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

[Bourne Endeavor]

Benning did a good job rebuilding the team after the cupboards were naked.

Canuck owner wants to win now and my guess whomever replaces Benning will trade young kids for old vets

Except... he didn't. While his draft selections have been overall pretty decent. His UFA signings and trades have been woefully bad barring few exception. Keep in mind, he originally wanted to draft Glass and had to be convinced to pick Pettersson.

With that all said, I honestly believe how he handled this off season alone warrants being fired. It's among the most incompetent use of time and asset management I've ever seen. He spent weeks chasing OEL whose contract is seriously questionable; never once negotiated with any of his UFAs until he circled back on Tanev out of sheer desperation, and only lucked into Vegas gifting Schmidt. Tanev played with the Canucks for over a decade and yet Benning didn't offer so much as a phone call to at least let him know they were moving on. It speaks volumes that Tanev signed with Calgary an hour after supposedly "sleeping on" the offer Benning finally made.

What makes all this so much worse is both Hughes and Pettersson reportedly lobbied hard for Tanev and Toffoli. Not at all surprising half the team looks like they couldn't give a shit.

 

[SenzZen]

 

[93LEAFS]

I don't like seeing anybody losing their job, but it's time for Benning to go.

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.

 

[Toronto makebeleifs]

Who are considered to be the best available options for a GM role at the moment?

Futa might be a good candidate, there is also hunter and possibly Fenton. Nightmare scenarios include nonis, chia, and jfj

 

[Peter Griffin]

Benning should have been fired a few years ago. Now seems like a weird time to pinpoint their bad performance on the GM.

Better late than never.

Benning’s horrible cap management finally caught up to him.

 

[dukeofjive]

Should the Leafs upgrade on Dubas if Benning is available?

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

 

[Crabapple]

Did Benning try too hard to get OEL out of Arizona? It seems like his off season plans hinged on that, and when it couldn't get done it was too late and everyone was gone.

 

[hockeeyyy]

But I thought Benning was the best GM in Canada? Vancouver fans told me this repeatedly.

 

[Warden of the North]

Always an exciting day on hfboards when GMs get canned.

Fare thee well Jim. I hope you land on your feet. I think you draft well.

 

[CascadiaPuck]

I think the build up that lead to that played a big part too. Canucks probably re-sign 1 or 2 of Marky/Tanev/Toffoli if not for all the wasted cap on LE/Sutter/Myers/Beagle/Roussel/Benn

And the Luongo recapture and the unexpected COVID-driven flat cap. I’m not excusing Benning or justifying his signings. But those other two factors also no doubt impacted the ability to retain a least one of those three.

 

[Mal Reynolds]

I had high hopes for Vancouver this season. What are Canucks fans thoughts on being the last straw? Losing Markstrom and Tanev?

Last year was sort of a mirage imo. Carried by elite goaltending, a strong PP and the likes of Pettersson, Hughes, Horvat and Miller

They simply have too much overpaid junk on the books. Strangely enough, they don't have any really exorbitant contracts (Loui/Myers make $6M)... basically, it's been death by a million cuts as Benning has routinely overpaid in salary and/or term until it finally caught up with him this past offseason

Much of it, except Myers, is off the books in the next 2 years. That's why many, myself included, are hopeful more competent management is brought in sooner than later to clean up the mess and actually, y'know, *improve* the team

Long story short, yes, Markstrom (and to a lesser extent Tanev as well) masked a LOT of issues on the team

 

[The Macho King]

Like many people said, never a fan of people losing their jobs, but it’s obvious a change needs to happen, they are six points back, and most teams have like 4 to 5 games in hand, On a six game losing streak in a extremely important season.

Had a disaster free agency period This year, its time for a change

I mean - he's not going to be on the bread line here. He's made probably more than a million bucks a year.

He is going to be fine.

 

[CascadiaPuck]

But I thought Benning was the best GM in Canada? Vancouver fans told me this repeatedly.

“Vancouver fans”. Grade A generalizing here. Solid. Any even slightly objective analysis of Canucks fans shows that Benning’s detractors outweighed his supporters by a lot.

 

[Nucker101]

And the Luongo recapture and the unexpected COVID-driven flat cap. I’m not excusing Benning or justifying his signings. But those other two factors also no don’t impacted the ability to retain a least one of those three.

Sure, but that also helped him land Schmidt for a 3rd. He also got bailed out by Ferland landing on LTIR.

If it was just a couple of bad contracts on the books right now then I’d say that he’s getting too much heat but it’s time for change.

 

[rubikscube]

I wouldn't fire Green if I were them. He was put behind the 8-ball by his GM.

