It seems that Benning is not going to get the credit or benefit of the doubt that he is due, even as some of reasons that posters have used to argue that he is incompentent and stupid have been proven wrong or dispelled. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of Benning's asset management and contract negotiations, but the hate for Benning is just so crazy around here. I also realize that Gillis and Gilman were amongst the best in this department and we have to adjust to a different management style now. Let's take a look a a few reasons that have gone down the tubes:
1) Benning has made the team older? Hutton, Virtanen, McCann have made the team.
2) Benning is biased towards his own acquisitions etc. and will do everything to save face? Bonino and Clendenning were traded. Vey got sent down.
3) Benning absolutely got robbed in the Kassian trade? What stupidity to throw in a 5th in order to dump Kassian? Turns out there WAS something we didn't know.
The problem is the lack of any foresight or consistency when it comes to their decision making. Last season Corrado needed to sit in the press box, this season he needs to play. Last season they thought Clendening was worth giving up a great prospect, now they think a similar defenseman is worth waiving (and Clendening himself was worth being a throw-in, in an already unfavourable deal).
It's hard to believe someone this dumb is in any sort of management position, making decisions worth millions of dollars.
When did Corrado sit in the press box except the time he was injured? If anything, Corrado was up and down between the Canucks and Utica more than any other player. But sigh... losing Corrado sucks.
In terms of foresight or consistency, I think it it's too early to conclude. Benning took over a team that was lacking in NHL ready young talent. Like Horvat said, last year it was just him. This year there are a few guys going through the same process. Benning was obviously trying to add young talent by way of adding guys who have had trouble cracking the NHL roster full time. The Canucks were lacking in NHL ready young talent. Gillis did that too, although he preferred guys with more of an NHL track record (Steve Bernier) and if they didn't, he refused to pay assets for them (waiver wire pickups). Gillis preferred to go the UFA waiver route to "fill" his roster while he waited for his drafting and player development to bear fruit. Benning has avoided the UFA route and prefer to trade for the guys he wants on his team. It's been a different approach. Benning took a chance and not every one of them worked out. If Baertschi pans out, I don't care that he was like 1 for 3 or 1 for 4. These are the type of trades I want Benning to make if he is indeed a good evaluator of talent. Regardless, Benning wanted to secure the player and put his team together instead of scouring the waiver wire. You can disagree with the approach but he's not stupid.
There's foresight and then there's being open to changing opinion. Clendening was given a 17 game audition and in the meantime, Weber blew up offensively and secured at least another year with the Canucks. I've said this many times, at the time of the trade, Weber and Stanton figure to be gone and Corrado and Clendening figure to be on next year's roster. Then Weber went on his amazing run alongside Hamhuis, and Hutton came in and beat out Corrado for a roster spot. Vey didn't have a good year last season and was given an ultimatum of sorts. He was then beat out for a roster spot. Steve Bernier turned out into an NHL 4th liner too. There's foresight and then there's accepting reality. Gillis was often slow (as opposed to being patient) in giving up on players who clearly wasn't the player Gillis originally envisioned when he acquired them.