FINAL ROUND: Rank Benning's 10th Worst Move

[ginner classic]

In light voting the drafting of Virtanen over the consensus better prospects in Ehlers and Nylander ranks as Benning's 9th worst move. What is #10?

#1 Erik Gudbranson Trade (In) (35.2%)
#2 Loui Eriksson Contract (41.6%)
#3 Drafting Juolevi (41.3%)
#4 Ryan Kesler Trade Return (19.4%)
#5 Lawrence Gilman Firing (Tiebreaker)
#6 Dan Hamhuis Not Traded (29.4%)
#7 JT Miller Trade (16.1%)
#8 Sutter Trade (20%)
#9 Drafting Virtanen (28.6%)

As a refresher, the backlog of stupidity includes:

Potential inclusion in rankings
Larsen trade
Pedan trade
Linus Karlsson trade (Dahlen)
Schaller contract
Matt Bartkowsi contract
Michael Del Zotto contract
Ryan Miller contract
Baertschi contract
Not resigning Brad Richardson
Hiring his son

Not included in rankings
Baertchsi trade - for me this is still a loss, but most don't feel this way. We should not have been trading 2nd rounders for players that could end up on waivers. I'd rather Rasmus Andersson or Kylington. At a minimum we overpaid
Not trading Tanev - Will not get included as we have never had any indication of a strong offer that we rejected. Obviously, this is one of the very worst things Benning has screwed up.
Not firing Delorme - This is a bit too negative, even for me.
Attempted trades of the 2015 1st (for Lucic), 2016 1st (for Subban), 2019 1st (for Barrie)
Failed attempt at signing Lucic
Strategy - Not preparing a full on rebuild plan in July 2015 (after the Flames loss)
Strategy - Not investing heavier in analytics and actually using them to inform decision making
Strategy - Not replacing and expanding pro scouts
Strategy - Drafting by need
Strategy - Not weaponizing cap space to acquire picks
Strategy - Not signing UFAs to 1 year deals to be traded at the deadline

Click to read more...

 

[PG Canuck]

How does a GM tamper three times - jesus christ

 

[ginner classic]

How does a GM tamper three times - jesus christ

If the Canucks got hit with losing a 1st, it's hard to see how that doesn't make #1 on the list. We were lucky to avoid that outcome. It probably should be in the top ten, given how obviously stupid it was.

EDIT: Screw it, I changed my vote to that. It deserves its notoriety.

 

[ginner classic]

OK, let's make this the last round.

 

[TruGr1t]

The Myers contract should have a pretty good shot here.

 

[Jyrki21]

Sutter's retroactive NTC might still be the single funniest thing Benning has done in his time in Vancouver. It's probably down to that and signing Mackenze Stewart, but that NTC was the most hilariously gratuitous thing I can think of in the time I've followed hockey management.

 

[kcunac]

Utica management is a multi-year failure that affects most of our prospects so went with that

 

[TJ21]

Everytime this thread goes up and I see all these options I want to f***ing die this is so depressing.

 

[a Fool]

It's getting difficult to decide. I'll go with the Sbisa contract because it proves he was targeted in the Kesler trade and not foisted upon us like many thought. Also it revealed this Think Tank's lack of player evaluation after watching one of the worst acquired D I've ever seen play in Van (until Gudbranson).

 

[ChilliBilly]

I still think is inability to do math should be a thing. We are going to be in cap hell unless someone (cough cough, Ott) decides that the money on Eriksson's contract will get them to the floor. So many bad overpaid contracts. Guddy, Sutter, Beagle, Schaller.... the list never ends.

 

[VanJack]

Still kinda surprised the Zack Kassian trade plus a fifth rounder to the Habs for Brandon Prust doesn't figure higher in the official voting. Or for that matter, coughing up a second-rounder for Linden Vey. Maybe I was the only guy seriously bugged by these deals.

But looking at the list of boondoggles still on the board for official voting, I'm leaning towards re-upping Luca Sbisa. Touted as a top-four d-man in the Kesler deal, and eventually mercifully lost to Vegas in the expansion draft. The pizza man was a stand-up guy, but just served up more turnovers than Little Caesars.

