Pretty much. Everyone - with the exception of a few paid shills and possibly family members - knows that if Jim Benning had been hired by Aquilini as GM to manage the Canucks back in 2008 with the exact same group of players that Gillis had at his disposal... he would not have done anywhere near as good of a job as Gillis did.
No need for shills or family to know that absent parallel universe no one can say for certain. Most Benning to Gillis comparisons are a waste of time since they inherited teams at opposite ends of the development /compete cycle. What Gillis was gifted continues to be underappreciated here.
To recap: Burkie-Nonis built what became the 2009-2015 powerhouse, save for that one Torts parachuted in year. In 2007-08 the Nucks were merrily in playoff position until suffering then unprecedented D core annihilation and collapsing in the last quarter.
Aqua overreacted, Nonis walked the plank, and Gillis won the GM lottery by inheriting a turn-key contender.
Prime or younger Sedins, Kesler, Burrows, Hansen, Luongo, Schneider, Edler, Bieksa and the older but highly effective Salo and Mitchell.
FOUR YEARS later--useful to keep in mind when asking what JB did in a similar time frame--the above players comprised 7/8 of his top scorers (Higgie was #7). Ehrhoff, Samuelsson, Malhotra and Torres were gone or non factors for that second President trophy. Of the better MG acquisitions only the determined to come home Hamhuis remained. Same year the discarded Mitchell was a 1st pairing D for the cup winning Kings.
Not such a stretch to say anyone taking that gig and doing the bare minimum, like re-signing the twins and others (could be less thrifty if foregoing Ballard deal), would have seen a similar outcome. Drafting? Zero top 6/4 players that were deployed as such during the 6 year tenure.
Meanwhile, Benning's inheritance: Burkie-Nonis remnants, mostly 30+ year-olds determined to finish their careers in Van and with Gillman provided paperwork in pocket to enforce it. Gillis' contributions were the infants Horvat (green jacket candidate early), Hutton (debatable top 4 on good team), and a goalie who turned into starter material at 29. Your basic guaranteed multi year, dirt-eating exercise for any exec that jumped on it.
If the argument is that Gillis would have improved his drafting than who is to say Benning can't up his FA signing game?
Realistic time frame: See Winnipeg since their inception under Chevy. Note the pieces he inherited that are still doing the heavy lifting. Had some draft lottery luck. Missed playoffs 5 of first 6 first seasons and was a GM of the year finalist soon after.
But I could be wrong. Maybe this GM thing is mostly about sounding smart, cutting edge analytics, best shrinks and space age medical gizmo money can buy, and being progressive. Doubtless the next guy running the Nucks will be a smart cookie. The fact that our big 3 are currently 2 years younger than Colorado's big 3 will be a footnote.
