Edge27
Registered User
- Apr 19, 2019
- 3
- 12
Why do people want to see benning gone or at least....supervised? This is my take for what it’s worth.
Hindsight is 20/20. No one bats a thousand. That is certainly true and the defenders of this management will tell you that and are quick to point out the faults of previous regimes or others around the league.
On his trade record, it’s true that there have been wins: Shinkaruk for Granlund, Gudbranson for Pearson, Carcone for Leivo, Hansen for Goldobin and a 4th, Burrows for Dahlen. They are undoubtedly trades that Benning won, but how impactful have those moves been when Dahlen has since been moved while Goldobin and Granlund may be on their way out? Leivo and Pearson do appear to be reasonable middle 6 winger options going forward. Meanwhile here are the list of Benning’s trade transgressions:
2nd round pick (2014) for Linden Vey
Gustav Forsling for Adam Clendening
2nd round pick (2015) for Sven Baertschi
Nicklas Jensen, 6th round pick (2017) for Emerson Etem
5th round pick (2017) for Philip Larsen
Jared McCann, 2nd round pick (2017), 4th round pick (2017) for Erik Gudbranson, 5th round pick (2017)
4th round pick (2018) for Derrick Pouliot
7th round pick (2020) for Marek Mazanec
In all, that’s 7 picks (2 2nd’s, 2 4th’s, 1 5th, 1 6th, 1 7th), a 22 year old Center who went 19-16-35 in 78 games this year and a depth defenseman that turned into Sven Baertschi, Tanner Pearson and a 5th (Cole Candella). Adding to the list of trades that shouldn’t have been made are the trades that weren’t made. It was undeniable incompetence that led to Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata not being moved in 2016 which also could’ve brought in picks or prospects.
Players that went within 30 picks of the ones traded away include Rasmus Andersson (was the pick), Alex Debrincat, Brayden Point, Brandon Montour, Carter Hart, Victor Mete, Samuel Girard, Jordan Kyrou, Ryan Donato, Christian Dvorak, Warren Foegele and Jesper Bratt. That also doesn’t take into consideration the prospects that may distinguish themselves from the 2018 draft. This only becomes harder to stomach when this management’s strength seems to be at the draft table.
As for Free Agency, this is where even the most staunch supporters will admit that they wish Jim would have his phone disconnected on July 1st. Perhaps the only meaningful success on this front is the Bo Horvat extension. Without dredging up contracts that have since expired, let’s focus on those that are signed through 2019-20:
Loui Eriksson, $6.0m x 6 years, expiry 2022-23
Brandon Sutter, $4.375m x 4 years, expiry 2020-21
Sam Gagner -> Ryan Spooner, $3.1m, expiry 2019-20
Jay Beagle, $3.0m x 4 years, expiry 2022-23
Tim Schaller, $1.9m x 2 years, expiry 2019-20
Total, $18.375m for next season
Assuming that the club extends Boeser, Edler, Hutton, Leivo, Demko, Motte, Granlund, Goldobin, and Schenn, this should eat up roughly $22-25m of the available $27.1m under the current salary cap. A $2-3m increase to the cap as anticipated and the $18.375m of dead money taken up by those contracts equates to between $22.5m to $26.5m of cap space that the Canucks could and should have had.
Looking at the depth chart that was possible without all of these mistakes, you can start to understand the frustration of most Canucks fans:
Forwards: Horvat, Pettersson, Boeser, McCann, Virtanen, Gaudette, Roussel, Leivo, Motte, Granlund, Goldobin
Defense: Edler, Tanev, Stecher, Hutton, Hughes, Forsling, Biega, Sautner, Brisebois, Juolevi, Schenn
Goalies: Markstrom, Demko
It’s not that this roster is impressive. It’s that it largely looks the same as it does now and there’s the potential that a couple of really good young players mentioned above could’ve been here and that there should be upwards of $20m that could have been committed over the last 2-3 free agent crops to bolster this group.
For all the talk about this management’s drafting, they have undeniably missed on 2 out of their 4 top 10 picks. Virtanen and Juolevi being any of Nylander, Ehlers, Tuch, Larkin, Tkachuk, Keller, or Sergachev makes the Canucks a significantly better team.
Last but not least, player development gaffes such as Nikita Tryamkin and Jonathan Dahlen along with some serious questions about the program in Utica blunt the effectiveness of the argument that this regime drafts well.
This, combined with glaring deficiencies in the trade record and free agency, paints a pretty clear picture; Jim Benning should not be permitted to continue unchecked in his role as General Manager.
