No comparison to a team assembled around first overalls. Benning management is envied around the league right now for a number of reasons. Drafting elite, game breaking talent outside of top 3 picks. Developing players like Markstrom and Horvat well. Creating a culture of compete, which other media markets frequently comment on: Vancouver always works hard.
This doesn’t happen over night, but rather goes back to Benning’s first few years, in which he never let the dressing room become toxic, as it did with other bottom feeders, through smart veteran acquisitions and retentions and eliminating bad seeds. Ability to find useful role players in Stecher, Beagle, Motte and Roussel, which have made Vancouver’s bottom-6 finally a major contributor to wins, rather than being invisible on a good day.
It’s funny. Benning has put together a squad using the “intangible” materials of culture, compete, and mentorship. Despite the claims that these intangibles don’t exist or don’t matter as much as asset management, Benning is starting to make them become very tangible. There are serious obstacles ahead, but many see the path slowly starting to become illuminated in the dark, dark night we were placed in after 2011.
You can't be serious. The only thing people are envious about Benning is his amazing job security. I don't even think Francesco can buy insurance that good.
Why can't we compare this team to a team assembled around first overalls? There are very few teams that have multiple first overall picks.
Most of the top teams right now didn't draft first overall!
Right now, these are the top 3 teams of each division without drafting a first overall onto their current roster:
Flames, Sharks (Traded for Thornton), Golden Knights, Jets, Predators, Stars, Islanders, Canadiens
That's 8/12 possible teams unless I've made a mistake and some of these look like real contenders, if not dark horses.
Drafting elite, game breaking talent outside the top 3, happens every year... it's happened to us before, remember Bure?
You know why they say Vancouver has a "culture of compete"? It's cause they can't say we have a culture of winning. Benning keeps trying to make a culture of winning but obviously he's had zero success. Benning's smart veteran acquisitions have given us Eriksson, Gagner, Pouliot, Gudbranson, Schaller, MDZ, Sbisa, etc... half the "depth" players he acquired aren't even NHL caliber players. If you were here around 2011, then you would have seen what a real major contributing bottom 6 looks like.
Please explain your last paragraph. That makes no sense, what intangible characteristics is he making tangible? The only tangible thing I see is the lack of progress and failure to recognize that he's overpaying for these intangible things or they don't exist. Look at Schaller or Gagner, their contributions are either so intangible I can't see their true values to the organization or their respective contribution is non-existent.