Does Jim Benning deserve a contract extension

[Wo Yorfat]

Has thrown 2 top 6 picks in the garbage and has added zero roster players who give good value. 4 more years!

 

[Ryp37]

I say extend him. Lou Lamoriello early years as a Devils GM was horrendous too. But they didn't give up on him, he made some mistakes as everyone would.

Under Jb's leader ship, drafting has vastly improved, some bad trades, he also made some good trades.

I say extend him.

If all you can muster as a defense for him amounts to "he's not that bad" then he doesn't deserve an extension

 

[lawrence]

If all you can muster as a defense for him amounts to "he's not that bad" then he doesn't deserve an extension

well he's really "not that bad"

 

[valkynax]

I say extend him. Lou Lamoriello early years as a Devils GM was horrendous too. But they didn't give up on him, he made some mistakes as everyone would.

Under Jb's leader ship, drafting has vastly improved, some bad trades, he also made some good trades.

I say extend him.

oh boy, ooooooh boy...

Let's see...

- Benning ****ed up both 5th and 6th overall and a 24th overall
- 90% of his trades are supernaturally awful
- can't talk to the public without sounding like a brain dead monkey who just drank a mercury thermometer
- frequently overvalues players
- give out horrendous contracts
- can't develop prospects
- does not know the concept of utilizing cap space
- thinks draft picks are works of the devil
- hired a coach who was basically a looney toon character and kept him for three years

The list can go on much longer but I ran out of ****s to give.

Shrug.

 

[Hollywood Burrows]

I mean his tenure has seen the franchise completely implode. It's beyond embarrassing. I don't see how they can possibly justify an extension to the fanbase.

I say extend him. Lou Lamoriello early years as a Devils GM was horrendous too. But they didn't give up on him, he made some mistakes as everyone would.

Under Jb's leader ship, drafting has vastly improved, some bad trades, he also made some good trades.

I say extend him.

what about all the GMs who were horrendous in their early years and were then fired and never worked as a GM again

what on earth makes you think jim benning is going to have a lamoriello-like career.

 

[valkynax]

I mean his tenure has seen the franchise completely implode. It's beyond embarrassing. I don't see how they can possibly justify an extension to the fanbase.



what about all the GMs who were horrendous in their early years and were then fired and never worked as a GM again

what on earth makes you think jim benning is going to have a lamoriello-like career.

overvaluing and wishful thinking (along with complete lack of accountability) seems to be a theme with this organization now.

Virtanen gonna be the next Lucic, Juolevi will become Lidstrom, Granlund is basically Bergeron

 

[Jack Burton]

well he's really "not that bad"

 

[PG Canuck]

well he's really "not that bad"

Which really means, he's pretty bad.

 

[LeftCoast]

Does he deserve an extension - No. Will he get one, probably a 1 year. If they don't extend him, it is basically the same as firing him, and I don't think they are ready to do that, but there is no way they will commit long term to Benning.

 

[lawrence]

do you nuck fans actually believe he only drafted 2 players? We drafted a total of 27 players since he came, with a ton of good choices,

Demko,
Tryamkin
Forsling
Boeser
Brisbois
Juolevi
William Lockwood
Gaudette
Pettersson
Lind
Gajovich
Dipietro and the list goes on.

Screw up Jake Virtanen but still too early to tell. Impatient Canuck fans doing this because Nylander and Ehlers had quick starts to their careers.

what on earth makes you think jim benning is going to have a lamoriello-like career.

and what on earth do you think getting a new GM will make things better?

 

[orcatown]

oh boy, ooooooh boy...

Let's see...

- Benning ****ed up both 5th and 6th overall and a 24th overall
- 90% of his trades are supernaturally awful
- can't talk to the public without sounding like a brain dead monkey who just drank a mercury thermometer
- frequently overvalues players
- give out horrendous contracts
- can't develop prospects
- does not know the concept of utilizing cap space
- thinks draft picks are works of the devil
- hired a coach who was basically a looney toon character and kept him for three years

The list can go on much longer but I ran out of ****s to give.

Shrug.

Might be a bit on the benign side but still fairly accurate summation. Could add that what seems worse than his obvious stupidity is his craven willingness to sell out any future for the team to maintain his job.

 

[valkynax]

do you nuck fans actually believe he only drafted 2 players? We drafted a total of 27 players since he came, with a ton of good choices,

Demko,
Tryamkin
Forsling
Boeser
Brisbois
Juolevi
William Lockwood
Gaudette
Pettersson
Lind
Gajovich
Dipietro and the list goes on.

