James Elmer Benning will be on SN650 at 8:30am Today

[StreetHawk]

I think we aquired that pick outright which is how we ended up with two picks to select the twins.

Convulated deal. McCabe and 2000 first to Chicago for #4. Then 2 thirds and #4 to TB to get #1. Got a third back from Atl to drop for 1 down to #2. TB ending up trading their pick to NYR that year.

They’d either be gutting what little they have to grab Hughes or giving up monster futures of a bad team thus being like Ottawa and having that hang over them the entire season.

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

Star signings or nothing
Middle fa signings again would be a disaster

Where does he plan on playing these so called UFA guys..our line up is jammed with contracts.Unless guys are moved...right now for tonight's game we have Shcaller and Goldy sitting.and we allready have Baertschi,Sutter,and Spooner out injured...that's 5 extra bodys,,some guys gotta go before we even think about UFA...

 

[StreetHawk]

Where does he plan on playing these so called UFA guys..our line up is jammed with contracts.Unless guys are moved...right now for tonight's game we have Shcaller and Goldy sitting.and we allready have Baertschi,Sutter,and Spooner out injured...that's 5 extra bodys,,some guys gotta go before we even think about UFA...

No doubt guys have to be moved out. I count 12 guys with contracts up front in Petey, Bo, Sven, Pearson, Sutter, Schaller, Loui, Beagle, Roussell, Virtanen, Gaudette, Spooner. And RFA of Brock, Leivo, Granny, Goldy, Motte, and Gaunce who is on a one way deal. Of the group, only Loui holds a full ntc. Sutter is a 15 team trade list.
See buyouts for Schaller and Spooner. Let Gaunce walk. Granny making too much for where he slots in. Should not qualify him but if he signs for less in the $1.1 range as a spare guy you can keep him around.

Benning has only been able to do lateral moves when dumping players with term. So, hard to see guys dumped for picks unless he’s retaining on guys like sutter.

 

[Johnny Canucker]

Literally clueless. And 650 as a rights holder lobs softballs.

Bo Horvat has been in the league 5 years already. That’s likely 1/3 of his entire career. We are not making the playoffs or being competitive for probably another 5 years. So basically the best part of his career. What a waste. There’s something to rebuilding and having all the pieces , age-wise to line up.

BoHo will be retired / on the decline by the time we will compete again.

 

[Peen]

I’m still not fully understanding this idea of *not* going after Ferland, but to each their own. I don’t think his injuries are chronic, and he’s just had some bad luck this year. He still has 17 goals FYI.

At 26/27, I still think he’ll have atleast 5 good NHL seasons in him.

No one really has an issue with Ferland around a 5x5.

But, I don't see the point. Baertschi, Roussell, and Leivo are a good enough group of LW'ers for the bottom nine.

 

[MS]

No one really has an issue with Ferland around a 5x5.

But, I don't see the point. Baertschi, Roussell, and Leivo are a good enough group of LW'ers for the bottom nine.

I would have a huge issue with 5x5 for Ferland.

 

[Balls Mahoney]

Literally clueless. And 650 as a rights holder lobs softballs.

Bo Horvat has been in the league 5 years already. That’s likely 1/3 of his entire career. We are not making the playoffs or being competitive for probably another 5 years. So basically the best part of his career. What a waste. There’s something to rebuilding and having all the pieces , age-wise to line up.

BoHo will be retired / on the decline by the time we will compete again.

Think of how many of us will be dead by then. I don't live a clean or healthy life. Goddamn you Jim Benning for being a complete waste of everyone's life.

 

[ccjon]

Fair enough.

I don’t recall them ever being dead last though.

Point remains though - Flames hung tough, had some peaks and valleys while slowly tending upwards, and then exploded this year. If they can do that, then I see no reason why we can’t either.

They also fired Jay Feaster and John Wiesbrod in 2013 despite having drafted Monahan and Gaudreau. They brought in new management in 2014.

 

[Peen]

I would have a huge issue with 5x5 for Ferland.

Out of curiosity, why?

I agree that we have a bunch of shit contracts, and there really isn't a need.

I think my point is that if we didn't have these terrible contracts in our bottom nine and we had a need for a second line LW'er, I'd be fine with it. He's the type of player we could use in our top nine.

I'm a fan.

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

No one really has an issue with Ferland around a 5x5.

But, I don't see the point. Baertschi, Roussell, and Leivo are a good enough group of LW'ers for the bottom nine.

Baertschi needs to retire, one more big hit and he is done..

 

[4Twenty]

Out of curiosity, why?

I agree that we have a bunch of **** contracts, and there really isn't a need.

I think my point is that if we didn't have these terrible contracts in our bottom nine and we had a need for a second line LW'er, I'd be fine with it. He's the type of player we could use in our top nine.

I'm a fan.

I would like to jump in here.

I think you could get better utility out of that $5m/year and it wouldn't take a 5 year term to do it.

Sign Vanek for a year, give a guy like Brett Connolly 3-4 years at ~$3.5-4 and you're better for it and have more long term flexibility. Ferland types don't tend to age well, just look at another former Flame like Curtis Glencross.

 

[y2kcanucks]

No one really has an issue with Ferland around a 5x5.

But, I don't see the point. Baertschi, Roussell, and Leivo are a good enough group of LW'ers for the bottom nine.

Wait what? I abso-f***ing-lutely have a problem with a 5x5 for Michael Ferland. Awful contract.

 

[Addison Rae]

Yeah usually agree with Peen, but yuck.

Ferland is the type of player you hope to buy low on, maybe prior to his Gaudreau and Monahan days in Calgary. But at this point this is not a player I want the organization to be touching long term, especially with the injury concerns.

If they strike out on the main guys, which we will I'd rather just save the cap space to use as an asset or go after someone like Taylor Hall in 2020.

