Are Sweeping Changes Coming ?

[Yultron]

Francesco Aquillini cannot be a happy man right now. Right when his team was in the thick of the playoff race for the entirety of the season I am sure he was thrilled with the progress of this team and overachieving despite the fact the West is a week division , the incredible and magical rookie season from Pettersson , Boeser , Horvat and Virtanen developing and improving there play , the team showing the competitive edge etc .

But here we are on March 4th and we are back to square one from the previous seasons disscussing the exact same things. The defence is a mess, we have no organizational depth to overcome injuries , no structure , to many turnovers , unintelligent coaching decisions and showing no emotion , pride or fight .

This team has totally quit on Travis Green. The only reason we are in games , the only reason we escaped Colorado with a point is because of one player and one player only . Jakob Markstrom. He has been bailing this team out left right and centre. We don’t have a system , we have no game plan , we have no secondary scoring , no reliable defence outside of Hutton and Stetcher currently and probably for the remainder of the season and the list goes on and on .

We just traded Dahlen who was suppose to be a huge part of the teams future and one year after he wins MVP of The 2nd Division in Sweden he’s traded and played nowhere close to his potential, Lind and Gradjovich both only have 2 goals this season , Palmu has fled NA and on and on. That falls on Benning for failing to implement a system and culture in Utica for the Prospects to progress.

Yes we have had some positives this season make no mistake from a prospect standout . Juolevi was playing phenomenal until he was hurt with 13 points in 18 games , Quinn Hughes is playing absolutely outstanding and has developed the way we all wanted him too, Tyler Madden looks like a tremendous 3rd round pick , Jett Woo is having a spectacular season and has exceeded our expectations and Will Lockwood has been phenomenal. Benning can draft I will give him that .

But when is enough enough at the NHL Level , how many chances does he need ? He can’t construct a defence and fans are literally begging for Hughes who isn’t even here yet and won’t adjust to the NHL as fast as say Pettersson did or Rasmus Dahlin but it could happen but let’s not hold our breath , not acquiring draft picks for his infamous reclamation projects like Goldobin , Pouliot , Biega , Spooner , Motte, Baertschi etc. However I will give him credit for Josh Leivo and Granlund, spending way to much money on free agents like Beagle , Eriksson, Roussel, Gagner, Schaller etc. Heck he has even blown chances to trade Gudbranson and Tanev for draft picks and we could of got a 2nd for Gudbranson and a huge haul for Tanev but now we are stuck with Tanner Pearson who could potentially regain his 40 - 50 point potential and only saves 250 thousand and we might be lucky to get a 2nd round pick for Tanev etc .

Enough is Enough and we are almost certain to be drafting in the top 10 again this season, we need a total overhaul of the defence and there is no guarantee Edler resigns, major scoring help upfront and all of this falls on Benning. The time has come and Benning absolutely needs to get fired and I don’t think he has much leverage and protection left especially after this collapse. We have won 7 of our last 25 games . What’s he gunna say at the end of season press conference for positives this season outside of Markstrom , Stetcher , Hutton and our big 3 upfront (Pettersson, Boeser , Horvat. “Yeah I thought Gaudette played and developed well”. REALLY???? He’s playing 10 minutes a night and could have so many more points if only Green plays him more. I once really respected Green but my loyalty for him is as good as gone .

Aquillini needs to do the right thing this offseason and fire Benning and Green and bring in competent management and if I were him I would GIVE STEVE YZERMAN a blanque Check and make him the highest paid executive in the NHL to get us to the promised land

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[PuckMunchkin]

Just want to throw this out there...

The main change for Virtanen this year was his puck luck and the string of confident play that followed. He was still the same Jake, elite at zone entry, bottom tier with decision making once he entered the zone.

Boeser has not progressed this season. His health has not allowed that.

I'd say the major players taking a step forward this year were Ben Hutton and Bo Horvat and to a lesser extent Troy Stetcher.

I've lost all hope that the Canucks organisation is a meritocracy. I will change my mind when something happens to the contrary. Im holding no hope that despite the worst win% in NHL history (over 4 seasons) that any major changes will take place.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Francesco Aquillini cannot be a happy man right now. Right when his team was in the thick of the playoff race for the entirety of the season I am sure he was thrilled with the progress of this team and overachieving despite the fact the West is a week division , the incredible and magical rookie season from Pettersson , Boeser , Horvat and Virtanen developing and improving there play , the team showing the competitive edge etc .

