Will Jim Benning be fired this week? Should he be?

[yave1964]

Man is Vancouver a mess. Abysmal is probably too strong of a word, save that for Arizona but the Canucks are currently sitting in 7th place and looking like they have already packed it in. Coach Travis Green has tried about everything and is rumored to be on the hot seat but GM Jim Benning is rumored to be getting axed, possibly as soon as today.

  Should he be?

 

 He has been the Canucks GM since since the 2014-15 season, eight years, two playoff appearances and little else. Solid drafting but the pieces dont seem to quite fit right, year eight of a rebuild is a lot, especially with rabid Canuck fans.

 

  A look at some of his draft picks

2014 whiffed badly on Virtanen but stole Demko in the third round. Mccann and Forsling solid NHLers

2015 Boeser at 23 was a flat out steal. Nobody else stands out

2016 Juolevi was a bust, nobody else has made it

2017 Pettersson was the steal of the draft at 5, Rathbone a 3rd rounder playing as a number 7 Defenseman

2018 Quinn Hughes at 7 was a steal, nobody else NHL caliber

2019 Podkolzin, the team beleives he is a future serious goal scorer. Hoglander is established.

2020 No pick until the third round. No evidence that anyone from the draft will make it.

2021 No pick until the second round but most rank the Canucks at the bottom of this last draft saying they reached too often.

 

  So Boeser, Demko, Pettersson, Podkolzin, hoglander and Hughes from the past eight drafts. Most were up near the top of the draft. They wasted pretty much every pick past the second round. Good teams get steals late in drafts. Vancouver added five or six key players through the draft but drafted literally nothing else.

 

BENNINGS TRADES

Bierksa for a second that never panned out

Kassian to Montreal for Prust, Prust long gone, Kassian still a valuable bottom six forward

Bonino for Brandon Sutter. Sutter a great faceoff man, pretty similar players, a push IMHO

Jared Mccann and picks to Florida for Gudbranson who never fit in. One of the picks given turned into decent player riley stillman. 

Alex Burrows carcas moved out to Ottawa for little.

Jannick Hansen to the Sharks for Goldobin who showed signs but never did much. Neither did Hansen.

Gudbranson traded to Pittsburgh for Tanner Pearson which was a great Canuck deal. Pearson solid middle six winger

JT Miller from the Bolts for a third and a first. OUTSTANDING trade, Bolts up against the cap dealt from weakness Miller is a brilliant player. The picks havent developed for the Bolts but many are very high on Jack Finley

Biega donated to the Wings for nothing. Biega not a great player but a solid number six or spot player.

Toffoli from Kings for a second and a 4th. Woulda been a good deal but they let him walk. 

OEL and Garland for three bottom six bad contracts and a first, second and fourth. OEL has been a non factor, Garland has played well, Canucks drafted Dylan Guenther who they believe is a future 35 goal a year man. Still have multiple picks in the next draft. 

Nate Schmidt traded for a third rounder, terrible signing, didnt fit in well, looks like a terrible trade as he has found a home in the Peg.

 

  A couple of outstanding deals adding Miller and Pearson, a couple of bad ones. Looking at these deals and the minor ones I didnt list it looks like a lot of position for position moves, Bonino for Sutter, Prust for Kassian, looks like less of a plan and more of a moving deck chairs around. Miller was a great get, the OEL deal may haunt them for years to come as he still has five more years after this at 8.25 million per. If Guenther develops as the Yotes hope it could be a nightmare.

 

  So I dont give him much credit for the drafts honestly, yes, some nice gets but they fell to him, he did nothing past the first 40 picks to help the organization in eight years. Trades are a wash. Essentially the Canucks are a little better because they do have some key pieces but no cohesion and looking like no coherent plan.

 

 He has had two coaches, the forgettable Willie Desjardin and Travis Green who has not put it together in four years.

 

 Should Benning go? Honestly, I thought that several years ago but he was saved by hitting on a few first rounders and the Miller trade. Now they are a mess and I would not give him years nine and ten of the rebuild. IMHO it is past time for him to go.

[JR Ewing]

I can't see how it's possible that Francesco Aquilini is happy with how things have gone under Benning. The team isn't even treading water anymore, and are falling farther and farther back. Unless things improve dramatically, and I don't see that happening, he'll be gone no later than the end of the regular season.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

There were Benning jokes a mile wide....then they were silenced as things started to look up....and now it seems, they were justified to begin with.
Hey, I've said many times, I am not really a fan of GM's and coaches getting fired because their players aren't executing at ice level.