Screw up Jake Virtanen but still too early to tell. Impatient Canuck fans doing this because Nylander and Ehlers had quick starts to their careers.



and what on earth do you think getting a new GM will make things better?

Tryamkin and Boeser? Sure those are good picks. But Tryamkin isn't here now is he? He probably got fed up by Dim Jim and Idiot Willie plus the whole management. Not saying it's 100% the reason but it seems entirely possible.

Virtanen and Juolevi had very clear and better alternatives at the time that almost everyone agreed on;

All the other players had not done jack **** in NHL. Cole Cassels was thought to be the player who could contain McDavid - someone already said, very easy to overhype later round picks, then have them fall on their faces later on.

Once again, you try to focus on EXTREMELY niche and specific things Benning had done and try to use these things to deflect any blame of the mountain of turd Benning brought to this team, and to blow them way out of proportion in an attempt to make Benning look good.

How about putting all that down and face facts: the team's a joke three years in a row, has a forgettable prospect pool, has pissed away a year worth of draft picks in horrible trade, is spent to the cap and a bottom feeder that's boring as **** to watch.

This is all Benning's doing.

 

[F A N]

Does he deserve an extension - No. Will he get one, probably a 1 year. If they don't extend him, it is basically the same as firing him, and I don't think they are ready to do that, but there is no way they will commit long term to Benning.

That's the issue I have with these polls that don't give you a third or neutral option.

Does he deserve an extension? Not unless the Canucks make the playoffs this season and the kids step up. That doesn't mean you "fire him". Like you said, technically, not renewing his contract is not firing him but in reality it is. But like you, I can see Linden hitching his wagon to Benning for one more year after this. I think Benning's draft picks and prospect type acquisitions need to show some significant progress. Like I said at the time he was hired, we really need some good drafting years. Even if Benning isn't the one to take us to the promised land, his tenure can still be a good one if he manages to come through in the draft.

On another note, Chevy in Winnipeg got a multi-year extension for making the playoffs once in 6 years despite 2 coaching hires and doing nothing with the young core he inherited. But he looks to be doing a decent enough job with essentially his second young core so there's that.

Edit: We are assuming here that Benning is in his final year of his contract. Is this true/confirmed? 4 years is a relatively short contract for a GM hire.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

and what on earth do you think getting a new GM will make things better?

Because a new GM wouldn't be so bloody stupid as to commit a large percentage of our salary cap to Eriksson, Sutter, Gudbranson and Gagner, throw draft picks away for no reason in every trade he makes, continue to sign bandaid veterans to prop up an already bad team and spend to the cap while doing so? Maybe?

I mean, do you ever actually watch the team on the ice play anymore? Seriously...

 

[valkynax]

That's the issue I have with these polls that don't give you a third or neutral option.

Does he deserve an extension? Not unless the Canucks make the playoffs this season and the kids step up. That doesn't mean you "fire him". Like you said, technically, not renewing his contract is not firing him but in reality it is. But like you, I can see Linden hitching his wagon to Benning for one more year after this. I think Benning's draft picks and prospect type acquisitions need to show some significant progress. Like I said at the time he was hired, we really need some good drafting years. Even if Benning isn't the one to take us to the promised land, his tenure can still be a good one if he manages to come through in the draft.

On another note, Chevy in Winnipeg got a multi-year extension for making the playoffs once in 6 years despite 2 coaching hires and doing nothing with the young core he inherited. But he looks to be doing a decent enough job with essentially his second young core so there's that.

That's an objective assessment of the situation, I don't agree with it completely but at least it's not blind Benning ass kissing, and I can respect that.

To me, if Benning wish to remain in this city, he will need to do all of the following:

1) Explore trade options for Edler/Tanev
2) Obtain one 1st round pick, plus multiple 2nd and later round picks for 2018 draft
3) Get rid of Mr. I-got-balls-of-steel
4) Properly handle the impending contraction expiration of the twins
5) Learn to talk like a normal human being
6) Steer all prospects to the right direction in their development
7) Be honest with fans
8) Tank for 2018 draft

Consider how badly he screwed over this team, these tasks are perfectly reasonable.

 

[Jyrki21]

[delete]

 

[rypper]

People see the (perceived) improvement on drafting from Benning over what we had in Gillis and cling to him despite having faults (sometimes catastrophic) in other aspects of being a GM.