It seems like one of those firings they would regret when he finds success with another team

 

[Nucker101]

I mean - he's not going to be on the bread line here. He's made probably more than a million bucks a year.

He is going to be fine.

And let’s not pretend like he won’t get offered jobs to be a scout(or head scout) or maybe even assistant GM.

The dude will be perfectly fine.

 

[Spirit of 67]

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

k.

 

[Regal]

Except... he didn't. While his draft selections have been overall pretty decent. His UFA signings and trades have been woefully bad barring few exception. Keep in mind, he originally wanted to draft Glass and had to be convinced to pick Pettersson.

With that all said, I honestly believe how he handled this off season alone warrants being fired. It's among the most incompetent use of time and asset management I've ever seen. He spent weeks chasing OEL whose contract is seriously questionable; never once negotiated with any of his UFAs until he circled back on Tanev out of sheer desperation, and only lucked into Vegas gifting Schmidt. Tanev played with the Canucks for over a decade and yet Benning didn't offer so much as a phone call to at least let him know they were moving on. It speaks volumes that Tanev signed with Calgary an hour after supposedly "sleeping on" the offer Benning finally made.

What makes all this so much worse is both Hughes and Pettersson reportedly lobbied hard for Tanev and Toffoli. Not at all surprising half the team looks like they couldn't give a shit.

Beyond all the horrible moves, this is one part that doesn't get brought up enough about Benning and this management group. Whatever anyone thinks about Gillis' GMing abilities, it was a world class organization under his leadership, with multiple players talking about it in terms of how they were treated. This management team seems on the opposite end of the spectrum, and Tanev and Markstrom's reactions to their "tribute" video last last night is just further evidence of that.

 

[Inflict]

Keep in mind, he originally wanted to draft Glass and had to be convinced to pick Pettersson.

A GM who is willing to listen to his scouting staff should be seen as a positive, not a negative.

Despite that, I'm in the camp that Benning is a poor GM overall. The fact that he paid for Tyler Myer's UFA price but wouldn't sign Markstrom/Toffolli for similar or less is mind boggling.

 

[Toronto makebeleifs]

Lol the irony is that they had this run and then Benning let a bunch of key assets walk as if the Canucks were rebuilding.

Not that they could have retained all of Marky/Tanev/Toffoli due to horrible cap management by JB in the first place....

Agreed, they could have, however, retained at least 1 of them. Dispite the injuries, tanev has always been a rock on the back end. Look at the emergence of hanafins play this year, his partner? No coincidence. That said, they absolutely needed to keep markstrom, he outright stole games that Vancouver had no business in. I understand the idea behind not wanting to keep both demko and markstrom in fear of losing one of them to the ED, but there was an entire year prior to that, in that year demko is a tradable asset that (if sold high) could net a sizable return. Heavens, the last time the nucks had 2 viable goalies they traded one that led them to acquiring the gd Capitan of the team bo horvat. Piss poor asset management imho, I don't feel bad because the canucks are competition, but I can certainly empathize as a fan of a team that did that for the better part of a decade, it sucks.

 

[CascadiaPuck]

Sure, but that also helped him land Schmidt for a 3rd. He also got bailed out by Ferland landing on LTIR.

If it was just a couple of bad contracts on the books right now then I’d say that he’s getting too much heat but it’s time for change.

I think the change could be justified - really wish I had a better read on who would be a good replacement - but I think it’s also important to acknowledge that there were some baked in headwinds that disproportionately affected the Canucks relative to other teams this past off season. Not a Benning supporter or hater. Just not keen to present a single track narrative.

 

[mdobbs]

With that all said, I honestly believe how he handled this off season alone warrants being fired. It's among the most incompetent use of time and asset management I've ever seen. He spent weeks chasing OEL whose contract is seriously questionable; never once negotiated with any of his UFAs until he circled back on Tanev out of sheer desperation, and only lucked into Vegas gifting Schmidt. Tanev played with the Canucks for over a decade and yet Benning didn't offer so much as a phone call to at least let him know they were moving on. It speaks volumes that Tanev signed with Calgary an hour after supposedly "sleeping on" the offer Benning finally made.

I agree that this offseason was the epitome of Benning's incompetence. Canucks have made some good picks, but being a GM is about more than just scouting (and Benning's pro scouting has been amongst the worst in the NHL). Absolutely atrocious cap management.

 

[Canucks LB]

 

[hockeeyyy]

“Vancouver fans”. Grade A generalizing here. Solid. Any even slightly objective analysis of Canucks fans shows that Benning’s detractors outweighed his supporters by a lot.

Jim Benning vs Kyle Dubas

K.

 

[Wall of Wonder]

Weisbrod and Gear needs to be removed as well.