But here we are on March 3rd and we are back to square one from the previous seasons disscussing the exact same things. The defence is a mess, we have no organizational depth to overcome injuries , no structure , to many turnovers , unintelligent coaching decisions and showing no emotion , pride or fight .

This team has totally quit on Travis Green. The only reason we are in games , the only reason we escaped Colorado with a point is because of one player and one player only . Jakob Markstrom. He has been bailing this team out left right and centre. We don’t have a system , we have no game plan , we have no secondary scoring , no reliable defence outside of Hutton and Stetcher currently and probably for the remainder of the season and the list goes on and on .

We just traded Dahlen who was suppose to be a huge part of the teams future and one year after he wins MVP of The 2nd Division in Sweden he’s traded and played nowhere close to his potential, Lind and Gradjovich both only have 2 goals this season , Palmu has fled NA and on and on. That falls on Benning for failing to implement a system and culture in Utica for the Amerks too progress.

Yes we have had some positives this season make no mistake from a prospect standout . Juolevi was playing phenomenal until he was hurt with 13 points in 18 games , Quinn Hughes is playing absolutely outstanding and has developed the way we all wanted him too, Tyler Madden looks like a tremendous 3rd round pick , Jett Woo is having a spectacular season and has exceeded our expectations and Will Lockwood has been phenomenal. Benning can draft I will give him that .

But when is enough enough at the NHL Level , how many chances does he need ? He can’t construct a defence and fans are literally begging for Hughes who isn’t even here yet and won’t adjust to the NHL as fast as say Pettersson did or Rasmus Dahlin but it could happen but let’s not hold our breath , not acquiring draft picks for his infamous reclamation projects like Goldobin , Pouliot , Biega , Spooner , Motte, Baertschi etc. However I will give him credit for Josh Leivo and Granlund, spending way to much money on free agents like Beagle , Eriksson, Roussel, Gagner, Schaller etc. Heck he has even blown chances to trade Gudbranson and Tanev for draft picks and we could of got a 2nd for Gudbranson and a huge haul for Tanev but now we are stuck with Tanner Pearson who could potentially regain his 40 - 50 point potential and only saves 250 thousand and we might be lucky to get a 2nd round pick for Tanev etc .

Enough is Enough and we are almost certain to be drafting in the top 10 again this season, we need a total overhaul of the defence and there is no guarantee Edler resigns, major scoring help upfront and all of this falls on Benning. The time has come and Benning absolutely needs to get fired and I don’t think he has much leverage and protection left especially after this collapse. We have won 7 of our last 25 games . What’s he gunna say at the end of season press conference for positives this season outside of Markstrom , Stetcher , Hutton and our big 3 upfront (Pettersson, Boeser , Horvat. “Yeah I thought Gaudette played and developed well”. REALLY???? He’s playing 10 minutes a night and could have so many more points if only Green plays him more. I once really respected Green but my loyalty for him is as good as gone .

Aquillini needs to do the right thing this offseason and fire Benning and Green and bring in competent management and if I were him I would GIVE STEVE YZERMAN a blanque Check and make him the highest paid executive in the NHL to get us to the promised land

Only thing you forgot to mention was that 1/3 of the squad got injured from the allstar break throughout most of February..

Didnt know that Dahlen was supposed to be a 'huge' part of our future?

The Utica Amerks.?.what are you smoking?

Yes,you are correct,..Join the fire Benning/Green brigade...and hire Yzerman to take you the promised land...yawn.

 

[Bleach Clean]

I vote to have Melvin change his name to "But Injuries!!!".

Who's with me?

 

[Tables of Stats]

Biega is a long term Canuck signed as a free agent him for the Comets in 2013 under Gillis. He's a fine depth defender who plays well from the box and a great team player from every report I've ever heard. So swing and a miss on that one champ.

We lost our top two defenders right as the stretch run started. Edler missed 11 straight, which overlapped with 6 of Tanev's 8 games and counting. Lost an energy forward and physical presence in Virtanen the same game as we lost Tanev. Lost Baertschi who we had penciled into to give us a second scoring line and we're still on pace to better last season's total by 5 points.

The team hasn't quit on anybody, they're tired from trying to play an uptempo game all season long and taking injuries right down the stretch drive when other teams are turning it on.