 

[Peen]

I'm a fan of Ferland. If they move out the right players, I'd take him on a heartbeat at 5x5.

But apparently, the rumor was that if that's the contract he would have taken, then the Canes would have inked him by now.

I understand the injury risks, etc, but to me he's worth it in a vacuum.

I'll back out and agree to disagree. I'm usually not a fan of going after these middling level guys who command big moneyz, but I really like watching Ferland play.

 

[Jay Cee]

I'm a fan of Ferland. If they move out the right players, I'd take him on a heartbeat at 5x5.

But apparently, the rumor was that if that's the contract he would have taken, then the Canes would have inked him by now.

I understand the injury risks, etc, but to me he's worth it in a vacuum.

I'll back out and agree to disagree. I'm usually not a fan of going after these middling level guys who command big moneyz, but I really like watching Ferland play.

I'm with you but I don't think he would sign for so little, because I believe there will be something of a bidding war for his services. I think he brings an element just like we will need in our top 6 and the "buy low" theory is not a working one. You either roll the dice and draft him or you sign him as an FA. The theory that cheap players like Ferland grow on trees is flawed.

 

[Cupless44]

They also fired Jay Feaster and John Wiesbrod in 2013 despite having drafted Monahan and Gaudreau. They brought in new management in 2014.

Well said.

Benning is incompetent at most aspects of his job. The fact that he has come up with a couple of good players with top 10 draft picks is nowhere near enough to allowing him to continue to make a bigger mess.

A couple more bad contracts like Eriksson and Beagle will be more crippling when they have to sign their good young players and deal with Luongo recapture penalty.

 

[MadaCanuckle]

Wait what? I abso-****ing-lutely have a problem with a 5x5 for Michael Ferland. Awful contract.

I absolutely have a problem with Ferland. Or Myers. Again, how difficult is to understand that either you go for the surefire big guns July 1 or just stopgap 1 year deals to flip at the deadline? How stupid some people must be to try to justify other paths over and over again?

 

[Zippgunn]

says he talk to Francesco everyday and that he is on board with what is happening

...which is almost certainly why JB is still here and probably will be come the start of next season. He is FAQ's yes man.

 

[StreetHawk]

...which is almost certainly why JB is still here and probably will be come the start of next season. He is FAQ's yes man.

Everything starts at the top.

 

[Jay Cee]

I absolutely have a problem with Ferland. Or Myers. Again, how difficult is to understand that either you go for the surefire big guns July 1 or just stopgap 1 year deals to flip at the deadline? How stupid some people must be to try to justify other paths over and over again?

All players are not created equal. Lots of teams pick up a top 6 guy who is useful to their team in FA. Lots of teams who swing for the fences fail miserably.

 

[RandV]

Out of curiosity, why?

I agree that we have a bunch of **** contracts, and there really isn't a need.

I think my point is that if we didn't have these terrible contracts in our bottom nine and we had a need for a second line LW'er, I'd be fine with it. He's the type of player we could use in our top nine.

I'm a fan.

I have Ferland in my H2H pool this season, and I'm really surprised to see he's only missed 11 games as his status has turned red numerous times. Had to check the injury log on TSN to verify it:

Mar 09, 2019	Upper body injury, day-to-day.
Feb 01, 2019	Missed 1 game (back injury).
Jan 23, 2019	Back injury, day-to-day.
Jan 22, 2019	Missed 1 game (upper body injury).
Jan 20, 2019	Upper body injury, day-to-day.
Dec 20, 2018	Missed 3 games (upper body injury).
Dec 13, 2018	Upper body injury, day-to-day.
Dec 10, 2018	Missed 4 games (concussion).
Dec 07, 2018	Concussion, injured reserve.
Nov 30, 2018	Concussion, sidelined indefinitely.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The total count is low but that's 5 separate injuries he's missed time with this season. He's only 26 now but sign him long term and I suspect it won't be long before turns into a Clarkson or a Brouwer.

 

[Zippgunn]

Everything starts at the top.

Absolutely. More than anything this team needs a new owner...

 

[BROCK HUGHES]

Imo Benning should not be at the draft as Gm nor have anything to do with FA,s in July.He has had enough time to royaly screw this team up with bad contracts,stupid trades,and delusional thinking.When is enough ,,enough.

 

[krutovsdonut]

All players are not created equal. Lots of teams pick up a top 6 guy who is useful to their team in FA. Lots of teams who swing for the fences fail miserably.

context and fit is critical. picking up a complimentary player from a good team can be a disaster for a bad team with no fit for him. the half retool/half rebuild approach gave the coaching staff limited options with the high profile signings. when the expected chemistry with the sedins fizzled, erikkson had literally nobody to play his game with. vrbata season 1 vs season 2 is an even better example.

 

[tantalum]

If they think they’ll ever win a Cup with that core, they’re even stupider than I thought. 3 good forwards (one who will be a defensive 2nd liner long term and another who looks like a new Jordan Eberle), 1 young defender of any real quality, and some goaltending depth. Huzzah.

Yep. Look at Calgary this year. I’m not sure I’m ready to call them a true Cup contender because I see significant holes still (I question the bottom 6 some what and goaltending is inconsistent at best). Yet they have 4 point per game or more forwards, and a 5th that is a 50 point guy, then a handful of 30-40 point guys. Their 8th and 9th scoring forwards would be 4th on the Canucks.

On the back end they have point per game d-man and two guys in the 30-40 range.

That’s the depth you need to have to simply compete to win a weak division and be that reasonable contender. The Canucks are not near that IMO. They are missing two legit top line wingers, and a couple D. Plus organizational depth. Doesn’t sound like much but it is when you consider that what you talking about is half a core playing in their prime (or in the case of Giordano like he’s 10 years younger).