But when you have a track record as long as Benning's and there is a definite distinct pattern of things that are off (aside from the few good ones....blind squirrels and all that), one HAS to think that the people responsible for putting said players on the ice have to be held accountable.

One thing @yave1964 pointed out is 'not having a plan'.
In watching quite a bit of Canucks games this season, and the previous two, one thing has become certain:
Vancouver just doesn't have a team identity....that "plan".

Who are they exactly?
Are they a tough checking, grinding team? Or a fly by the seat of your pants offense first, the hell with defense type team?

Do they emphasize defense first (pssst, hint: they do NOT!)? Or are they an offensive, positional chess match making type team that adapts to the other team?
Maybe they prefer to dictate the pace, or insert a bit of goonery as a means to an end?

Truth is, NONE of that is clear.
It really does look like a talented lot out there.... who are disjointed with no real sense, other than being super soft on defense.....of WHO they are!

Is that a player personnel thing? Or a coaching thing? Or just a chemistry thing?
Again. Not clear.

Past Vancouver teams had an identity.
The Marcus Naslund/Todd Bertuzzi core group were nasty on the ice, sometimes VERY unlikeable on and off, gritty when it came to match ups, and teams always knew they were gonna have their hands full in a hockey sense and a shenanigans sense when they played them.

The Sedin core was all about shooting power and scoring power that looked to drive opposing goalies into early retirement. They were decently tough on defense, but it was their blinding speed and sniping ability that seemed to define these guys overall.

But who are the Horvat/Pettersson core?
No one knows.
Probably not even the owner.

I do believe it is time for a change at the FO level and even behind the bench, with further shake ups along the roster particularly in the supporting roles.
I think the core is good here....Horvat, Pettersson, Hoglander, Demko, Hughes, Garland, Miller.... but THEY have to believe that and they will need a better supporting cast in order to solidify any identity the team manages to hammer out.

Very disappointing team this year.
They should be contending, at the very least, for a WC spot in that Pacific Division.

[J0e Th0rnton]

BENNING PLEASE> BEFORE THEY FIRE YOU.

Take Evander Kane. Hometown boy, you wanted him in years prior. TAKE HIM QUICK. He could save your season.

 

Please live up to your reputation and pull the trigger!

[yave1964]

32 minutes ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

BENNING PLEASE> BEFORE THEY FIRE YOU.

Take Evander Kane. Hometown boy, you wanted him in years prior. TAKE HIM QUICK. He could save your season.

 

Please live up to your reputation and pull the trigger!

There is another site that says Benning has permission to make a big trade to change the 'culture' of the club. supposedly the number one name being tossed around is JT Miller. Miller is a proven cup winner who leaves it all on the ice every night. I truly dont see him as part of the problem, quite the opposite, I think Pettersson is lazy, Quinn is flawed but they are Benning draft picks so instead he is looking to put all the blame for the team massively underperforming on the one player who I would point to and say they need more guys like this. Horvat too I guess. But dont be surprised if one of the two is moved out instead of the real problem children.

[J0e Th0rnton]

On 11/28/2021 at 6:39 PM, yave1964 said:

There is another site that says Benning has permission to make a big trade to change the 'culture' of the club. supposedly the number one name being tossed around is JT Miller. Miller is a proven cup winner who leaves it all on the ice every night. I truly dont see him as part of the problem, quite the opposite, I think Pettersson is lazy, Quinn is flawed but they are Benning draft picks so instead he is looking to put all the blame for the team massively underperforming on the one player who I would point to and say they need more guys like this. Horvat too I guess. But dont be surprised if one of the two is moved out instead of the real problem children.

If we could get Miller or Horvat for Kane and Benning is that stupid, I would do a cartwheel on my front lawn wearing just a thong and my sharks jersey

[ruxpin]

4 minutes ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

If we could get Miller or Horvat for Kane and Benning is that stupid, I would do a cartwheel on my front lawn wearing just a thong and my sharks jersey

 

Again?  Think of the children!

[J0e Th0rnton]

2 minutes ago, ruxpin said:

 

Again?  Think of the children!

I wouldn't let my daughters see. As for neighbors.....lol

 

My leaf fan neighbors would immediately look at hockey news and say "that's why haha"