And I know a lot of people will say that we lose Tanev and Edler every year and that Baertschi's concussion issues made him too risky to rely on in the top-6. That's all true, but it's also true that Edler has consistently refused to waive his NTC and Tanev is best traded as a deadline rental next season. We're also in a decent position to add scoring and defensive depth this offseason.

Beagle is a risky contract but, injury aside, he's brought much-needed stability to the bottom six with Sutter essentially missing this entire season.

Roussel, I will not tolerate a bad word about; period. He's on pace for a career year here at age 29, brings sandpaper and pushback to the line-up, and has been the only real standout player on this team over the age of 25.

Pouliot has actually been a positive possession player this season better than Edler, Tanev, and Hutton and only beaten by Stetcher as far as our regular defenseman go. He's one of three current Canucks defensemen who've been on the ice for more goals for than against this season FFS. Stop hating on players because you're eye test has no idea how to evaluate defensemen.

I'd still have no issue getting rid of Benning, which would also likely mean getting rid of Green, but unlike some I don't think we're in as big of a hole as people think.

 

[F A N]

I have no idea if sweeping changes are coming. My guess is that Benning has another year to make the playoffs. But ownership has in the past let GMs go after missing the playoffs once. Then again, Linden did step back or forced out at the beginning of the year and Benning might not be the type to push back the way previously fired GMs did.

 

[Bleach Clean]

...

And I know a lot of people will say that we lose Tanev and Edler every year and that Baertschi's concussion issues made him too risky to rely on in the top-6. That's all true, but it's also true that Edler has consistently refused to waive his NTC and Tanev is best traded as a deadline rental next season. We're also in a decent position to add scoring and defensive depth this offseason.
...

Pouliot has actually been a positive possession player this season better than Edler, Tanev, and Hutton and only beaten by Stetcher as far as our regular defenseman go. He's one of three current Canucks defensemen who've been on the ice for more goals for than against this season FFS. Stop hating on players because you're eye test has no idea how to evaluate defensemen.

I'd still have no issue getting rid of Benning, which would also likely mean getting rid of Green, but unlike some I don't think we're in as big of a hole as people think.

Your last statement lacks proper markers to rebut. How big of a hole do some people think we are in?

On Pouliot: So your eye test evaluates this Dman as being good? Also, do you know what sheltering a Dman does to their possession numbers?

On Tanev and Edler: First, you don't know that Tanev is best traded as a deadline rental. Second, Edler refusing to waive his NTC is a Benning paradigm. Why would or should anyone judge the handling of Edler per Benning's paradigm?

 

[Horse McHindu]

If the Canucks miss the playoffs next season, Benning will be punted off Grousse Mountain into the Pacific Ocean. His dog as well.

 

[DomY]

If "sweeping changes" are coming it would be on the NHL roster and not in management, at least not in the next 12 months.

There are no fewer than 14 wingers signed or RFAs for next year and only 9 roster spots.
There are 6 centers signed and only 4/5 roster spots.
There are 3 dmen capable of playing 22 mins a night or more.

Sweeping changes would be to switch out the depth at forward in order to supplement the back end. Markstrom can't stand on his head every game and expect to win. Alternatively the Canucks could start trying to win games 6-5, but the team doesn't have the horses for this kind of style either.

I think you have 3 options:
- Throw mega money and try to solve things in free agency to kick open the competitive window within 3 years
- Build the best team possible around the core you have, probably be a middle of the pack team, then in 3 years, pull a CBJ and go for it like you've burnt all your boats invading Mexico
- Accept the fact that the 3 year window is really 5 years away, every single roster player other than Pettersson should be treated as a commodity and every square peg you've acquired be traded for pieces that support the style of play.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Your last statement lacks proper markers to rebut. How big of a hole do some people think we are in?

On Pouliot: So your eye test evaluates this Dman as being good? Also, do you know what sheltering a Dman does to their possession numbers?

On Tanev and Edler: First, you don't know that Tanev is best traded as a deadline rental. Second, Edler refusing to waive his NTC is a Benning paradigm. Why would or should anyone judge the handling of Edler per Benning's paradigm?

We have a tank thread, this thread, and posters suggesting we trade Boeser and this year's first as a starting point for getting the first overall pick if we don't win the draft lottery this season. I'd say a lot of this team's fanbase feels like we've gone backward this season which would be a rather large hole indeed. An odd sentiment for a team on pace to better its record from last seasons wouldn't you say?

