[poll] Which is the worst Benning-era transaction?

[nuckfan insk]

Soon many choices......

 

[Verviticus]

I will specify I don't think it was particularly dramatic or franchise altering, because an overpayment on a bottom pairing defenseman isn't exactly headline news and the team was going to flounder whether Sbisa was fairly paid or not, but the move could accurately be described as "indefensible", which isn't a charge I would level at any other transaction on the list. Which is not to say they're all good, or even average. It's just to say they're defensible...and Sbisa's contract is not.

i ultimately picked the sbisa one for similar reasoning

 

[palefire]

Should Granlund also make "Thinks a terrible roster player on another team is good" or is he still too close to prospect status?

I was thinking too close to prospect status -- the others in that category (Sbisa, Prust, Dorsett, Bartkowski) are established NHLers.

 

[Blueangel1891]

What the ****, if you see all of this in one list ...

What a ****ing moron

 

[PM]

We should do a re-poll at the end of the summer. I'm expecting another scary offseason.

 

[quat]

The degree of incompetence it takes be unable to move players of the caliber of Hamhuis and Vrbata is incredible. The fact that they publicly excused their failure with "well, we tried our best, so it's not our fault" makes the whole thing even worse. They don't seem to understand that making moves were possible, provided they applied a modicum of foresight and planning, which one assumes, credibly, should be understood as part of their job description.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect zero mistakes or failures, but if you don't learn from them, as the saying goes, you're destined to repeat them. Frankly, this is what the list in this thread makes obvious.

It seems to me that this present management group has traded more high picks, youth, rookies and future in two years than any regime over the past two decades, while burying the team at the bottom of the league. To be fair, I haven't compiled an exhaustive list of all the moves Burke, Nonis and Gillis have done during their tenures.

Watching the skill level and speed during this post season and then trying to reasonably expect anything close to that from this collection of players is a massive stretch of imagination. My hat is definitely off to those posters here who see positives from Benning's moves, Willie's coaching and Linden's explanation/defense of the organization. I'm just not seeing anything positive here, and the cost for this is going to play out for years.

Really hope I'm wrong.

 

[pomorick]

Is there a fire benning petition anywhere?

there should be

 

[pomorick]

Yeah, he was streaky in Calgary as well. Hopefully his second half last season was sustainable improvement and not another one of his streaks.

Obviously Jensen isn't half the player Baertschi is, but it's interesting to see Rangers fans talk about Jensen the same way Canucks fans talk about Baertschi.

They seem to think that Jensen has finally turned a corner and put everything together. That all he needed was a change of scenery. Obviously Canucks fans know better than to believe that.

Jensen will be an NHL winger with 400 games and a season high of 55 points. Not
an all star, but a decent NHLer. What you would expect from a very late first in a poor draft year.

 

[banme*]

I think it's the Sbisa contract and by a healthy long shot. Even the worst trade (Granlund for Shinkaruk) still has an ultimately unknown outcome. The worst signing (Miller) still played at least marginally competent hockey, and the opportunity cost of the high contract was meaningless given the team's non-competitive status during his tenure.

Sbisa contract is largely available for review, as we've enjoyed two years of Sbisa and have a good idea of how his performance stacks up against the contract. Taking everything into consideration...his age, his RFA status, his previous performances, his projected performances, his role on the team, etc, etc there was nothing to justify the dollar amount or tenure received. Yes, defensemen are vital. Yes, other teams have overpaid equally or worse for similar defensemen. Yes, Sbisa might easily have gotten a similar amount on the open market due to age and pedigree. But Sbisa was not a UFA nor a pending UFA and had a precarious bargaining position. Even if the team fully believed he was capable of taking a dramatic step forward in performance...and I think it's quite clear they DID think that...there was no reason to pay him as if that step forward had already occurred. It was a overt miscalculation.

I will specify I don't think it was particularly dramatic or franchise altering, because an overpayment on a bottom pairing defenseman isn't exactly headline news and the team was going to flounder whether Sbisa was fairly paid or not, but the move could accurately be described as "indefensible", which isn't a charge I would level at any other transaction on the list. Which is not to say they're all good, or even average. It's just to say they're defensible...and Sbisa's contract is not.

Ya picked Sbisa extension because it's the only one I just can't get no matter the approach to thinking about it.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Honestly, I'm hard pressed to pick one out of those. It's like picking my favourite rapper.

 

[Samzilla]

After listening to JB on with the Sportnet panel about the Gudbranson deal, I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's ownership driving the bus right now...Jimbo claimed that their scouts had narrowed the choices down to a couple of forwards and two d-men at 33rd overall....then goes on to say that the player they pick would spend at least a couple of years in junior, and more time in the minors and might not be able to help until five years down the road....the classic excuse for trading draft picks..so what's the point of drafting anybody?...says he 'hates' giving up second-rounders, then does it anyway....let's face it, this team is in a 'win now' mode, and I'm beginning to doubt that either Benning or Desjardings will be around for another 2-3 years in lottery land.

The 3rd last place team in win now mode. Well ain't that a sight.

 

[Bonham]

The 3rd last place team in win now mode. Well ain't that a sight.

It's ridiculous that it's even a consideration. The only thing keeping them out of last place in the league was half decent goaltending down the stretch. They finished with the second worst GF and the worst goal differential in the entire league. The team completely lacks any depth after the top line and the Sedin's are going to be 36 years old going into this season. The informed posters around here identified the lack of offense immediately last off-season, and they were right.