I'd wager we could find another experienced candidate who would be competent at all aspects of being a GM and draft as well as Benning. It's not like if we fire Benning we're going to go back to Gillis level drafting.

 

[tantalum]

People see the (perceived) improvement on drafting from Benning over what we had in Gillis and cling to him despite having faults (sometimes catastrophic) in other aspects of being a GM.

I'd wager we could find another experienced candidate who would be competent at all aspects of being a GM and draft as well as Benning. It's not like if we fire Benning we're going to go back to Gillis level drafting.

And it is just perceived improvement at this point. Some mid round guys are tracking well. Great. Too bad at least 2 of the top 6 picks were blown and a third first round pick traded. Three top 6 picks should have at the very, very least resulted in two excellent core/future star pieces. That doesn't look likely at this point and that will set this team back significantly. While all drafting is important, a rebuilding team has to hit on those high picks when they get them.

We'll see what happens of course. Maybe Virtanen finally puts it together and does become a star but that looks less likely by the day. It is concerning that Juolevi's play the last 12 months has been similar to what Virtanen did after being drafted...something that can be described as "meh" (for as high a pick he is). Now the we don't know what we have in Pettersson yet but he should be expected to be nearly PPG in the SHL this year if his development is on track.

 

[y2kcanucks]

That's not a smart answer. And just shows that you're crying for the sake of crying and not actually thinking.

You can't just make a change for the sake of making a change without understanding the consequences and what the plan for after is.

I know we are fans and aren't needed to do that, but if you are calling for someone to be fired, don't you think it be a good idea to look at who you would like to see replace him? If there isn't anyone out there that is a realistic option that is better or potentially better than making that move isn't a smart move.

I think Benning is on the hot seat but who is out there that could be better in this situation where it's pretty obvious the Aquilini's aren't sold on the burn it to the ground rebuild that many of you are screaming for.

No, he's right though. As long as you aren't bringing in someone like Lowe or Milbury, almost anyone is better than Benning.

 

[Hit the post]

That's not a smart answer. And just shows that you're crying for the sake of crying and not actually thinking.

You can't just make a change for the sake of making a change without understanding the consequences and what the plan for after is.

Bingo. The correct answer...not sure why nobody hasn't said it already!

Look at the consequences for not taking heed of this: Firing Gillis & hiring Benning. See what we have now - a team that spends to the cap, 2nd & 3rd last place finishes, with the only crap contracts that last beyond a year being the ones Benning himself signed.

 

[TruGr1t]

Please don't let him make anymore high, first-round picks. As noted, coming away with Virtanen and Juolevi in those two drafts looks enough to a get a GM fired.

 

[Pip]

do you nuck fans actually believe he only drafted 2 players? We drafted a total of 27 players since he came, with a ton of good choices,

Demko,
Tryamkin
Forsling
Boeser
Brisbois
Juolevi
William Lockwood
Gaudette
Pettersson
Lind
Gajovich
Dipietro and the list goes on.

Screw up Jake Virtanen but still too early to tell. Impatient Canuck fans doing this because Nylander and Ehlers had quick starts to their careers.



and what on earth do you think getting a new GM will make things better?

Says it's too early to tell about Virtanen and then lists a bunch of players who still haven't even hit pro as "good choices"

 

[Tobi Wan Kenobi]

I voted no but I'd rather have Benning than Linden. What the **** does Linden even do?

 

[hookshott]

People see the (perceived) improvement on drafting from Benning over what we had in Gillis and cling to him despite having faults (sometimes catastrophic) in other aspects of being a GM.

I'd wager we could find another experienced candidate who would be competent at all aspects of being a GM and draft as well as Benning. It's not like if we fire Benning we're going to go back to Gillis level drafting.

Oh, by the way, who drafted Bo Horvat at 9th overall? Gillis never had a draft pick higher than that...and did not screw it up!

 

[RandV]

I'd bet anything if Gillis had stuck around one more year and got to add the 2014 draft under his belt he would have dropped this ridiculous label. The GM alone doesn't do the drafting, the core issue is that we had a horrible scouting group left over from the Burke/Nonis era, and Gillis mistake was in taking too long to start fixing it. Once it did get fixed up though it didn't really have enough time to establish itself, as the Crawford led group only got in what two drafts? And out of that we got Horvat, Hutton, and Gaunce.

Now I like Judd Bracket, and one thing you can say for Benning is we haven't gone back to Burke/Nonis era drafting, but I don't really see Bracket being as much an improvement over Crawford to justify swapping Gillis for Benning.