his game and he is a great top 6 piece and also locked in now to a good contract. He will excel with horvat and hoglander. Good job here from jimbo to pluck him from zona.
• Schmidt deal: Schimdt was unhappy here, and was not a good fit. He was able to move him for a third which makes it a wash, but more importantly no salary retention, which given our still tight situation was key.
• Halak signing : Good veteran backup on a good amount, good term. 
• Sutter: Not the biggest fan of Sutter, but at the price he was signed too, it's a good move. Hope he can stay healthy though, something he has struggled with his entire tenure with the team.
• Schenn: Was a fan of his short stint here, brings truculence and physicality, meshed well with hughes.

 

• The Bad: OEL: Yes the big controversy of the summer, lots of arguments here on what OEL is as a player these days. In fact how OEL plays is what will be a huge resounding factor for Jim's future going forward.  What he has shown though is not promising off the last couple years and has been a disaster on the ice. That contract is brutal as well. We are banking HARD on him rebounding to form, Could he have been simply just sick of Zona? The situation was not the best there and could take it's toll on anyone. While I don't think he is a top pairing calibre d-man like before, if he can stay consistent at a top 4 level and alleviate minutes from hughes it would be a great benefactor to the team. 
• Poolman: Replacement level player at best, so the money and term is a bit iffy. Lots of people saying oh its such a small amount blah blah blah, this is the kind of foresight that led to us being so capped out and unable to make the optimal moves for our team the previous years.  Atleast it seems he can be a physical player which is welcome.
• Hamonic: Too much money again, I like the guy , but it is what it is, RHD are hard to come by these days. Our Right side of D is not looking good at all however. 

 

Overall I would say Jimbo did well for himself this offseason, he managed to turn over lots of the roster and it looks revamped for the most part. Jim has essentially gone all in with his playoff bubble young guns, which in of itself isn't a bad thing. We know Aqua pushes hard for playoffs and is losing patience , he want's his revenue and Jim needs his job. But the key is success needs to be had as in about 2 years we will be very pressed against the cap and may lose some huge core pieces such as a miller, Bo, Brock. 

 

Let's hope it pay off and the canucks do well this season. We all want the same thing don't we? The team to win the damn cup . 

 

 

Did well this year.  Probably need  to correct corpse for corps  

[ChuckNORRIS4Cup]

Definitely give him a thumbs up, I do wish some of this was done a few years ago but hey it what it is, if anything the one I question a bit is the Poolman one but I hope I'm proven wrong, now let's see what Hughes and EP get.

[RomanP]

So, all 3 of your "bads" are "let's see how they perform"? Perhaps it's just a "question mark" then, not "bad"?

[Dazzle]

Pretty fair analysis, especially considering who's writing this.

 

OEL - money is quite a lot, no one can deny this. This should be a TBD. Maybe he does well? At minimum, he can take some of the workload off Hughes. I think the roster is good enough that OEL doesn't even have to be spectacular, so I'm anticipating he'll have a much better year.

I think it's also fair to say that he's had relatively steady production for a very bad team. There's nothing to suggest that he can't have a good year.

 

Hamonic isn't really that bad of a signing. Hughes and him have a proven fit. We had Hamonic for a deal last season, and he proved he can play. I don't mind this signing at all.

[DrJockitch]

We are deeper, faster, bigger and younger. 
Forwards are a lot deeper and better balanced. 
D could go either way but will be exciting one way or another. 
Goaltending is improved or at least a push. We know we have a starter in Demko now and, well Halak can’t be a lot worse than Holtby last year. 
The Pacific stinks which is also a benefit. Toronto looked like a world beater last year because their division sucked. 

Edited July 29, 2021 by DrJockitch

[awalk]

I think he's done really well, overall. The sum of the moves goes together - on paper - to get a high grade from me. It's very odd to me that Jim Benning is repairing all of Jim Benning's mistakes... as Jim Benning... but there's something to be said about fixing your own mistakes quickly. Happy to let this season dictate the overall grade but looking forward to the season.

[Silky mitts]

9 minutes ago, RomanP said:

So, all 3 of your "bads" are "let's see how they perform"? Perhaps it's just a "question mark" then, not "bad"?