Benning was talking about possibly losing Hamhuis and Vrbata for nothing if it meant the Canuck's could challenge for a wildcard spot to try and get the kids 'valuable' playoff experience. He made these statements like two weeks before the deadline when the Canuck's were still only a few games back of Colorado. It just shows management's lack of foresight heading into the deadline. Then when the wheels eventually fell off completely, Linden claimed the team out performed expectations the previous season and they were really in a rebuild. Now we're right back to claiming they want to be competitive and challenge for the playoffs again this season.

The roster as it stands has no chance of any success this season without significant additions. This means sacrificing more future assets or throwing stupid contracts out in free agency. I fully expect Benning to dig himself into an even bigger hole by the time this all plays out and I expect it's going to take several years to correct the damage. I only hope that after another failure of a season that Aquilini completely cleans house from Linden all the way to the bottom.

The most frustrating part is the increasing fan apathy towards the team as a result of their sheer incompetence will be used to justify the fact that fans can't handle a proper rebuild.

 

[VanJack]

Have an uneasy feeling that real answer to the question of Jimbo's worst deals, will happen when McCann, Shinkaruk and Forsling have been in the league for a few years; meantime Gudbranson will have morphed into Andrew Alberts; Clendening is playing in the AHL or Europe; and Granlund is back in Finland.

 

[iceburg]

Don't like the premise of the question so didn't vote. That said, I would say the Kassian trades still bugs me and, as such, is the least best.

 

[ginner classic]

The trade deadline debacle was the worst move for the franchise...by far. The Forsling deal was the worst transaction. They literally threw away an asset for a guy that could not play in the league.

 

[iceburg]

The trade deadline debacle was the worst move for the franchise...by far. The Forsling deal was the worst transaction. They literally threw away an asset for a guy that could not play in the league.

Trade deadline will be a thing of the past if they sign Hamhuis and trade Sbisa for a third. Under that scenario they are way better off than if they had moved Hamhuis at the deadline.

 

[racerjoe]

Trade deadline will be a thing of the past if they sign Hamhuis and trade Sbisa for a third. Under that scenario they are way better off than if they had moved Hamhuis at the deadline.

What if they traded Hamhuis, and then signed him in the summer, and everything else is the same?

 

[Canucker]

Trade deadline will be a thing of the past if they sign Hamhuis and trade Sbisa for a third. Under that scenario they are way better off than if they had moved Hamhuis at the deadline.

Sure, under that highly unlikely scenario we'd be better off. We'd be even much better off under this scenario....trade Hamhuis for a 3rd at the deadline AND trade Sbisa for a 3rd, then re-sign Hamhuis.

 

[JoeMc]

I must be the only one in the world that doesn't hate all of Bennings transactions!

 

[HarryLime]

Leafs fan just reading through the thread. While JB is bad I can't say he has crippled your franchise with 1 awful trade like

Raycroft for Rask (picking Pogge over Rask also)
Kessel for 2 1sts (Actually love Phil but it didn't make sense)

or even stuff like

Steen for Stempniak



Jury is still out on stuff like the Forsling deal.

Hopefully you guys get a new GM in before he makes a franchise altering move (if he hasn't already)

 

[KeninsFan]

A lot of Benning's moves I can atleast understand the rationale behind so I can give him an initial pass:

Miller contract (Lack was poor as the #1 post Lu trade)
Kassian trade (off ice issues)
Vey trade (if he became a 2C that's a home run trade)

With that being said that leaves a few moves that wouldn't even make sense in NHL16
1. Sbisa extension - every single Canuck fan saw him play in his first season here. Why the hell did he get a raise? 1.2 x 3 years would've made sense *if* Benning saw potential in him

2. No trades this deadline - trade away Vrby/Hamhuis even for peanuts and the Nucks might've been picking Laine/Matthews. Trade away Vrby and all of sudden Shink gets an NHL spot to audition in

3. Sutter extension - I saw him play in PIT. He was never anything more than a 2/3C. Even if Benning absolutely believed he could be a 2C moving forward he shouldn't have gotten an extension first. Compounded by the problem that management turns on their own guys rather quickly (Vey, Bones, McCann). Sutter should've been trade bait so Horvat could've taken over the 2C. Duh.

*Picking Miller over Lack was the most brutal. Terrible cap management even if you believe Miller = Lack.

 

[CanaFan]

I feel like the correct answer is "his next one".

 

[Ryp37]

Leafs fan just reading through the thread. While JB is bad I can't say he has crippled your franchise with 1 awful trade like

Raycroft for Rask (picking Pogge over Rask also)
Kessel for 2 1sts (Actually love Phil but it didn't make sense)

or even stuff like

Steen for Stempniak



Jury is still out on stuff like the Forsling deal.

Hopefully you guys get a new GM in before he makes a franchise altering move (if he hasn't already)

Nah he's taking the death by a 1000 cuts approach

 

[HarryLime]

Also add Sven Baertchi to the overpayment for targeted player list

Nah he's taking the death by a 1000 cuts approach

How would you grade Burke, Nonnis and Gillis overall?


just wondering. lately i've been watching a lot of old nucks highlights.

 

[iceburg]

What if they traded Hamhuis, and then signed him in the summer, and everything else is the same?

Sure, under that highly unlikely scenario we'd be better off. We'd be even much better off under this scenario....trade Hamhuis for a 3rd at the deadline AND trade Sbisa for a 3rd, then re-sign Hamhuis.

Yeah, that would be even better but I was always very skeptical that, if they traded him, he would want to come back. Thought it was a bit of a pipe dream for fans.