 

[Pavel96]

How does a GM tamper three times - jesus christ

And all three combined are still lumped together as a single item among 15 others. And this is the vote for his 10th worst move?! Holy moly

 

[Melvin]

Everytime this thread goes up and I see all these options I want to ****ing die this is so depressing.

It's the opposite of the prospect poll. At 10 and still so many good choices.

 

[Zippgunn]

In light voting the drafting of Virtanen over the consensus better prospects in Ehlers and Nylander ranks as Benning's 9th worst move. What is #10?

#1 Erik Gudbranson Trade (In) (35.2%)
#2 Loui Eriksson Contract (41.6%)
#3 Drafting Juolevi (41.3%)
#4 Ryan Kesler Trade Return (19.4%)
#5 Lawrence Gilman Firing (Tiebreaker)
#6 Dan Hamhuis Not Traded (29.4%)
#7 JT Miller Trade (16.1%)
#8 Sutter Trade (20%)
#9 Drafting Virtanen (28.6%)

As a refresher, the backlog of stupidity includes:

Potential inclusion in rankings
Larsen trade
Pedan trade
Linus Karlsson trade (Dahlen)
Schaller contract
Matt Bartkowsi contract

... and nowhere is the option to vote for "Hiring Travis Green as coach" which would be at least in my top 5...
Michael Del Zotto contract
Ryan Miller contract
Baertschi contract
Not resigning Brad Richardson
Hiring his son

Not included in rankings
Baertchsi trade - for me this is still a loss, but most don't feel this way. We should not have been trading 2nd rounders for players that could end up on waivers. I'd rather Rasmus Andersson or Kylington. At a minimum we overpaid
Not trading Tanev - Will not get included as we have never had any indication of a strong offer that we rejected. Obviously, this is one of the very worst things Benning has screwed up.
Not firing Delorme - This is a bit too negative, even for me.
Attempted trades of the 2015 1st (for Lucic), 2016 1st (for Subban), 2019 1st (for Barrie)
Failed attempt at signing Lucic
Strategy - Not preparing a full on rebuild plan in July 2015 (after the Flames loss)
Strategy - Not investing heavier in analytics and actually using them to inform decision making
Strategy - Not replacing and expanding pro scouts
Strategy - Drafting by need
Strategy - Not weaponizing cap space to acquire picks
Strategy - Not signing UFAs to 1 year deals to be traded at the deadline

...and nowhere does it have "Hiring Travis Green as head coach" as an option, which would have made top 5 in my poll...

 

[vanuck]

In light voting the drafting of Virtanen over the consensus better prospects in Ehlers and Nylander ranks as Benning's 9th worst move. What is #10?

#1 Erik Gudbranson Trade (In) (35.2%)
#2 Loui Eriksson Contract (41.6%)
#3 Drafting Juolevi (41.3%)
#4 Ryan Kesler Trade Return (19.4%)
#5 Lawrence Gilman Firing (Tiebreaker)
#6 Dan Hamhuis Not Traded (29.4%)
#7 JT Miller Trade (16.1%)
#8 Sutter Trade (20%)
#9 Drafting Virtanen (28.6%)

What a god-awful list. Sheesh.

 

[Hit the post]

I still think is inability to do math should be a thing.

Cost Don Cherry a Stanley Cup ring.

What a god-awful list. Sheesh.

He's still employed.

Scary thing is, that list could get worse.

 

[Luck 6]

I don’t get this list for a multitude of reasons. I am not a Benning supporter, and if the 4th worst thing he has done is trade a disgruntled Kesler with a NTC on his side for Bonino, Sbisa, and a 1st then that doesn’t seem too bad.

I’d say wasting a 2nd round pick on Vey, who was utterly useless and out of the league a year and a half later, was a far worse move.

 

[tantalum]

Painful to see that a contract signed a month ago that has already been mentioned in the same breath as other "worst UFA contracts in cap era" isn't even going to make the top 10. lol.

 

[rypper]

Cost Don Cherry a Stanley Cup ring.


He's still employed.

Scary thing is, that list could get worse.