Hindsight is 20/20. No one bats a thousand. That is certainly true and the defenders of this management will tell you that and are quick to point out the faults of previous regimes or others around the league.
On his trade record, it’s true that there have been wins: Shinkaruk for Granlund, Gudbranson for Pearson, Carcone for Leivo, Hansen for Goldobin and a 4th, Burrows for Dahlen. They are undoubtedly trades that Benning won, but how impactful have those moves been when Dahlen has since been moved while Goldobin and Granlund may be on their way out? Leivo and Pearson do appear to be reasonable middle 6 winger options going forward. Meanwhile here are the list of Benning’s trade transgressions:
2nd round pick (2014) for Linden Vey
Gustav Forsling for Adam Clendening
2nd round pick (2015) for Sven Baertschi
Nicklas Jensen, 6th round pick (2017) for Emerson Etem
5th round pick (2017) for Philip Larsen
Jared McCann, 2nd round pick (2017), 4th round pick (2017) for Erik Gudbranson, 5th round pick (2017)
4th round pick (2018) for Derrick Pouliot
7th round pick (2020) for Marek Mazanec
In all, that’s 7 picks (2 2nd’s, 2 4th’s, 1 5th, 1 6th, 1 7th), a 22 year old Center who went 19-16-35 in 78 games this year and a depth defenseman that turned into Sven Baertschi, Tanner Pearson and a 5th (Cole Candella). Adding to the list of trades that shouldn’t have been made are the trades that weren’t made. It was undeniable incompetence that led to Dan Hamhuis and Radim Vrbata not being moved in 2016 which also could’ve brought in picks or prospects.
Players that went within 30 picks of the ones traded away include Rasmus Andersson (was the pick), Alex Debrincat, Brayden Point, Brandon Montour, Carter Hart, Victor Mete, Samuel Girard, Jordan Kyrou, Ryan Donato, Christian Dvorak, Warren Foegele and Jesper Bratt. That also doesn’t take into consideration the prospects that may distinguish themselves from the 2018 draft. This only becomes harder to stomach when this management’s strength seems to be at the draft table.
As for Free Agency, this is where even the most staunch supporters will admit that they wish Jim would have his phone disconnected on July 1st. Perhaps the only meaningful success on this front is the Bo Horvat extension. Without dredging up contracts that have since expired, let’s focus on those that are signed through 2019-20:
Loui Eriksson, $6.0m x 6 years, expiry 2022-23
Brandon Sutter, $4.375m x 4 years, expiry 2020-21
Sam Gagner -> Ryan Spooner, $3.1m, expiry 2019-20
Jay Beagle, $3.0m x 4 years, expiry 2022-23
Tim Schaller, $1.9m x 2 years, expiry 2019-20
Total, $18.375m for next season
Assuming that the club extends Boeser, Edler, Hutton, Leivo, Demko, Motte, Granlund, Goldobin, and Schenn, this should eat up roughly $22-25m of the available $27.1m under the current salary cap. A $2-3m increase to the cap as anticipated and the $18.375m of dead money taken up by those contracts equates to between $22.5m to $26.5m of cap space that the Canucks could and should have had.
Looking at the depth chart that was possible without all of these mistakes, you can start to understand the frustration of most Canucks fans:
Forwards: Horvat, Pettersson, Boeser, McCann, Virtanen, Gaudette, Roussel, Leivo, Motte, Granlund, Goldobin
Defense: Edler, Tanev, Stecher, Hutton, Hughes, Forsling, Biega, Sautner, Brisebois, Juolevi, Schenn
Goalies: Markstrom, Demko
It’s not that this roster is impressive. It’s that it largely looks the same as it does now and there’s the potential that a couple of really good young players mentioned above could’ve been here and that there should be upwards of $20m that could have been committed over the last 2-3 free agent crops to bolster this group.
For all the talk about this management’s drafting, they have undeniably missed on 2 out of their 4 top 10 picks. Virtanen and Juolevi being any of Nylander, Ehlers, Tuch, Larkin, Tkachuk, Keller, or Sergachev makes the Canucks a significantly better team.
Last but not least, player development gaffes such as Nikita Tryamkin and Jonathan Dahlen along with some serious questions about the program in Utica blunt the effectiveness of the argument that this regime drafts well.
This, combined with glaring deficiencies in the trade record and free agency, paints a pretty clear picture; Jim Benning should not be permitted to continue unchecked in his role as General Manager.