(Elliott) - Jim Benning Firing: It Sounds like its coming

[iCanada]

If you told me back then that he’d be there for another 5 years I’d call you f***ing crazy.

Yeah, I think for a long time Benning has kind of skirted along as the Forest Gump of GMs. For a looong time now he's been making moves that appear to be the dumbest thing imaginable while seemingly getting worse every offseason. Yet up until this year, somehow the moves all just somehow worked out and the team was significantly better than expected. He even lucked into the same free Stanley Cup Chiarelli did with Boston off the work of their predecessor.

His offseason this year was atrocious; to cap things off Hughes / Petterson seem to be slumping quite hard, and Demko whom he bet on over Markstrom is just shitting the bed.

 

[FOurteenS inCisOr]

Stecher was a trainwreck as anything but a bottom pairing D. In larger role it was a great game followed by an awful one. Nobody should be crying over losing a bottom pair D. Schmidt is a clear upgrade over Tanev.

Replacing Markstrom with Holtby seems to be a clear cut downgrade, but I thought Demko was supposed to become the new #1 anyway. Markstrom->Demko and Demko->Holtby is a slight downgrade and it's only short term I believe. Let's talk about how well Markstrom's 6 year deal is working out in a few years.

Honestly, I think Eriksson and Baertshi contracts (and, to some extent, Roussel and Beagle) are much bigger issues for the Canucks than anything done and not done this offseason. Also Lungo's recapture, but that's not on Benning I do not think.

He absolutely wasn’t, and that becomes more clear with every game that goes by with the current D corps.

 

[82Ninety42011]

Yes, I'm available

It surely wouldn't be boring for the media this guy is entertainment but not in a good way.

 

[RandV]

The Holtby signing might be the most mind boggling of JB's entire tenure. A guy who was clearly a reclamation project, and signed him for exactly the same money as Toffoli got. I mean, obviously we need a backup, but when you make the call that Demko is the man going forward, you don't use what tiny cap space you have left on a reclamation project insurance backup goalie.

What in the world has Holtby done recently to deserve 4.3, when elite goal scorers in their prime are signing for that amount ?? I think Jim may suffer from tunnel vision, as well as crappy pro scouting. Must get Holtby, must get Myers, must get Beagle and Roussel. No plan B, just pay who he likes whatever they ask for.

Because Benning has shown to be a GM who will not entrust the net to a younger unproven guy, no matter how well groomed. He showed this already when the Canucks were ready to go ahead with Lack and Markstrom but he came in and had to sign Ryan Miller then stuck with him for the full 3 years, despite being outplayed by the younger guys and even passed an opportunity to get a 1st for him after year 2. Jacob Markstrom was 28 by the time he was finally allowed to be the uncontested starter.

 

[Stickpucker]

I hope he makes a desperation trade /w my team before he's kicked out the door.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Dean Lombardi.

 

[CherryToke]

I don't really care for sports executives. It's not like they are fired and get 2 weeks pay. They still get fully paid out the life of their contract with some off-setting language if they take a job elsewhere. Plus, 99% of them always have fall back options in either a lower-level position in hockey-ops or in the media where they make significantly more than the average person.

Nobody wants to listen to Benning analyze anything

but I'm sure he'll find work as a scout somewhere

 

[CherryToke]

Damn, a lot of people were singing his praises last summer during the playoffs.

But oof, some of those contracts

Yeah like this idiot

 

[peteyforharrt]

90% abysmal moves, 10% great moves.

Time to go.

Ahh finding franchise cornerstones in Hughes and Petterrson without a first overall is a little bit better then 10%

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

It can be hard to predict where things should be as without Benning's bumbling in the first few seasons the Canucks wouldn't have been bad enough to draft Pettersson and Hughes. But to make a good split point, going into the summer of 2018 there was a power struggle over the direction of the team between Trevor Linden and Benning/Weisbrod. As Benning's team kept failing Linden was starting to talk to other people around the league and wanted to shift to a more standard rebuild approach. Aquilini backed Benning/Weisbrod, Linden was fired and his team President position remains vacant to this day, and Benning over the next two summers proceeded to sign Beagle, Roussel, Schaller, Myers, Ferland, and Benn.

So if we took the Linden approach back then the Canucks would still be saddled with Sutter and Eriksson (though Sutter probably could have been traded at some point), but have the same young core, the money to sign/re-sign Markstrom/Tanev/Stecher/Toffoli, still add Nate Schmidt, and add yet another $3-5M forward or dman.

Too funny...are we talking about Mr 'it would be unfair to the Sedins'..?

 

[93LEAFS]

Nobody wants to listen to Benning analyze anything

but I'm sure he'll find work as a scout somewhere

I feel Benning in the media would be amazing, but for all the wrong reasons.