We’ll that’s not what I said , the players in of itself are not very good with what they have shown in their play the previous years. If they play better than what they have shown then we can start to veer away into more of a “good” move.

 

As it stands the money for the player isn’t great .

[Alflives]

We are getting 100+ points, and Benning is winning the Lou Lam award as best GM. 

#Leafssuckoldsocks!  (And smelly ones). 

[Rabbit]

Overall the moves are not bad.

Trust Canucks will be a playoff team this season.

The four lines looked very dangerous.

D-Group is improved.

The back-up Goalie should be better than Holby.

[RomanP]

9 minutes ago, Silky mitts said:

We’ll that’s not what I said , the players in of itself are not very good with what they have shown in their play the previous years. If they play better than what they have shown then we can start to veer away into more of a “good” move.

 

As it stands the money for the player isn’t great .

Sorry, but that's exactly what you said - "The BAD". And then you go on saying that "if they turn around it will be not bad". You don't have to like all the moves the GM makes. Just don't paint it as "BAD". "I don't like the following moves" makes a lot more sense and keeps it as "your opinion".

[Patel Bure]

25 minutes ago, Silky mitts said:

Going into this off-season Jim had loads of work to do. Tons of terrible contracts to shed, and much needed cap space to make for our two young studs. Jim put in a bunch of unprecedented work and managed to clear a lot of cap , and also move his past failures. Overall is the team better this season than last? That is for sure, as I would say our forward corps is now one of the deepest in the league. The d remains relatively weak, especially the right side , but we are hoping Shaw can help tighten up our defensive structure. As mentioned in another thread, we do have the guns to simply out-score our opponents , although I don't know if that is sustainable through multiple playoff rounds if they make it deep.

 

• The Good: Garland. Garland is a player, I'm a fan of his game and he is a great top 6 piece and also locked in now to a good contract. He will excel with horvat and hoglander. Good job here from jimbo to pluck him from zona.
• Schmidt deal: Schimdt was unhappy here, and was not a good fit. He was able to move him for a third which makes it a wash, but more importantly no salary retention, which given our still tight situation was key.
• Halak signing : Good veteran backup on a good amount, good term. 
• Sutter: Not the biggest fan of Sutter, but at the price he was signed too, it's a good move. Hope he can stay healthy though, something he has struggled with his entire tenure with the team.
• Schenn: Was a fan of his short stint here, brings truculence and physicality, meshed well with hughes.

 

• The Bad: OEL: Yes the big controversy of the summer, lots of arguments here on what OEL is as a player these days. In fact how OEL plays is what will be a huge resounding factor for Jim's future going forward.  What he has shown though is not promising off the last couple years and has been a disaster on the ice. That contract is brutal as well. We are banking HARD on him rebounding to form, Could he have been simply just sick of Zona? The situation was not the best there and could take it's toll on anyone. While I don't think he is a top pairing calibre d-man like before, if he can stay consistent at a top 4 level and alleviate minutes from hughes it would be a great benefactor to the team. 
• Poolman: Replacement level player at best, so the money and term is a bit iffy. Lots of people saying oh its such a small amount blah blah blah, this is the kind of foresight that led to us being so capped out and unable to make the optimal moves for our team the previous years.  Atleast it seems he can be a physical player which is welcome.
• Hamonic: Too much money again, I like the guy , but it is what it is, RHD are hard to come by these days. Our Right side of D is not looking good at all however. 

 

Overall I would say Jimbo did well for himself this offseason, he managed to turn over lots of the roster and it looks revamped for the most part. Jim has essentially gone all in with his playoff bubble young guns, which in of itself isn't a bad thing. We know Aqua pushes hard for playoffs and is losing patience , he want's his revenue and Jim needs his job. But the key is success needs to be had as in about 2 years we will be very pressed against the cap and may lose some huge core pieces such as a miller, Bo, Brock. 

 

Let's hope it pay off and the canucks do well this season. We all want the same thing don't we? The team to win the damn cup . 

 

 

Pretty good analysis.

 

To be honest, I don’t mind the Hamonic (3 million), Poolman (2.5 million) and Schenn (800K) signings IF they are used correctly.  
 

-Schenn needs to be a 7th dman

-Poolman needs to be our 6th dman

-Hamonic needs to be our 4th dman.