Pouliot hasn't been any worse than the rest of our defensive core and sheltered or not he's one of the only defensemen with a positive goals for ratio. He's been a solid 5/6 defenseman for us and hardly the reason for our defensive woes. Actually, Gudbranson aside our defense has been pretty solid this season if we had the forwards to play a more structured system I think we'd actually be an above average defensive team.

Instead, we have to try this stretch pass offense where we leave our D unsupported during breakouts and people will sit here and blame our D for our breakouts falling apart. It's had to look good in this system unless each pairing his a player capable of making a good outlet pass and each forward line has at least one player able to consistently take those passes. I think it's fair to say that we're a little lacking in those areas.

You don't know what Tanev's value is either. My claim is based on his injury history and how that would tend to hurt a player's long term value more than short term value (20 games + playoffs). What's your counterpoint to this line of thinking?

As for Edler, we've been flat out told that he's been asked to waive his NTC this year and last year and turned both requests down. That's an Edler paradigm and anything beyond that is speculation at best.

Can I also ask you to clearly define what a 'Benning Paradigm' is in detail? I ask because it sounds like a fancy way to say you don't like Benning without having to clarify what you mean.

 

[MadaCanuckle]

We have a tank thread, this thread, and posters suggesting we trade Boeser and this year's first as a starting point for getting the first overall pick if we don't win the draft lottery this season. I'd say a lot of this team's fanbase feels like we've gone backward this season which would be a rather large hole indeed. An odd sentiment for a team on pace to better its record from last seasons wouldn't you say?

Pouliot hasn't been any worse than the rest of our defensive core and sheltered or not he's one of the only defensemen with a positive goals for ratio. He's been a solid 5/6 defenseman for us and hardly the reason for our defensive woes. Actually, Gudbranson aside our defense has been pretty solid this season if we had the forwards to play a more structured system I think we'd actually be an above average defensive team.

Instead, we have to try this stretch pass offense where we leave our D unsupported during breakouts and people will sit here and blame our D for our breakouts falling apart. It's had to look good in this system unless each pairing his a player capable of making a good outlet pass and each forward line has at least one player able to consistently take those passes. I think it's fair to say that we're a little lacking in those areas.

You don't know what Tanev's value is either. My claim is based on his injury history and how that would tend to hurt a player's long term value more than short term value (20 games + playoffs). What's your counterpoint to this line of thinking?

As for Edler, we've been flat out told that he's been asked to waive his NTC this year and last year and turned both requests down. That's an Edler paradigm and anything beyond that is speculation at best.

Can I also ask you to clearly define what a 'Benning Paradigm' is in detail? I ask because it sounds like a fancy way to say you don't like Benning without having to clarify what you mean.

Sorry to point this out, but we also have been flat out told that Dahlen asked for a trade and Dahlen himself denied it. So, you can't take what Benning tells us in his pressers, because he flat out lied.

 

[Peter10]

Only thing you forgot to mention was that 1/3 of the squad got injured from the allstar break throughout most of February..

Didnt know that Dahlen was supposed to be a 'huge' part of our future?

The Utica Amerks.?.what are you smoking?

Yes,you are correct,..Join the fire Benning/Green brigade...and hire Yzerman to take you the promised land...yawn.

Well, it was totally unexpected that ironmen like Tanev, Edler or Sutter would miss games.

If injuries are the reason for another failing season, than what were your expectations for the Coyotes? They had far more injuries to important players yet they are above the Canucks in the standings.

Your conclusion should be that all it took for the Canucks to make the playoffs this year was:
- a stellar rookie campaign by Pettersson
- Markstrom playing out of his mind for most of the season
- Horvat improving further
- minimum injuries
- a lot of injuries to other teams in the playoff hunt
- a historical bad western conference

Damn, their chances were soooo good to make it.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Sorry to point this out, but we also have been flat out told that Dahlen asked for a trade and Dahlen himself denied it. So, you can't take what Benning tells us in his pressers, because he flat out lied.

Dahlen's agent asked for a trade which is exactly what Benning said happened.

Benning:

“His agent asked me a couple weeks ago if we could move him and if we could trade him,” said Benning in his post-deadline presser. “I said if we can do a lateral move where we feel good about getting a player back that we like, we’ll look to do that, otherwise we weren’t going to do it.”