And people want him extended? Because he's learning or that it hasn't been so bad lately? Mind boggling. This kind of incompetence should have been canned long ago.

 

[Cogburn]

The Kesler trade, Miller trade and not trading Hamhuis...I mean those don't even register as terrible compared to so many other options listed. Bonino and a first for Kesler was a fine return, Sbisa was a cap dump but somehow Benning saw him as an asset, but looking back, Kesler demanded a trade and gave limited options. We weren't getting Theodore and a top 10 pick for Kesler and people are using that as the bar to measure success.

Miller has yet to dress for this team and it's its one of Bennings top 10 worst moves already? There are at least a half dozen picks that are worse on that list that haven't been codified yet, and that's assuming Miller is a washout and we don't improve to a playoff spot in the next two years. Guys a solid contributor, he's on a good contract, and we have been calling for better top six players for years. I don't get the hate here. Let me guess, Tampa Bay was in a cap crunch so we should have gotten Kuz for a 5th? Or the Lightning should have paid us to take Miller, right?

Hamhuis made the trade difficult. Apparently Dallas and Chicago were two destinations he approved of, and one is a no go for ownership, and the other didn't need D. Guy controlled his destiny, and from the same information we all have access to, I view this as Hamhuis wanting to stay here as much as anything else.

Drafting hasn't been a strong suit of this organization, and at least Juolevi/Virtanen have been learning experiences (we've had Pettersson, Hughes and hopefully Podkolzin to add to the plus side of this). Those were bad picks....which keep getting thrown in to conversations about firing Benning...which is why I'm speechless that the people calling for his head for these picks are the same people condemning the Miller trade.

Any way, any vote I've been in has been Weisbrod. Any one disagreeing with me here, I ask you to name 3 things he has done to improve this organization. It makes firing Gilman look that much worse too.

Shout outs to anything Sutter, Eriksson, or Gudbranson related (upto trading for Pearson anyway), Utica, Tryamkin and the whole tampering process. Bennings got some terrible actions, but it's funny what people get fixated on.

 

[Cogburn]

And people want him extended? Because he's learning or that it hasn't been so bad lately? Mind boggling. This kind of incompetence should have been canned long ago.

Name one poster that isn't a troll or someone flaming that wants Benning resigned.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

JT Miller trade .?.Lets see him play first ..and the books not closed on Juolevi yet...The drafting of Virtanen (what about the rest of the 2014 draft?)..Gilman..?...As for the rest of the list, the Gudbranson/Erikksson deals are indefensible..The rest were misses, but hardly remotely crippling.

Practically all the worst moves nominated are pre 2016-17 season..so basically the ill advised 'retool on the fly era'.

 

[tradervik]

To me Sam Gagner encapsulates a number of Benning's shortcomings: poor pro-scouting, poor contract negotiation, and poor asset management. Gagner had an excellent season in Columbus as a 4th line centre who found a niche on the power play. That might have some value but not 3 x $3 million value. It seems the Canucks thought they were getting a legit middle 6 centreman, and when he failed to meet expectations, he was sent to the Marlies and eventually dumped for Ryan Spooner. In sum I think that's far worse than several items that were voted in to the top 10.

 

[VanJack]

Count me as a little surprised the J.T. Miller deal makes the list, with no spot in the top-10 for the Tyler Myers signing. Hockey pundits mostly turned two thumbs-down on the number and term for this guy. They just don't feel he's a legit top-four guy.

And why no Jay Beagle contract on the top 10 voting so far? I mean four years at $3m a season for a fourth liner coming off a three goal season and on the north side of 30 is laughably bad.

 

[bossram]

Count me as a little surprised the J.T. Miller deal makes the list, with no spot in the top-10 for the Tyler Myers signing. Hockey pundits mostly turned two thumbs-down on the number and term for this guy. They just don't feel he's a legit top-four guy.

And why no Jay Beagle contract on the top 10 voting so far? I mean four years at $3m a season for a fourth liner coming off a three goal season and on the north side of 30 is laughably bad.

It's really saying something about Benning's tenure when there's so many of us still saying, "how did move X not make the top-10 list of his worst moves?" There's a lot of "good" options still on the table that didn't make the list. It's just comical.