 

[M2Beezy]

Is this actually gonna happen this time? I was told after the pathetic Habs sweep that was it. Then after the Leafs steamrolled us i thought that was it. Another loss to a Flames team that laid their egg of the season still hasnt produced the result we need. I think a Marky shutout blowout game tomorrow will lead to.....


Nothing, this is all a tease

 

[SamInVan]

Schmidt <-> Tanev, Demko <-> Markstrom, Toffoli <-> Hoglander

Canucks should have had all the above.

Giving JB a pass because he had no money to improve the team doesn't make him a good GM.

The teams defence is the exact same structure we just don't have Marky bailing us out nightly. He is an elite high end goalie...Demko perhaps one day but will take a few years under Clark.

 

[HolyCrap]

Too bad vancouver did not get Dubas, they might have missed last years playoffs...

And if it wasn’t for a global pandemic the Habs wouldn’t have made the playoffs. Lol

 

[SamInVan]

Ahh finding franchise cornerstones in Hughes and Petterrson without a first overall is a little bit better then 10%

Benning wanted Cody Glass he was overruled...he also spent $12m on Loui Eriksson and Tyler Myers.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Elliotte is mostly reliable -- it sounds like VAN fans (most or some?) could be getting their wish.

Western Canadian fans hate and don't trust the Eastern biased media. They probably won't believe Friedman.

 

[RandV]

Yeah, I think for a long time Benning has kind of skirted along as the Forest Gump of GMs. For a looong time now he's been making moves that appear to be the dumbest thing imaginable while seemingly getting worse every offseason. Yet up until this year, somehow the moves all just somehow worked out and the team was significantly better than expected. He even lucked into the same free Stanley Cup Chiarelli did with Boston off the work of their predecessor.

His offseason this year was atrocious; to cap things off Hughes / Petterson seem to be slumping quite hard, and Demko whom he bet on over Markstrom is just shitting the bed.

That's not accurate, pretty much all his moves were bad at the time and turned out to be bad in the long run. Rather inserting Boeser/Pettersson/Hughes in back to back to back years did just enough to distract the general media/fans from the mess he was making of everything else. Then the biggest Forest Gump moment when the team was about to collapse and extremely likely miss the playoffs for a 5th straight time a global pandemic hits giving the Canucks a reset and a chance to go on a fun mini-Cinderella run in the Covid-19 playoffs.

 

[Snipes45]

I cringe when I hear things like, "If this series does not go well, look or big changes"

Like the previous x amount of years wasn't enough? lol. I remember the Oilers and Katz, Gretzky, and Co flew to NY for an early season game and hearing if the Oilers did not win, heads could roll.

This isn't something that happens that fast, it accumulates.

 

[rt]

Lombardi and Futa ride again? Or will it be Ray Shero? Maybe a surprise like Steve Sullivan?

 

[Fire Benning]

Benning had the worst offseason any GM has ever had

Wasn’t even his worst off-season.

In 2016 Jim Benning traded Jared McCann (recent first rounder) the 33rd pick in the draft for Erik Gudbranson

On draft day he tried to trade Bo Horvat and the 5th overall pick for PK Subban.

Got fined for tampering for talking about Subban, and Stamkos on a radio hit.

Drafted Oli Juolevi over Matthew Tkachuk

Signed Loui Eriksson to a 6 x 6 contract.

Oilers and Leafs fans saying “it’s too early !!!!1” have absolutely no clue how incompetent this man is.

 

[JT Kreider]

Wasn’t even his worst off-season.

In 2016 Jim Benning traded Jared McCann (recent first rounder) the 33rd pick in the draft for Erik Gudbranson

On draft day he tried to trade Bo Horvat and the 5th overall pick for PK Subban.

Got fined for tampering for talking about Subban, and Stamkos on a radio hit.

Drafted Oli Juolevi over Matthew Tkachuk

Signed Loui Eriksson to a 6 x 6 contract.

Oilers and Leafs fans saying “it’s too early !!!!1” have absolutely no clue how incompetent this man is.

Brutal.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Firing him won't fix anything, at least not any time soon.

He's absolutely boned that team. No cap space, so many places that need upgrades, and MASSIVE contracts due Hughes/Petterson this offseason.

 

[BrettM]

this is nothing more then a premonition(a strong one at that) is the Aquilini's will lure one of the more prominent hockey figures in the Vancouver area, with little managerial experience in Ray Ferraro away from TSN to follow the pittsburgh model by naming Ferraro the President of hockey operations while Alan Millar will work as the General Manager behind Ferraro.

 

[lawrence]

Firing him won't fix anything, at least not any time soon.

He's absolutely boned that team. No cap space, so many places that need upgrades, and MASSIVE contracts due Hughes/Petterson this offseason.

There might not be a huge one for pettersson if he doesn’t pick things up. At this point he’s lucky to even get nylander money.

 

[Javaman]

Benning should have been fired years ago.

Gord Miller should resign in disgrace.