JP Barry:

"There was frustration on both sides. We had numerous discussions on how to improve the situation. More recently a possible move was discussed as an option."

I don't see any lies here. Dahlen was truthful in that he wasn't asking for a trade and Benning and JP Barry are truthful in that they had talked about a trade after they couldn't come to terms on fixing the issues between Dahlen and the team.

 

[Kassattack]

I don't see anything changing. Ownership is content with having Benning around to control/manipulate instead of the best man for the job (that may not listen to them).

Team won't be going anywhere up the standings under Benning. Just gotta hope they get a top 3 pick in 2020 at this point. And pray Benning doesn't saddle the team with more terrible contracts this off-season.

Odds on Horvat's prime getting wasted is becoming increasingly higher. It's depressing.

 

[Intangibos]

Yeah but like they had a lot of injuries and stuff like losing Sutter was was a huge big deal and Beagle missed a lot of games and stuff and you know Edler and Tanev going down was a real tough and losing Demko sort of wore Markstrom out and Baertschi is a real good player and he missed the season but next year we're going to get some more depth and make a push for the playoffs cause we have like a real good young team and stuff and we'll get them some you know veteran depth to insulate them and help them out

 

[Askel]

The fact that Sutter, Edler, Tanev and Baertschi missed time was expected. They do it every year. The fact that Benning came back with the same useless defense as the year before is just bad managing. If he had upgraded there instead of adding Beagle, Shaller, Spooner & Pearsson the Canucks would probably been in the playoffs.

The fact that Gudbranson, Pouliot, Biega and Del Zotto was here is just BS, none of them should be a regular player and defiantly not 2 of them. Also having your 2 best d-men being very injury prone, you need to improve your depth. At least one but preferably 2 top 4 d-men should have been added this off season. Im just glad that Hutton wasn't moved as it was rumored about.

Hopefully next year with Hughes and another top 4 d-man added in FA the Canucks can stand a chance to improve.

 

[Tables of Stats]

Hopefully next year with Hughes and another top 4 d-man added in FA the Canucks can stand a chance to improve.

Which of Edler, Tanev, Stetcher, or Hutton gets bumped to the third pairing to make way for this new top-4 defender?

 

[Bettman Returnz]

I can’t imagine Benning ever making “big changes”. Maybe he’ll throw a boatload of $ at a FA. But just cannot picture him making a groundbreaking trade, ever. I bet he’ll get another season to get this team into playoffs. If we’re in same/similar spot, this time next year, I would think some hard decisions will need to be made.

 

[valkynax]

Aquaman is dumb enough to give Benning an extension, he's by default as brain-dead as the latter and will not fire the latter.

 

[Jyrki21]

Odds on Horvat's prime getting wasted is becoming increasingly higher. It's depressing.

That's already happened. It's Pettersson's prime we should be worried about.

 

[Kel Varnson]

Don't think you're going to get much argument from people on this site. Most of us are painfully aware of how bad our front office is.
Hopefully this latest collapse will be enough to force some changes

 

[Intangibos]

Aquaman is dumb enough to give Benning an extension, he's by default as brain-dead as the latter and will not fire the latter.

My sister's early childhood best friend works extremely high up in Aquilini's construction business. I wish he could just ask "Why?" for all of us here.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Only thing you forgot to mention was that 1/3 of the squad got injured from the allstar break throughout most of February..

Didnt know that Dahlen was supposed to be a 'huge' part of our future?

The Utica Amerks.?.what are you smoking?

Yes,you are correct,..Join the fire Benning/Green brigade...and hire Yzerman to take you the promised land...yawn.

Dahlen was 1 of only 2 rebuilding moves you have admitted to, so with that ending in failure (and the other being a move Benning has said he wouldn’t have made if not for the expansion draft) I think it’s safe to say any rebuild attempt that was made has ended in failure and this team is not currently in a rebuild. Therefore, those of us who refuse to ignore the reality of the situation are justified in calling for Benning’s termination.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Also, Ed Willes in his latest article suggests there could be changes this year.

 

[Throwback]

There probably will be a trade or two at the draft to get mid round picks and/or "age-gap" players. Other than that, probably overpaying for free agents like Ferland, Myers, and Eberle.