 

Those players, in my opinion, can succeed in the above roles and should be used in the above roles.  IF they can be used in those roles, then I have absolutely no problem with that term and money.

 

My biggest concern is that top pairing with OEL and Myers.  Myers himself is a #4 calibre dman.  Ideally, the guy playing in Myers’ top pairing spot would be a nasty defensive oriented stay at home type guy that could be the “ying to the yang” for the more offensive minded OEL.  Instead, I believe that Benning sees OEL as the “two way guy” that can somehow cover for Myers’ defensive shortcomings but I think OEL may have been miscast here.

 

While I am of the belief that OEL will in fact have a bounce back season this year (high motivation), I’m just not sure if Myers is a good fit on that top pairing with OEL.  Unfortunately, he will have to be, because Hamonic, Poolman, and Schenn shouldn’t be playing up there either.  
 

Put it this way - if Parayko was playing on that top pairing instead of Myers, I think our team would be among the elites.  Maybe in that 2nd tier (similar to our 2008-2010 teams)

 

[Scottydzik]

His offseason is not complete until he signs petey and Hughes and doesn’t get bullied around I’m proud of him for standing his ground the contracts he gives these guys can impact type of competive team we can become for next 3 years

[J.I.A.H.N]

This team is easily deaper and should be much better

But unfortunately, the game is played on ice not paper

So let's wait and see how it all pans out during the season

Benning should be applauded for his efforts through this

Certainly, this gives Rathbone and Podkolzin alot of support

that Hughes and Pettie did not have when they started

I am quite happy with the moves, now let's see what they have

Proof is in the pudding!

But I am happy with the moves!

 

 

Edited July 30, 2021 by janisahockeynut

[J.I.A.H.N]

Regarding the defense

 

our Left side looks very strong to me

and if our rightside compliments our left

they do not have to be as strong

It will have more to do with finding who plays

better with who, than anything............

If Green can find that out, we will be on our way!

 

Here is to hoping! Fingers crossed!

[JM_]

33 minutes ago, Silky mitts said:

We’ll that’s not what I said , the players in of itself are not very good with what they have shown in their play the previous years. If they play better than what they have shown then we can start to veer away into more of a “good” move.

 

As it stands the money for the player isn’t great .

I think its fair to give Poolman 20 games to see if he can live up to the deal. Clearly they think they see something there. 

[Dekey Pete]

21 minutes ago, janisahockeynut said:

This team is easily deaper and should be much better

But unfortunately, the game is played on paper not ice

So let's wait and see how it all pans out during the season

Benning should be applauded for his efforts through this

Certainly, this gives Rathbone and Podkolzin alot of support

that Hughes and Pettie did not have when they started

I am quite happy with the moves, now let's see what they have

Proof is in the pudding!

But I am happy with the moves!

Is it though?

[Nucker 67]

Jim cleaned house. They got younger, bigger, faster and more physical - and he added lots of depth. They only had 2 lines that could score and now the Top 9 is much better. Holtby, Schmidt and Virtanen and their piss-poor attitudes are gone, so I suspect the Room will be a lot better too. Welcome to Podkolzin, can't wait to see this kid in a Canucks sweater. Demko with an upgraded D in front of him, they'll be a tough team to beat next season. 

 

I give Benning an A, because he did what he said he would, and more (rebuilt the Abbotsford Canucks). 

[Patel Bure]

12 minutes ago, Jimmy McGill said:

I think its fair to give Poolman 20 games to see if he can live up to the deal. Clearly they think they see something there. 

I think Poolman is a perfectly fine 3rd pairing 6th dman.  2.5 million is a pretty standard AAV for someone in that position if I’m not mistaken.   Placing Poolman in a top 4 role however and I think you’re asking for trouble.

[danaimo]

Jim's offseason to do list

1. Dump bad contracts - Tick

2. Sign Petey and Huggy - Pending

3.Get top pairing Dman - Tick 

4. Get top six winger - Tick

5. Improve bottom six forwards - Tick

I'm not sure what any Canuck fan could have wanted more from GMJB.  Time will tell if OEL can put up the numbers has done in the past but if he gets 45+pts and is positive +/- for the next 3 years then the money was worth it.  So far he is 4/5 on his to do list and hopefully he can make it 5/5 in the next few weeks.